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Usual lead times

A note about August
August, in Mireille's words

We close from the 1st to the 24th of August. The steam iron goes off, I go down to my sister's in the Drôme and I try very hard not to make anything with my hands for three weeks. If you post a frame to us during that time it is perfectly safe; it waits on the shelf by the door and it is the first thing I open when I'm back.

Mireille

These are the usual lead times, and the quote gives the real date for your shade. A new welded frame adds one week to any of them. The workshop also closes from 24 December to 2 January.

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Fig. 8 · ElevationThe frame from Fig. 3, stripped
The same old empire frame stripped back to bare wire, with cotton binding tape wound around half of the top ring and a loose end hanging down. The struts, washer eye and bottom ring are bare. Top ring, half bound Cotton binding tape Washer eye Bare strut Bottom ring
Fig. 8Stripped back to bare wire, with new cotton binding tape half wound round the top ring. Everything the cover is sewn to is wrapped like this first.

Recovering

The Frame Is the Expensive Part, and It Is Usually Fine

Most old shades are thrown out for a cover that has split or yellowed, while the wire frame underneath is as good as the day it was made.

A frame from a flea market or a grandmother's lamp is usually heavier and better made than anything sold today, and it was bent to suit that lamp. Stripping it and dressing it again keeps the proportions that made the lamp look right. Recovering a drum or straight-sided frame up to 30 cm costs €85 to €120. When a frame is past saving, a new one is bent and welded to measure, and the new shades page covers that.

Is it worth saving

What Can Be Mended

Five things that turn up on old frames, and what each one means for the price.

01Surface rustRepairable

Brown spots and a rough feel under the old tape. It is wire brushed off and the frame is repainted, which is part of the usual stripping price.

Adds
Nothing beyond stripping, €35 to €70
02Bent strutsRepairable

A strut knocked inwards, or a frame that sits crooked on the lamp. Struts are straightened cold against a line on the bench, one at a time, until the rings sit parallel again.

Adds
Included in stripping and straightening
03A lifted weldUsually repairable

A strut that has come away from a ring. The metalworker nearby re-welds it, usually within the week, and the frame comes back to be stripped and dressed.

Adds
€25 to €60 and about one week
04A rusted-through ringReplaced

When the ring itself has rusted through, it cannot carry a sewn cover, and patching it only moves the problem. The frame is copied in new wire to the same measurements instead.

Adds
A new frame, €25 to €60, and one week
05A missing gimbal or washerRepairable

The part that sits on the lamp has gone, or no longer fits it. A new fitting is fitted to match your lamp.

Adds
€18 for a new fitting

What happens to it

Five Steps on the Bench

  1. Stripping

    The old cover, lining and tape come off, and the glue and thread go with them. Anything worth knowing, a maker's stamp or an old repair, is noted.

  2. Straightening

    Each strut is checked against a straight line and brought back true, and the rings are set parallel.

  3. Repainting

    The wire is cleaned of rust and painted, white or brass coloured, so nothing marks the new cover from the inside.

  4. Binding

    Both rings and every strut are wound in cotton binding tape, tight and overlapping, so there is something to sew into.

  5. Dressing

    The new cover is pinned on, pulled even, sewn to the rings by hand and lined, and the edges are finished.

Fig. 9 · VignettesFive steps
Five small numbered drawings in a column: stripping the old fabric off a strut, straightening a bent strut against a citron line, repainting the wire with a brush, binding the ring in cotton tape, and dressing it with a cover held by pins. 01 Stripping 02 Straightening 03 Repainting 04 Binding 05 Dressing
Fig. 9From old cover to new, in the order the work is done.

From the bench

A Pair of Bell Frames From the Beaujolais

Two bell frames came in from a farmhouse in the Beaujolais, wrapped in a feed sack, with covers so brittle they fell off in pieces when I lifted them. One strut was bent almost flat, and both had a century of fly dirt on the wire. Underneath they were beautiful: hand-bent, heavier than anything made now, and a matched pair to within a few millimetres. They took two weeks of evenings to strip and straighten. I dressed them in an undyed linen that goes the colour of honey when the lamps are on, and they went back to the same farmhouse table they had stood on since before the war.

Mireille

Recovering prices

What It Costs

Every other price is on the full price list.

  • Recovering a drum or straight-sided frameUp to 30 cm across, in linen or cotton€85 to €120
  • Stripping, straightening and repaintingWith new cotton binding tape, depending on struts and damage€35 to €70
  • New frame bent and welded to measureOn top of the cover price€25 to €60
  • Changing a fitting€18
  • Double-boxed posting, mainland FranceBelgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland €60 to €80€35 to €55

Sending a frame

Packing It for the Post

  • Use two boxes, one inside the other, with crumpled paper between them.
  • Fill the frame loosely with crumpled paper too, so the rings cannot be crushed.
  • Leave the old cover on if it is still in one piece; it shows how the shade was made.
  • Put your name and the quote number on a label tied to a strut.

The posting address is sent by email once a quote is accepted. Frames sent in August wait safely on the shelf by the door until the workshop reopens. To start, write with photographs.

Next

Where to Go From Here

See where the frames go once they arrive, or send photographs of yours.