This is the saga of TLFH. That'd be The Lamp From Hell.
Yes, that's it's name. It has tormented me from the moment I said to myself, "Gee, that'd be a pretty lamp--I'll get the form for that in addition to the peacock feather lamp." (The peacock feather lamp was my project a year ago.) Just the form (on which the lamp was assembled), pattern, and crown (the metal part on top) cost nearly $300 and I should've known right then that this lamp and I were entering a love/hate relationship.
I did the peacock feather lamp first, and it was a lengthy project that came out well enough. But it was a lot of work and I wasn't ready to start on TLFH, which was going to be much larger, when I finished the first lamp, so I put it off for a good six months, finally starting on it in mid-Sept. After cutting the first two panels of TLFH, I took a break for two months.
I was tired of the lamp by then and had a commission to do anyway. And after I finished the commission, I did a bunch of little projects that I could finish quickly. I've always been an instant gratification kinda gal.
Finally, after 2008 was gone, I had to go back to TLFH. I cut glass till my fingers were sore, but finally I had everything cut and foiled and stuck to the form using a kind of tacky wax so I could begin soldering. That was in ... late Jan? I think so. I was hoping to get it done by the end of Feb. (I didn't quite make it--I think it was the first week in Mar when it was finished.) So I began soldering, and I soldered and soldered and soldered. (I ended up with over seven pounds of solder in this lamp.) But before I could solder the inside, I had to get it off the form.
The method of removing the shade from the form involves setting it over a hot plate to melt the wax. When I did the peacock lamp, it only took about a half-hour to get the temperature hot enough to loosen the glass from the form. TLFH took nearly three hours. After the first hour, I reread the instructions to be sure I wasn't doing something wrong. These instructions, among other things, told me that if I had trouble I should "brew a pot of tea and take a break" and if I couldn't get it off with a hot plate I should "build an oven big enough to accommodate the form". Say what!!??!! (The other ladies at the workshop laughed like lunatics at that one!) But in the end, I was able to separate shade from form and solder the inside (after removing all the wax glopped on the shade) and the thing was done.
You'd think that'd be the end of it, but another hell awaited me. I couldn't find a lamp base for it. Because it's unbelievably heavy and because the top isn't made for an ordinary base, I had exactly one choice for the base, a Tiffany reproduction that cost anywhere from $700 to $1200. Trust me, I hunted all over for almost anything else that would work, because I reeeeeeeeeeeally didn't want to spend that much on a freakin' base after already spending so much on form, pattern, crown, glass, other materials, and my time. *sigh*
I finally gave in and ordered the Tiffany base last weekend, and it arrived today. TLFH is done, done, done, and while I'm pleased with the end result I will never do another one of these.
Anyone interested in purchasing a lamp form and pattern, cheap?
