Light Conversation — Restoration Files

Tools of the Trade - Drying Racks 0

What is the best way to dry the crystal strands from your chandelier?

Admittedly, we were slow to catch on to this one, but our resident smart person, Brenda, finally thought to buy a laundry rack to dry those long strands from the larger chandeliers.  

Works like a charm!

Restoration Files - Fun Silver 0

How fun is this little guy?!  Beautiful silver and plumes on this Art Deco style chandelier.  The center columns were glass and the shades were beautiful! So much so that we asked the customers to keep them safely at their home rather than risk them traveling.

Before:

After (with the shades safely with the customer): 

Tools of the Trade - Cutting Pliers 0

When cutting pins out of chandelier crystals, the easiest tool to use is a pair of small cutting pliers.  The smaller the edges, the faster you can clip.  

These are available in the tool section of most hardware stores, but I find the smaller ones in jewelry making departments of hobby stores to be a bit easier to manipulate.  

-Nancy

Tools of the Trade - Needle Nose Pliers 0

We couldn't be crystal chandelier makers without these little guys!  If you want to tackle any crystal pinning or re-pinning project, you will need these pliers. And, they are great to have on hand for small bits of repair work.

The best ones have a medium length nose. If the nose is too long and slim, you will have difficulty manipulating harder pins.  If the nose isn't slim enough, you will be unable to grip the tiny pin heads. 

Here is my perfect pair of needle nose pliers:

These have a built-in cutting edge for cutting pins and handles that spring making for easy grip.   I personally like the soft covered handles, though others like the harder covered handles.  Around here, we tend to put our name on our favorite tools!

You can purchase these types of pliers in the tool section of most hardware stores. You can also find them in hobby stores in the jewelry making department.  

 Happy pinning!

-Nancy

Restoration Files - Glass Panels 0

This is a typical Maria Theresa style chandelier. The challenge with this chandelier restoration is that the chandelier came to us like this:

As you can see, every bit of crystal was stripped from the fixture in an attempt to restore it.  But, the owner was overwhelmed by the project, justifiably so, and brought it to us.

Here is Richie attaching the panels to the metal frame.  This was quite a process as he had to spend considerable time matching bends.   

Once the frame was rebuilt and covered, we began work on the crystal trimmings. Cleaning, re-pinning, and determining where each piece attaches is the last part of the restoration process.  

Here is the final product ...

Restoration Files - Just a Little Attention 0

This lovely crystal chandelier needed just a little attention.  It had one broken arm, but everything else was intact, so we dismantled and cleaned it, replaced the broken arm and rewired it. 

All the crystal was cleaned and sorted.

And, the finished product was beautiful.