We are building a “clean room” in preparation to gild the cross. As soon as the clean room is finished, which will probably be tomorrow, we’ll start priming. We’ll show you this process in the next couple of posts.
For now, enjoy some more copper cross progress pictures followed by pictures of the cross suspended in a frame which will become our clean room.
We’ve been diligently refining the details on the copper cross in anticipation of starting the gilding process next week. The tiniest imperfections must be removed before we progress to the next step so on we go with the cleaning and finishing.
We’ve been working on the upper part of the window sill. Though still just abstract pieces, you’ll see how everything fits together in future posts. Stay tuned!
We just made the copper collar that connects the cross to the tower. We still have quite a bit of work to do on the cross and it will be about two weeks before it is gilded, but when all is attached, the completed copper spire will be very dramatic and beautiful. The collar will also be gilded.
Here’s a step by step of how the collar was made:
The four copper finials on the cathedral are representative of those carved into the brownstone. Each one is now complete and ready to be put in a place of prominence forever. These beautiful copper ornaments are even more stunning “in person”. Here are some detail shots.
We’ve got plenty of refining and cleaning and such still to do, but the copper cross will shortly be ready for its gold treatment. We didn’t tell you? Yup, in about a week and a half, we’ll have some pictures to show you of how we made this gorgeous cross gleam in gold. It will be amazing!
In the meantime, we have some really fun pictures of the cross in its various stages of completion. You can finally see how the stainless steel inner structure relates with its outer covering.
***Editor’s note: Use the PicLens (hyperlinked in blue right above the pictures) to best view this fairly large gallery rather than skimming through the thumbnails as most of the thumbnails in this gallery have been significantly cropped. We’d hate for you to miss the details.
Check out the progress on the copper arch bows!
In less than a month from now, these pieces will be set into place giving the cathedral the crowning glory it has awaited for well over two centuries. Don’t worry, we’ll be sure to upload videos and give you notice of when this will happen. Until then, we’ll be busy working on polishing and refining and putting on all the finishing touches for the big day.
You’ve seen the somewhat completed top of the copper arch bows in previous posts. We’ve now started to work on the base. Here are some progress pics…
You can see here some pictures of the base where the tower will be placed. We have done nothing here. This is BEFORE any restoration work.
Here are some details of some of the copper components of the tower and cross.
