i need decorative plate holderhelp

[eco redneck]

hello every one

 

the other day a famly friend asked if i could make a plate holder for her

she wants it to look "old" so i dont want to use to many  modern techniques i would like to use some thing like two leaves holding it i need help with ideas for a final piece

 

if you have any ideas they would be greatly appreaceated as this is the first project for some one other than family

 

thanks eco

[John B]

Would that be to stand on a flat surface, or wall hang? Plate size?

[Michael]

That sounds totally doable. I'm picturing a V bend in some rod stock, a punched screw hole, two is probably better to keep it from turning on a single screw, and two arms angling down with upturned leaves on the ends. Bottom edge of the plate resting in the leaves, and leaned back against the wall.

 

Get a cheap plate or two from Goodwill to give you some sizing help.

[Metalsmith21]

Get a sketch pad and draw out some ideas, look up some on the internet, go to some antique stores in town and see what they have, use the ideas to make some drawings and get your customers opinion. and go from there

[eco redneck]

Get a sketch pad and draw out some ideas, look up some on the internet, go to some antique stores in town and see what they have, use the ideas to make some drawings and get your customers opinion. and go from there

the thing is that i cant draw if my life depended on it

[DSW]

The only ones I could think of are the cheap spring ones for hanging the plates on the wall, so I googled "forged plate holder image" and got a few images to look at. That might help you at least get some ideas to start from. I'll often play with the word combo and see if that pulls up something different, say " wrought iron plate holder image".

 

Once you get an idea of the basic design, then it's easy to make changes based on decoration or how you want to assemble the item.

[swedefiddle]

Merry Almost,

 

You need to have some idea of what she wants!! Does she want a holder, like for a book, to hold one plate?? or Does she want to hang 3 or 4 plates on a wall, one above another??

 

The magic about a pencil is nobody has to able to understand it other than you. it is easier to make some lines with a ruler and rub out the mark when it isn't what you wanted.

If you can't convey your thought to paper, find someone who can. Maybe the person who wants the project!! It is easier to make mistakes on paper than with steel.

 

You can't ask for help with an idea that you don't have.       I'll take two!!! :) :)

 

Neil

[DSW]

One of the 1st things they taught us in our design classes at college was to get in the habit of sketching. I can draft beautifully, but can't "draw" to save my life, though I've gotten better with dedicated practice. That doesn't matter with sketching though how poorly I "draw".

 

We'd go thru big rolls of "trace". It's cheap ( well relatively so..) and you can layer stuff and see thru it so if there's something you like, you can simply trace over it and work on other parts you don't. It comes in small 8 or 12" rolls, or huge 36 or 48" rolls depending on what you need. I like to work with a soft pencil like a "B" or softer, but Sharpie markers are my 2nd favorite. The soft pencil leaves a nice bold line that's easy to erase or alter if you don't get something quite right the 1st time. I had one instructor though who insisted we only sketch in Sharpie. He said you can trust your instincts. You know what you want to do in your subconscious, but your mind is preventing you from getting it out. By working with something you can't erase, and getting over your indecision to lay something down on paper, even if it's "wrong" you train yourself to express yourself and it gets easier with time.

 

I still "doodle" and fill notebooks and scrap pieces of paper with elements of projects that I'm trying to figure out or determine how to assemble them. Now if I have the ability to, I'll sketch with chalk on the steel table vs with trace. Trace though works well in the office and is easy and cheap to pin up to use as a guide when working out the final design.