Continuing her study of the Skeleton Corset from last month, Amanda demonstrates how to make this very unique busk step by step at home.
While the original busk was probably made in a factory using power tools, Amanda reproduces it using with hand tools, which are easily acquired at your local hardware store if you don’t already have them at home.
|
The busk is one of the most interesting aspects of this particular skeleton corset. I had never seen one like it before, so immediately started analyzing it. When I acquired the corset, one of the hooks was off the busk and tied to an eye. Another hook was totally missing! Being the inquisitive type, I removed both busk sides and all the hooks and eyes, since after all it was designed to be removed! |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
| The actual measurements of the busk are: Thickness 0.0225" (6mm) Width 0.5" (13mm) Length 11.5" (29.2cm) Eye Measurements: |
Hook Side Measurements: Hook Thickness 0.04" (1mm)
|
The original busk was made in a factory, though probably not in great numbers as it is not a familiar style of busk. I haven’t worked with simple metal since a single jewelry making class in high school a decade ago, but I felt confident that I could make it by myself at home. And with the exception of one slot for the hook done by my husband (because he wanted to, not because I needed him to!) I did make this all by myself.
The method I will describe is for working with hand tools, which are easily acquired at your local hardware store if you don’t already have them at home. If you have the skills to work with power tools, you will likely want to change a few processes to fit your tools.
Many of the tools can also be found at Micro-Mark, a miniature tool catalog that I find in my mailbox during the year. Some tools are useful to the corsetmaker or costumer, like proportional dividers for scaling up graphed patterns by hand, as well as grading by hand. They also sell the brass tube, rod and sheet.
Materials:
 |
Tools:
|
Take care to follow the manufacturer's safety advice when using all tools and materials. If you don't have metalwork experience, we strongly suggest that you carry out this project under the watchful supervision of an experienced practitioner, since safety advice and detailed instruction on metalworking is outside the scope of this website.
The Hook
| Make cuts in the order they are numbered. Layout is for right-handed cutting, mirror for left-handed cutting. |  |
|
|
|
|
1. Color the sheet with marker so you can see the scribed marking better (below). Cut out the template and position it on the brass sheet. Scribe around to produce guidelines. Fold on the line to get the back edge. Do not separate from the long ‘tail’. |
2. Keep your saw at an angle to the sheet, not perpendicular to it. |
|
3. Cuts 1 and 2 are made first. |
4. Cut 3 should be just shy of the intersection. Make sure cut 4 is past the edge when you make cut 5. |
|
5. Cut 6 is the hardest to make since the piece is no longer attached to the rest of the sheet. This is where the vise comes in handy. |
6. Cut 6 finished. After the hook is fully cut out, place the big file on the table and file the edges of the hook smooth and the end round. |
 |
 |
 |
7. Next, cut the tubing piece. Once again, color and use the template to scribe. |
|
8. Position in the miter box and cut the tubing (right). You might as well do all six at the same time (more if you want to have room for error). Cutting the tubing is faster and easier than cutting the sheet for the hooks. File the edges against the big file. |
 |
|
9. Put the cut tube in the vise, cut ends against the walls, as you are not flattening it just yet. |
10. Color a swath of the tubing, use the hook portion as your guide, and scribe where the slot needs to go. |
|
11. Drill two holes to start the slot and then file it to fit, testing the hook occasionally. |
12. The finished slot for the hook. |
|
13. When you have a good fit, turn the tube in the vice so the sides of the tube are against the walls, make sure the slot is at the top and gently squeeze it till it is an oval shape that you can fit the hook inside of. |
14. Testing the hook through the slot. |
|
The finished opening of the tube will depend on the thickness of your bones. The ends that are dipped are thicker than the actual bone so that is the thickness you want. |
16. If you can get your hands on a pair of calipers (preferably digital) you will be able to measure this quite easily. To be on the safe side, measure both ends of each bone and use the largest measurement. Then use a strip of scrap metal as a spacer when you hammer the tube the rest of the way flat. In my case the .04” brass stock was a good guide so I just cut a piece of that off the width of my bones. |
| 17. (Right) Use your pliers to bend the hook into the proper shape. I just eyeballed it. The pliers will leave marks on the hook so file them off, and do a last filing of the tubing edges to make sure they will not snag your fabric. |  |
The Eye
Start with a ring of tubing, put it in the vice so the sides of the tube are against the walls and gently squeeze it till it is an oval shape, but not to the full extent though.
Insert your bone spacing scrap and flatten with a hammer. Flatten one end all the way flat. This is where the eye goes.
Use the hook portion as your guide and scribe where the slot needs to go. Secure the eye to a piece of scrap wood (masking tape will work) and drill 4 holes to make the eye and then file it to fit, testing the hook occasionally. This hole needs to be wider than the slot made for the hook, but you don’t want it to wiggle up and down. Do a last filing of the tubing edges to make sure they will not snag your fabric.
The Finished Busk
 |
 |
Optional Steps for a Better Reproduction:
You will notice that my reproduction of the busk eye looks a bit different from the original. This bothered me, so I re-thought how I went about making it and talked to my husband and brother-in-law, who took machining classes in college, and I came up with an easy way to make it better.
|
In addition to all the tools and material listed above, you will need masking tape and 3/32” (2mm) brass rod. |
The method for making the eye part does not change, just the method for making the hook. After you have inserted the hook in the slot and flattened the tubing, tape the 3/32” (2mm) rod to the anvil about 3/16” (5mm) from the edge. |
|
Insert your spacer for the bones and shove it to the far side, tape in place so it can’t wiggle out. Then place the empty portion of the tube between the hook and the spacer over the rod and tape to the anvil. |
Hit it with the hammer and flip around, lining it up and whack once more with the hammer. This should indent the tubing between the spacer and the hook. |
Then bend the hook. Bending the hook is likely to open the gap, so you will need to repeat the narrowing process, but it is easier to do that once you have already defined where it is to be narrowed. Trust me, I had already made two when I decided to change them.
This not only looks more like the originals, but it means that the bones are not sliding around inside the tube as much. If you are using wider bones, you may need to go up a size in brass tube.
After the pieces are finished, feel free to polish them up. My husband decided he wanted to polish mine up for the fun of it with his Dremel. The one on the right is polished; you can still see all the little scratches from making on the left one.
add
Subscribe
RSS
Very ambitious. I'm sure my husband would get a kick out of this if I try it :)
