Draw the design on paper full size and this will depend on the diameter of the plate it is to hold. Find the length of the legs with your lead wire and measure and cut off the strips of iron accordingly. Likewise find the length of iron strips it will take for the ring and allow 1 inch or over for the lap joint.
Fig. 34. a sconce for a candle
Now drill ¹⁄₈ inch holes in each strip you intend to use for the legs, half way between the top and bottom of it and drill four holes in the ring at equi-distant points. Bend the strips into the artistic curves shown, using, of course, your round nose pliers to do it with, and bend the ring over a round form—a broomstick will do, but a larger form will work better.
Finally rivet the legs to the ring and see to it that you make a good job of it; slip the top of the legs into place over the plate and you will have a piece of Venetian iron work you can be proud of.
You can design and make pretty bent iron stands for vases in a manner very like that used for the plate holder; card racks, photograph frames, lamp shades, etc., can be made in the same manner; and as you become more adept at the work you can point and shape up the iron by heating it in an alcohol lamp, or a Bunsen burner and hammering it. When you can do this you will be able to make a sconce, that is, an ornamental mural[28] bracket for holding a candle as shown in [Fig. 34].
[28] Mural means anything that is supported by or has to do with a wall.
Further you can twist and weave the iron strips for the sides and doors of boxes and book-cases and either line them with silk or put stained glass back of them. In fact the most beautiful things imaginable can be wrought from bent iron strips especially when rivets are used to put the work together.
A Dead Black Finish for Iron Work.
—Get 25 cents’ worth of japan gold size and 10 cents’ worth of pure drop black ground in turpentine and mix them together.