How to make a brass bird cage dress in twenty-five easy steps

Step 17 Then came the tricky part...

Soldering the top of the cage was a real challenge due to the double layers. The heat from the propane torch would separate joints that were already soldered, so I had to clamp down completed joints and try to absorb some of the heat with a wet cloth. It was pretty painstaking and progress was slow.

Many a tiny spring clamp gave its life for this part of the process - the c-clamps were too large to use in the tight areas. The spring clamps just couldn't take the heat, but were thankfully strong enough to temporarily hold down the sections that were catching indirect fire.