Making Of Modern Steel Metal Vase

This video is sure to motivate amateur metal fabricators. It's a long way between the planning and the finished product, but in the end, all that hard work was worth it. The maker should rightly be proud.Show more

The faceted metal vase was inspired by modern art. It's quite marvelous how all those irregular angles nicely fit together. The video starts out showing a paper plan with many two dimensional shapes. We see the project name is Polygon Vase Set. Next, we see the craftsman sorting the pieces, now cut into their metal forms, into a coherent pattern on his work table.

The video is in slow motion, set to a synth rhythm. Putting a large metal vase together isn't a one-man job since we see multiple hands involved. Maybe the different roles, like designer and fabricator require unique skill sets? The video moves quickly through construction phases, so this isn't meant to be a tutorial as much as it is documentary.

Struts and braces are measured, cut, and welded together using precision techniques. The plan is referred to again to make sure we're doing it right! As the piece takes shape on the table, we can get a sense of scale against the two men bringing it to completion.

With every piece welded into place, it's time to grind out the rough corners and edges. Now we have to pause to admire the spirit of the vase. We have a sense of pride and relief seeing the imagination manifest itself into the real world. Only a day before this was just an idea in someone's mind.

There's one more stage after grinding, and that's polishing. The craftsman uses a buffing wheel to smooth down the surface, and finally polishes the metal structure to a silky finish. It's ready for painting!

The final part of the video shows the painting process, which is a kind of dance between the painter and his airbrush. This is a very sensitive stage, where the piece cannot be touch or contaminated by air born particles. It is hung on a rack like a side of beef, then rolled into the kiln. There's a lot more to ceramic coating than just spray painting. The kiln sets the ceramic coating by bringing it to high temperatures and then letting it gradually cool. This makes the coating hard as a rock. The kiln is quite a large space that can accommodate several other works, as well. May as well take advantage of all that extra space that would otherwise be unavailable for the day.

The time has come to take the vase out of the kiln. Our videographer shows it off, with close-ups. It's a work of art unto itself. At this point the craftsman's part in its construction is over, so we don't need any people in the final shots. We want to marvel at the elegant design, space and color it takes against the studio brick walls and wood floor.

Where will this vase spend the next years of its life, in a New York studio, or a museum? Maybe it will get the attention due in the foyer of a luxury hotel, or, just maybe, the private residence of its creator.