BuckToonz

A New Look for a Minimalist Acoustic Guitar

2018-09-13T15:02:00.000-05:00

Today's post is a quick run-down of my experiment in refurbishing a cheap travel guitar found on an online auction. The end result will be a better looking and playing instrument. Travel guitars are scaled down versions of standard guitars but minimized for compactness. As the the name indicates these are guitars that are made to leave home with you. Great for a day in the park, the beach, hiking, camping etc. I named mine "Roadie". I like the design challenge that a travel guitar presents: How does one get the most guitar in the smallest possible package while still maintaining playability and a decent tone? The answer to that challenge results in some interesting designs. Prices range from $30-$300 depending upon the materials and quality of the build. My guitar is much closer to the $30 end of the spectrum and sounds like a guitar-meets-a banjo-meets-a-ukulele.

This particular travel guitar has high mileage on it. The frets are pretty worn down but I won't worry about that now. The original black paint was worn thin and had faded to a charcoal gray. Cheap guitars are often painted in order to cover up the lack of a nice wood grain. My goal was to do a re-finish and some small upgrades so I can have a knock-around guitar that won't take up much space in the house. Something that I don't have to handle carefully and is on hand and ready to play when the mood strikes me.

The hours upon hours of sanding required was made more bearable by watching good movies, listening to music and generally zoning out. Ultimately all of the featureless wood grain was revealed. No surprise there.

I did a bit of experimental staining using a coffee and tea mixture on the back. It took multiple coats and did not give me the results I was hoping for, but still better than the tired, old, black paint. In the end the only staining that remained was on the guitar top and head-stock. The rest was spray painted a dark burgundy.

All new tuners and a natural bone nut were installed. Roadie now stays in tune much better than before and the bone nut has tightened up and improved the sound a bit.

Nylon strings replaced the original steel strings, because I like the warm sound and comfortable feel. Also, less tension is required by nylon strings, and less tension is easier on the structure of this old guitar.

Total investment for materials and upgraded parts about $20. Roadie will be a good platform for future upgrades like a string tree, a piezo pick up and what will be my first attempt at a re-fretting job. More about that later.

Vintage Hawaiian Punch Ukulele

2018-04-07T17:37:00.000-05:00

This uke was made with a vintage Hawaiian Punch Lunch box. The lunch box opens up and can be used for storing such things as: extra strings, a tuner, or even an adult beverage. Sold on eBay to a Uke player & collector. He said this one was a "must have" as it is so unlike anything else in his collection.

"Inaccessible"

2017-08-14T19:57:00.003-05:00

Creating a sense of mystery and controlling the viewer's access to a piece. This project involved : a tarp, dog kennel, padlock, black sheets, and an unidentified shape. A Bluetooth device hidden inside broadcast strange rustling, scratching, scraping, sounds coming from within. I never revealed what was inside the cage.

ever revealed what was in the cage.

Cigar Box Guitar #3 - "Lois Rose"

2017-08-14T19:51:00.001-05:00

This cigar-box guitar was built as a player for myself and not as art piece like my first CBG. Although my first CBG is very playable and has a nice tone, I prefer to not play it so that it will remain in excellent condition. This is the first I've made use of an actual cigar box. The body of this guitar was provided by my Great Aunt Lois who kept some of her jewelry in this box. The box must be decades old as the original brand imprint has faded to nothing. There is the remnant of a label which I left in place because it looks so cool. Outside of the sound holes, I didn't want to cut too much into the box for sentimental reasons. Here was a good opportunity to try out what is called a "Flying Bridge". The bridge came out of a DIY guitar kit from C.B. Gitty. It allows the neck to sit on top of the body.

Contraption - A Found Object Sound Generator

2017-08-14T19:45:00.001-05:00

A found object sound generator. From where the audience was standing, they could hear the acoustic sound front of them. From above and behind they could hear the processed sound. The processed sound was coming from a small hidden amplifier hidden. It created a very unusual effect.
Watch a short Video here...

Cigar Box Ukuleles: The Simpsons Tribute & Happy Face Lunch Box

2016-12-14T20:58:00.000-06:00

I built my first CBG four years ago this month. Building these instruments has led me down a very interesting path. CBGs have become a real passion, bordering on obsession. Making music from unusual objects is a fascinating and gratifying pursuit. I look around me and when I see different objects I'm always asking myself, "How could I make this thing into a musical instrument? What kind of sound would be produced?" Every CBG builder loves that anticipation. We never know for sure how something will sound until we string it up and try it out. That's the mystery and the beauty of it.

Here are two ukuleles made with some parts purchased from C.B. Gitty and found objects. The Simpsons uke makes use of a Simpsons Trivia Game box for the body. A large tin box with such wonderful graphics like this one is just begging to be repurposed. Visually, this is my favorite uke build so far.

See and hear the uke demos on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3Dg_PZfXg_E

The graphics are so important to the look of this uke, that I didn't want to ruin the effect by placing a large sound hole in the top of the box. Instead I opted to use multiple, smaller, sound holes and locate them on all sides of the body. I've never tried this before and it worked. Every build is different and each one has lessons to teach me.

