The lamp came in looking about the same as it did after the first fall .. A bit like a taco, with cracked and broken pieces on two sides.
The dent in the side is clearly visible here. I've marked the cracked pieces with bits of blue tape.
Wearing gloves and using even pressure, I carefully pulled the lamp outward, back into its round shape.
After assessing the damage, I started removing the cracked pieces of the upper dome. Here the piece on the right has been replaced and I'm tugging off the old solder and foil on the adjacent piece. Whenever a piece of glass is replaced, its necessary to remove all old solder and foil and clean off any remaining adhesive from the borders.
After each piece of the dome was removed and the edges cleaned, I used manila folder paper to trace a template for the new glass. Here I've taped each new template above the areas where the new glass will be placed.
I've applied new copper foil to the inner border.
Now the white pieces of the dome have been replaced and soldered. Note that the lamp has retained its round shape. As each dome piece was removed, the lamp "relaxed" into its proper shape.
Now I'm working on the border. There were numerous pieces of green, white and amber that needed replacement. They're marked here with blue tape. I've removed a few pieces of white and green and have foiled the edges as before.
This piece of wire which is soldered to the outer edge of the lamp is a structural element which has to be maintained. As I opened up this area, I noted that the wire was overlapped. When I replaced that glass, I re-soldered it in place.
As I worked my way around the border, it was necessary to remove more pieces of green. At this point, I opted to replace that segment of wire with a stronger one.
Here all the pieces are foiled and ready to be soldered. They're kept in place with wide blue tape. I've set the lamp in a large box of packing peanuts so that I can solder it properly, face up.
Now that the pieces have been soldered, I laid a stronger segment of wire over the newly replaced piece of green glass. I've taped it down on the edge so that when I soldered it, the wire bonded directly to the edge. This gives the glass its structure and strength and also maintains its round shape.
Now that all the cracked and broken pieces have been replaced and soldered, I'm applying black patina using a metal acid brush. After the patina is applied, I clean it off, then wax the entire lamp.
And here it is! After two bad falls and extensive repairs, its back in action again.
Mike, I appreciate your bringing the lamp back to me .. Let's hope that little Patrick is bored with the lamp by now .. But if not, you know where to bring it. Thank you again!
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