The gilding on the copper cross is finally complete! You’ll notice a few areas around the copper collar that still have bare patches. The reason for this is, the copper collar is the transition between the base of the cross and where it attaches to the spire underneath. We still need to solder the pieces together. Soldering a pre-gilded surface is not a workable practice, so we’ll gild those spots after assembly.
Tomorrow we assemble the cross and spire and solder the as of yet ungilded regions on the collar. When that is accomplished, we’ll quickly gild those untreated areas and the whole spire will be complete.
We’re videoing the assembly, so watch out for some exciting footage. In fact, as the project nears completion, you can expect to see far grander pictures than have ever been posted thus far!
Got some more gilding pictures for you. Things are progressing well. Right now, we’re working on the detailed areas which take longer, but we should be completely done with the gilding on our copper cross in a couple of days. Finished pictures to follow soon!
Though the weather has been less than cooperative, we’ve been plugging away at the top of the copper archway. We’ve compiled some photos of a few of the recent details we crafted to show you what we’ve been up to.
Now that the measurements have been calculated for the lightning protection and the tower lights, we needed to temporarily dismantle the spire to finish our work on the top of the archway.
We’ve said this in every post involving the spire so far, but just so there is no misunderstanding, Copper Exclusive is NOT responsible for crafting the spire. We built the archways, ornaments and the cross.
The following pictures show the different stages of dismantling. We’ll show you the finished top of the archway, soon.
Our beautiful cross has undergone many a facelift on its way to the top of the spire. Here is a walk down memory lane:
We scared the living daylights out of a lot of you with our last post when we showed pictures of our copper cross masterwork completely coated with a matte yellow primer, but hopefully we’re on our way to redeeming ourselves with this entry. As you can see, we’ve finally started the gilding process! We’re about a quarter of the way done at this point.
We worked late into the night to keep up with the drying times of the glue (size). But finish our commitment, we did, and closed up shop to get a quick snack before turning in. Coated from head to toe with gold flakes, we got some interesting looks from the clerks and patrons of a convenience store we stopped at on the way home!
We got a little carried away with the volume of pictures we posted for this entry, but they are fun and beautiful and we hope you enjoy all of them. More pictures and posts about this gilding project are on their way!
No freaking out! Promise? Ok, you can look. We know, it kind of looks like the yellow styrofoam version of the copper cross at this point, but it’s the real thing, we promise! Our beautiful copper cross is on its way to its heavenly golden coat. To get there, we had to first prime the entire structure. We tinted the primer a light buttercream color to compliment the gold leaf overlay. The next step is to apply the size and start gilding.
Though everything looks a little crazy right now, it will all come together in gleaming perfection when we’re done. Guaranteed. You’ll see!
We had some fun today! As you can see, we added the copper spire to the archway.
We temporarily lifted the tower so the specialists could attach the lights. Yes! The tower will be lit! And Jesse Rhodes from Hightower Construction (pictured on the left) added a makeshift cross (about the height of the real cross) made out of 2 x 4s just so we could better visualize the end result. Ok…and because it was fun!
Wondering about the stainless steel poles extending from the top of the arch bows? That’s where the finials go. Though they are all finished, we won’t add them until the last minute.
While the workers were up there installing the lights, they set up a lightning prevention system as well.
The spire comes back down, maybe not tomorrow as it is scheduled to rain all day again, but soon. We still have some details to finish on the top of the archway and can’t do that with the spire up there. But there’s not much more to do as far as that is concerned. In the meantime, we’ll be working on the cross. See you next entry!
(Disclaimer…Remember Copper Exclusive did NOT make the spire. We want to give credit where credit is due.)
We should shortly have the top of the archway completely clad in copper. The gallery of pictures below shows the start of our work on the base, but we’ll be adding copper to the back side of the arch bows as well so the entire structure is covered.
You’ll be able to see in some of the photos that we have soldered the copper at the base. In 99.9% of cases, we will never use this technique. This is one of those 0.1% times. Since the spire sits flush with the base, this is the only appropriate option here. You can see the bolts protruding from the base where the spire will be secured.
Remember the pictures of our bright and shiny, newly made arch bows? We had visions of lifting a gleaming, unblemished copper tower into place, just to show the “new-ness” of the piece. Well, what we’ve built here is essentially a really big copper ornament. So big, in fact, that we don’t have a facility large enough to keep it 100% out of the elements while we work on it. And it’s been raining down here. A lot.
As we all know, one of the most remarkable features of copper is how it reacts with the elements. These reactions are what build the glorious and sought-after patina that only copper can produce. So even though the copper arch bows will be a bit on the brown side when the tower is placed, they will be every bit as beautiful. Like fine wine, copper becomes more valuable as it ages. 
If you’ve read about our company, you’ll know that we’ve spent most of our lives restoring some of the most beautiful castles, cathedrals and other important historic buildings in the world. Since the methods of installation in Europe are so stringent and have been for hundreds of years, the majority of our restoration work on copper has been almost exclusively due to “acts of God” like fallen trees or nasty hail storms but also, sad to say, damage from the world wars.
When we examine the copper on these centuries-old structures, the copper can be over double its original thickness! It is an honor to work among these buildings and see the depth of character they have taken on after so many years.
So all the details on this cathedral spire won’t be perfectly shiny on reveal day, but the copper is on its way to developing its own unique character people centuries from now will appreciate and love. We are proud to be part of this legacy!