Spinning a metal shade in Bhiwandi

Every metal pendant we sell begins as a flat circle of mild steel or brass sheet, cut to size in a small workshop in Bhiwandi, about an hour north of our studio. Ramesh has spun metal there for thirty years, and he makes our shades two days a week.

Spinning is old and simple in principle. The disc is clamped against a wooden form, called a chuck, in the shape of the finished shade, and both turn together on a lathe at several hundred revolutions a minute. Ramesh presses the metal against the form with a long steel tool, braced on a pin and his shoulder. The disc bends slowly onto the chuck, a little more with each pass, until it takes its shape. A 28 cm shade takes about eight minutes of spinning.

It looks easy and is not. Press too hard and the metal thins or tears; too lightly and it wrinkles at the edge. Ramesh judges by sound and by the feel of the tool in his hands. He trims the rim on the lathe, rolls it over for strength and drills the top for the lampholder.

The shades come to our studio in batches of forty. Here they are cleaned, primed and powder-coated matt black on the outside, while the inside is brushed and lacquered brass, or left brass all over for our solid brass pieces. Then they are wired, fitted and run for eight hours before they ship. Ramesh’s initials are scratched inside each shade, if you look closely.