A few entries back, I posted about some tree shelf brackets that I've been working on. Here's how they turned out! 
I used a U shaped beam at the top. The shelf should be routed to fit over the u shape, so that it looks like the tree is going right up into the shelf.
The shelf brackets are large, about 30 inches high with a shelf support length of 12 inches. Surprisingly enough, they are not very heavy. I specifically designed them to be strong, but also to be lightweight.
Let me back up a little. When the client first approached me about the project, I sure "sure!" jumping in headfirst like I usually do, without thinking about it enough. I originally thought I would use branch textured bar stock. Then I realized a few things.
- I don't have a power hammer anymore, so it would be terribly difficult to for me to texture my own bar stock like I used to.
- Those would be heavy! I'm trying to avoid heavy.
- Propane is very expensive right now, so that means hot forging is very expensive for me. I've been adapting my work to use much less propane.
So I started to re-think the process. At first I thought I would use plain un-textured bar stock. Still that would use lots of propane for forging and would be heavy. Then I thought, well I'll just buy the bar stock. That was a mistake. That supposedly "branch textured" bar stock from King Metals is UGLY and doesn't look at all like a branch. Finally I realized, I need to go back to the rough anticlastic technique that I've used in the past to make hollow twig/branch forms, in both large and small sizes. I used to use it a lot for steel work, but I only have the pictures as slides, with no slide-scanner. If you look back through my jewelry pages on flickr, you can see the technique on the twiggy copper bracelets and on many of my leaf stem pendant bails.
Basically, I cut asymmetrical long strips of metal. Then I shape them over the step of my anvil into a tube shape. To finish up, I close up the tube, letting the metal overlap and wrinkle at the edges. I also hammer around the hollow tube form, to create more texture and form. This creates a surprisingly strong and lightweight hollow form, that is very organic and convincing as a branch form.
I agonized over this for ages before I started! I hadn't done it large scale in so long and I was worried that it might not work after all the effort I put into it. But as you can see from the pictures above, it worked beautifully!
I was so pleased after I finished the brackets, that I even created a few small steel branch sculptures, and a candleholder, using the same technique. Click on each photo for full details.
All in all, it's turned out to be a great example of how a challenging project can lead to exciting new directions, or exciting new takes on old directions.
