Soldering Projects and Design Updates

Hello Everyone!

Its been a productive few weeks since my last post. In my last post I left off saying how I am going to have the house Laser Cut as well as the brass work. Since then, I decided to take things a bit further.... After getting some quotes back from some laser cutting placer here in Los Angeles, I realized that maybe I should look into an investment opportunity here and just purchase my own laser cutter. (The cost I was being quoted for the cutting was about half of the cost of a decent laser cutter) SO, with the help of family, I am currently in the process of purchasing my own Laser Cutter/Engraver!  I cannot even begin to tell you guys how excited I am! I have so many ideas of things to create that I feel like I am going to have to rent a bigger apartment!  From furniture to architectural details to a whole line of houses that I can easily reproduce with the click of a button! The possibilities are really endless.

Aside from the laser cutting, The brass etching was going to be just as expensive so I decided to experiment with soldering. I had never soldered anything before but it was something I always wanted to learn. I headed to my local hobby shop and picked up everything I would need including a bunch of brass rods and wire to start practicing! I watched a couple of youtube videos and tutorials on soldering and dove right in! There was a lot of trial and error and a lot of burnt fingertips along the way, but slowly I was starting to get the hang of it! After a week of practicing and making small things using jewelry findings and wire, I felt like I was confident enough to start making things for Casa California.

I decided to start with the Juliet Balconies in the front of the house. I always loved Juliet Balconies in their useless beauty.  On a trip to Barcelona a few years back all I remember of the buildings there is all the Juliet Balconies draped with plants and flowers and I knew I wanted that in my house.

THE JULIET BALCONIES

ABOVE: You can see the different types of brass I used....For the spiral wire, I ordered a few feet of twisted brass square wire used for bracelet making, the center design was a brass jewelry finding,  and the spindles are 3/64" brass tubing with 2mm brass beads glued on. 

ABOVE: I finished the balconies off with a 1/8" Flat wire as the railing, the spiral supports below and the actual flooring of the balconies.  After they were done, I sanded a few rough edges and threw them in the dishwasher to remove any flux and dust and prep for painting. 

ABOVE: I finished the balconies off with a few coats of Rustoleum Matte Black paint to give it that true iron look.  I plan on going over them again before installation with a rust colored paint to make them look old and weathered.  After finishing these, I can honestly say I am OBSESSED with soldering! Its instantly gratifying and totally worth the burnt fingertips.  My next piece will be the large balcony off the master bedroom. This one will be about 7 inches wide and 2.5 inches deep.

CASA CALIFORNIA DESIGN UPDATES

Since my last post, I had the chance to re-build the house in Google SketchUp using the exact measurements and wall thicknesses. This also gave me the chance to see the whole house in 3D and see if I needed to make any changes.  

ABOVE: The bare house. This is a model of all the Laser Cut Pieces Assembled. 

ABOVE (X2): Two angles of the front of the house with roof and more architectural details added. Still need to add the doors and windows to this model. The Juliet balconies will go on those two doorways to the left of the main entrance on the second floor. The initial changes since my last post include making a few windows bigger, making the stone Churrigueresque style entry slightly smaller, making the living-room/bedroom wing about 6 inched wider. and turning the old breakfast nook into a full sized breakfast room. The finished house will now be 67 inches wide, 27 inches deep and about 30 inches tall and have almost 3000 square inches of interior space spread over 12 rooms. 

ABOVE: Close-up shot of the front facade. You can see some of the tile detail on the stairway inside. 

ABOVE: A 360 Degree video of the house.  (I apologize for the quality) Here you can see the full layout of the house and all of the rooms. 

I hope you guys enjoy these updates and also this lovely fall weather!! For those celebrating Halloween, have a happy holiday and be safe and have fun!! Much Love!!

Chris Toledo