ST. BARTHOLOMEW PROJECT

CONSTRAINTS

CONSTRAINTS��������

• The whole design has to take into consideration the weight factor as it will be carried by four members of the congregation.� This means it had to be designed for the strength of an average person.

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• Pedestal The top and base of the of the pedestal was constrained by the width of the floor space available to bring it out to the front of the Altar, e.g. maximum 32".

  ��� This was accommodated.

  

• Handles:�� Next was the question of how to make the handles collapse down from the 6 ft to under 30 inches.

  • ��� Making one hole through the top on each side and butting the handles end to end would not allow sufficient length to extend the handles to the six foot length.�

  • The solution was to design a double tube of stainless steel, with the handles also made of oblong sections so two sections can slide into the specially designed double tubular section.

  • Effectively this means you can use the full width of the top to hold a half section of the six handles.

  • I recommended stainless steel sheet metal because it was corrosion free, so would not bind over time.� Because of the strength of stainless steel, it could be made using thin material without adding too much to the total weight.

  • One end half of the arms would slide in one part of the double tube and the other end half would slide through the second half of the double tube.

  • This was then duplicated on the other side.

  • This meant that the space between one end would be 2" narrower than the other end� but it was concluded there was still sufficient space between each side not to cause any problems.� An alternative would be to offset the arms but it was decided not to go along that path because the two back carriers would be out of line with the front carriers.

  

• The Arch.�� When it came to putting an arch over the Saint it was found that the way the saint was posed required the arch to be approximately 3'2" wide.

  • As the height of the arch above the constrained area was sufficient to allow us to make it wider, the solution was to design the arch to the required width and blend it into the top base by designing fretwork scrolls as brackets.

  • The side of the arch was plywood cut out into crosses with cut-outs into the frame to simulate rays of light coming from the crosses.

  • The top of the arch had to be steam bent to the curve and as I did not have the equipment I had to make a "steam kettle" and steaming tube for the purpose of steaming the wood.

  • using a compressor tank from a semi-trailer brake system I made the steam kettle bye tapping a 2" pipe inlet into the top and tapping 3/8" BSP pipe fitting in the side to fit a glass tube to make a sight glass to see the water level. I fitted a hot-box at the other end to take� a large BBQ propane gas burner for heating.

  • The steam box was made from a channel section of sheet metal riveted together to make a square tube.

  • In operation, the timber was put inside with spaces between each piece to allow the steam to get all around it.

  • It was a new experience for me as I had never steam bent wood before, but calculated that it would need approximately 2 hours to steam the hard wood sufficiently to bend.

  • I also had to make a mould to bend the timber around.� There had to be an allowance made for the wood to spring back when the clamps were released.

  • There involved some calculated� guesswork, as I could not find any information of steam bending Australian hard wood.

  • I used two pieces of 2" x 3/8" thick Tasmanian Oak (a eucalypt) and steam heated them.

  • While bending them around the mould I laminated them together using glue to hold them with a few small brads to hold them together.� Thankfully it worked.

  • When completed and the original moulding was put it together, I did not like the effect.� So I then cut it down in size, keeping the parts I wanted and added a new arch to the top section.� This was a single bow rising from the bottom half of the original arch, starting from the level of the� arms of the Saint.

  • This effect was looked much nicer.

  • The original parallel arch seemed to me to over power the Saint, looking too dark and heavy.� My personal feeling was that nothing should take from the Saint but rather should enhance the Saint.

  

• The Lights:� As time was running out to complete the project before the feast day I said I would loan them some lights from the family Xmas Tree for the Feast Day and would� design the permanent lighting system after.

• The requirement for the lights was that they could be lit and carried around with the Statue.� This required a battery system of sufficient capacity and strong enough to handle all of the lights and yet not require a heavy battery.

• I advised the members I believed it would be better to use rechargeable batteries as they could be run during the service or for longer periods.

• Also I was asked if it was possible to, on the Feast Day and during the Feast Day service, for the lights to flash but for the other times for them to give off a steady light for the rest of the year and� mere outline the Saint.

• A switch will be needed to isolate the flasher.

• The name of the Saint will be fitted into the top of the arch and be cut using a scroll saw and possibly some further patterns to hi-light it

• Details of the system will be added as I complete the system.

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• The Name:� Saint Bartholomew I hope to be able to do, both, in Italian and English if this meets with the approval of the Committee.

• I also hope to be able to design the lighting system to light name from inside of the scroll work.

• I have limited experience with this sort of task, hence I am not an expert, mainly low voltage. Hence I will seek some support from those more experienced, e.g. an Electrician.

• Also I feel it will be interesting to me as there will be some learning for me and experimentation to achieve a good result. :)

• I will make the name in scrollwork and fit it into the top of the arch after the Feast Day.

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• Staining:� I used dark mahogany to stain the pedestal and arch.� The arch had approximately 40 coats applied to give it a rich rose colour.� The top did not need as much as it was not necessary to have it as dark otherwise it would begin to tower over everything.

• The carvings were painted gold to simulate brass work.

• My friend has done some beautiful work in the past and it was great that he offered to do this as his contribution.� It is greatly appreciated.

• The other gold pieces and scrollwork is my own.� I am not an expert carver such as he:)� Not even in his league:)

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