The below announcement was sent out to collectors that purchased one or more of Harry's lighthouses. You would also have seen pictures and read this announcement if you were receiving my Harbour Lights Volumes. If you want to see pictures please send me an email at flacoastie@embarqmail.com and I will send some to you. If you want to order the lens send an email to Harry at Harry(harry@harryhine.com) or fill out the contact information on his website.
HHSL001 Toledo Harbor, OH Lighthouse Lens (cont.)
Therefore the piece is 100% American made, of 97% American made materials, by an Englishman!
"How hard could it be to make?" What a silly question. The answer is that it's bloody hard and takes a very long time. Not including the many hours of mould making and hand casting and fettling of each component, there are about 12 hours of hand painting and assembly.
The lens is made up of eleven separate castings. Each casting naturally shrinks and expands when it cures based on the outside temperature and the size of the piece. Getting them to fit together as a single flawless piece has made my head spin at times!
Take clear resin casting for example. On the face of it, it sounds simple. Take a mold, mix up some resin, pour it into the mold, let it set and voila, a lovely clear lens. Heck no, that's just not the case. Do that and it comes out cloudy and full of bubbles.
The real answer is to make sure that the humidity is not over 60% and the temperature is below 75F. Now very carefully and accurately mix the two parts of the resin together, now tint the resin with a pin prick of dye to get that lovely raw glass green hue. Next you have to pour the resin in to molds that have been preheated for two hours at 350F. Then, before the resin starts to thicken you put the molds into a steel canister, bolt the lid down and pump in high pressure air to shrink all the air bubbles. Now wait for 12 hours before the castings are hard enough to take out of the chamber, pop the molds under a heat lamp for a further 3 hours to finish the curing of the resin, de-mold the parts and start the process all over again.
From casting to fettling, painting to assembling, challenges presented themselves that I just had not foreseen. But finally I think I've solved most of them and am ready to reveal to the world some photos of my efforts. It really has been a learning process and to be quite honest a lot of fun.
TOLEDO HARBOR LENS DETAILS
Edition size: 300 or less. I'll retire this piece in a few months even if the edition size is not sold through.
Dimensions: 8 3/4 inches tall, 6 inches wide, 5 inches deep
Lighting: The lens is lit with an LED that is powered by 3 AAA. (There is no socket for an electrical adapter).
Price: $200.00
Shipping $ 19.50
TOTAL COST $219.50
As I mentioned above,
if you are interested in purchasing the Toledo Harbor Lens, please send me an e-mail and I'll in turn send you an e-mail invoice. Please don't feel that you need to purchase this piece to secure the continuation of your edition number on future lighthouse pieces. The guarantee of the same edition number is based on the lighthouse sculptures only. This lens is outside of that plan.
You've made it to the bottom of the e-mail. Sorry for rambling on so long and thanks for bearing with me. I can't really begin to properly express my gratitude to all the collectors that have supported me on this new venture, but what I can say is THANK YOU.
Very best regards,
Harry Hine
www.harryhine.com
