We’re back! Our pieces have been carefully trucked in from our Goose Creek workshop to the cathedral on Broad Street in downtown Charleston.
Tomorrow is the big day! The tower lift! We still owe you all some videos from previous posts–and they’re coming, but rest assured we’re making a video of this lift, too. We’ll work hard to get all these posted ASAP.
Today we permanently affixed the copper finials to the top of the archway and refined some details on the collar of the cross.
The silver colored pieces under the finials and protruding from their tops are lightning protections. They will be grounded tomorrow after the lift. The copper cross also works as a lightning protection as its very thick inner stainless core acts as a highly effective means of diverting electricity. Beauty and brains!
The black rubber pieces in the inner corners of the archway are bumpers. The stone veneer embellishments that fit inside these corners will be lifted and installed tomorrow. The bumpers will keep the aggressive copper from direct contact with the veneer.
Check back tomorrow for lift pics! So exciting!
Our gorgeous ornate, gilt copper cross was lifted by crane to be fastened to the top of the copper spire today. The cross is a creation of the artisans at Copper Exclusive. Just to remind our readers who might not have been following us in past posts, the spire is NOT our work. The amazing, archway, visible in many of the pictures in the gallery below, however, is our creation as are the copper finials which you will see attached in future posts.
We had some technical issues with a couple of machines which took time we weren’t expecting and prevented us from assembling and attaching the copper collar as we had planned to do, but we intend to finalize the remaining details tomorrow. We’ll also fit our finials to the top of the archway tomorrow. They won’t be a permanent addition until after the tower is transported and the brownstone veneer pieces have been installed, but we’ll temporarily add these ornaments to finesse the fitting details, so on installation day, everything will be a snap. And, hey, we just want to see it all put together!
We filmed the lift and install of the cross to the spire and need a few days to edit the footage, but you can expect to see some fun video posted in the next couple of days. Until then, please enjoy these pictures showing the lift and assembly.
The beautiful, iconic copper cross that has graced the north side of the cathedral for a sesquicentennial of years is carefully lowered from its perch by crane so it can be restored by master artisans.
