Print PDF
Favorite
Email
Step 2Creating the Wire Frame
The floral wire should be fairly stiff, but still bendable. If possible, get it in straight rods and in black as shown in the materials image.
Create the Front Legs:
Take one rod and bend it in half around a 0.5" inch dowel/object (felt pen in image). It should double back on itself. This will form the two front turret legs and a little "seat-back" for the egg to rest on.
Bend the two straight portions as shown, to achieve the front portal turret leg shape. Don't worry about pointing the legs at angles or trimming the excess yet as we will trim and adjust them later. Put aside for now.
Create a ring to hold the egg:
Take another length of wire and bend it around a dowel/object into a ring for your target egg size. Let some wire overlap as shown. This ring will cup the egg about 1cm below the widest point, so use a dowel/object that matches your target egg size. My eggs are "Large" so my ring is 1.5" inches in diameter.
Clip the excess wire from the ring to make handling it easier.
Attach the ring to the Front Legs:
Gently place the egg in the ring then hold the front legs wire to the ring, where the ring overlaps itself. Adjust the ring placement until it looks like a good placement for the egg and legs. The egg should sit over the legs as the turret body would. Pay careful attention to the balance; we don't want the egg cup to tip forward when the egg is in place. See the images.
Using the thin aluminium wire, securely wrap the Front Legs and ring together. See the image.
Create the Back Leg:
Take the leftover wire from the ring (or a new wire) and bend it until the Back Leg shape is achieved. A dowel of 0.25" inch can be used. I used a ball point pen.
Attach the Back Leg to the ring:
Bend the top of the Back Leg wire so that it meets with the ring, between the two Front legs and is placed nicely, according to the reference pictures. Check the potential balance again. We don't want the egg cup to tip backward when the egg is in place.
Using the thin aluminium wire, securely wrap the Back Leg to the ring like we did with the Front Legs.
Cement the wires together:
Using the adhesvise of your choice, coat all the wire wrapped areas. This is to give better rigidity to the egg cup and to prevent loose wire wobbling. You could choose not to glue the wires or to use a hot glue gun for this, but it may not give as strong a hold.
Use the helping third hand or vise to hold the wire frame in place while the adhesive sets.
Trim and adjust the wires:
Once the adhesive on the wire frame is fully set, then trim all the legs so that they are equal lengths and make a level egg cup. The legs may need to be bent to achieve the correct shape and for balance. The Front Legs should be bent slightly outwards. See image.
This wire frame is the entire support for the egg, so make sure it's stabile before moving on the decoration steps.
Create the Front Legs:
Take one rod and bend it in half around a 0.5" inch dowel/object (felt pen in image). It should double back on itself. This will form the two front turret legs and a little "seat-back" for the egg to rest on.
Bend the two straight portions as shown, to achieve the front portal turret leg shape. Don't worry about pointing the legs at angles or trimming the excess yet as we will trim and adjust them later. Put aside for now.
Create a ring to hold the egg:
Take another length of wire and bend it around a dowel/object into a ring for your target egg size. Let some wire overlap as shown. This ring will cup the egg about 1cm below the widest point, so use a dowel/object that matches your target egg size. My eggs are "Large" so my ring is 1.5" inches in diameter.
Clip the excess wire from the ring to make handling it easier.
Attach the ring to the Front Legs:
Gently place the egg in the ring then hold the front legs wire to the ring, where the ring overlaps itself. Adjust the ring placement until it looks like a good placement for the egg and legs. The egg should sit over the legs as the turret body would. Pay careful attention to the balance; we don't want the egg cup to tip forward when the egg is in place. See the images.
Using the thin aluminium wire, securely wrap the Front Legs and ring together. See the image.
Create the Back Leg:
Take the leftover wire from the ring (or a new wire) and bend it until the Back Leg shape is achieved. A dowel of 0.25" inch can be used. I used a ball point pen.
Attach the Back Leg to the ring:
Bend the top of the Back Leg wire so that it meets with the ring, between the two Front legs and is placed nicely, according to the reference pictures. Check the potential balance again. We don't want the egg cup to tip backward when the egg is in place.
Using the thin aluminium wire, securely wrap the Back Leg to the ring like we did with the Front Legs.
Cement the wires together:
Using the adhesvise of your choice, coat all the wire wrapped areas. This is to give better rigidity to the egg cup and to prevent loose wire wobbling. You could choose not to glue the wires or to use a hot glue gun for this, but it may not give as strong a hold.
Use the helping third hand or vise to hold the wire frame in place while the adhesive sets.
Trim and adjust the wires:
Once the adhesive on the wire frame is fully set, then trim all the legs so that they are equal lengths and make a level egg cup. The legs may need to be bent to achieve the correct shape and for balance. The Front Legs should be bent slightly outwards. See image.
This wire frame is the entire support for the egg, so make sure it's stabile before moving on the decoration steps.
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
 |
Add Comment
|