The neck is attached to an interior support structure which I like to call "the back bone". I build this into all of my ukes to ensure body integrity.

I found this reproduction of a vintage lunch box at my favorite re-sale shop. This uke has a fun look about it and makes a particularly nice sound.

"Water Works"

2016-09-15T20:59:00.001-05:00

Project #1 Senior Semester-2

While researching sound artists such as Liz Philips, a pioneer in the early days of Sound Art, I came across a large-scale installation of floating crystal bowls by Celeste Bousier-Mougenot. It was her piece that became the inspiration for my project. Genuine crystal "singing bowls" are very expensive, and were not in the budget for this project. So I spent some time at a Bed, Bath & Beyond, tapping and clinking different ceramic bowls together until I found some that I liked.

I put a condenser microphone on the side of the metal tub, and processed the sound using reverb and chorus guitar effect pedals. This device turned out to be one of the most popular and well received projects I have ever made. This project was one of four projects that I presented at the Senior Sculpture Art Show. This brief video is a part of the documentation required by my professors.

The only critique on this project related to my use of 2x4's to raise the platform high enough so the amp would fit underneath. It was strongly suggested that if I had to include them, that they should have been painted black. But, for the Senior Sculpture Show I eliminated the boards entirely by merely using a much smaller guitar amp.

Two Ukes, a Kalimba, and a Can-Jo, Walked Into a Bar...

2016-08-27T19:39:00.000-05:00

The following are all cigar-box guitar style builds for a friend of mine who is a music educator in South China, where she teaches music theory and performance to children. All the instruments were built using basic kit parts available at C.B. Gitty. The kits are quite flexible and the builds were all modified as I went along in order to make them more interesting in sound and appearance.

The original can that came with the Can-Jo kit was replaced with

a child's lunchbox.

The Kalimba (Thumb Piano) made with a cigar box.

Large, deep, cookie-tins were used for the Uke bodies.

I was concerned that the string tension might collapse the uke body so I built

an internal brace for attaching the neck.

"It Could Get Loud" - Final Project Senior Semester-1

2016-08-26T20:31:00.001-05:00

Mineral Oil does not conduct electricity. This little factoid came up during a conversation with a friend, and it became the inspiration for my Final Project for the Fall '15 semester. Apparently, mineral oil lacks the necessary electrons to conduct electricity, which makes it possible to put any electrical device into a bath of mineral oil, and that device will continue to function perfectly. Mineral oil is used as a coolant in large computer systems and has many other industrial applications.

After doing some research and networking I got exceedingly lucky and was able to obtain 20 gallons of Food-Grade mineral oil for free! Food-Grade means that it is completely non-toxic, harmless stuff, and is safe for human consumption. Normally the oil sells for $50-90 per gal. depending upon the source and grade of the oil. The particular oil that I got is used as hydraulic fluid in machines and vehicles that operate in environmentally sensitive areas such as wetlands.

The original prototype with a small electric fan to circulate the oil.

This project was very exciting for me. It is counter-intuitive to see an electrical appliance in a liquid medium, and a working one at that! And, what kind of bizarre sound will be generated by all of this? I was advised by an instructor to be aware of aesthetics, and make my piece look more music-oriented and less like a science project. He suggested that I play up the "absurdity" of my idea by making a large speaker-box façade to encase the amplifier.

A heavy plastic cart was purchased and assembled. The cart would provide a structure around which to to attach the speaker box façade. The build needed to be very sturdy to support the combined weight of the fish tank with 15-20 gallons of oil (approx. 160 lbs.) and the bass amplifier (35-40 lbs.). After the box was completed, it was moved from the wood shop into my private studio for sound experimentation and final assembly. Generally I like to work in private and will not discuss or show too much to the other students of what I'm currently working on. I also like to include some small thing or aspect that even my professors don't know about. This makes for a more spontaneous and genuine reaction from everyone at critique time, and sets up the "Oh Wow" moment rather nicely.

Almost all of my time and effort on this project went into sourcing the materials and building the speaker-box façade. Fortunately, I'm very familiar with the proper look and materials that go into making sound reinforcement equipment. I had to build the façade as if it were the real thing using: heavy plywood, black carpet, a speaker grill, large casters/wheels, plastic porting tubes, and metal corner protectors.

I received some much needed help from my grad student mentor who had done upholstery work before. She was able to teach me some methods and techniques that made the work go quickly.

The fun and easy part would come last; finding out what kind of sound would be produced and then doing additional sound processing if need be. I honestly had no idea what to expect sound-wise once everything was plugged in and turned on.

A bass guitar was hooked up to the amp and placed into the oil bath; and a small electric fan submerged along with it. The fan was turned on and running but was not strong enough to circulate the oil properly. I really wanted a strong current to push across and against the bass strings. Next, I tried a small hair dryer a got similarly disappointing results. So I finally wised up and bought a heavy duty aquarium pump. The pump worked great, but the strings still did not vibrate as much as I was hoping for due to the viscosity (density) of the oil. The sound that was produced was a deep humming drone caused primarily by the electric motor in the pump creating interference with the electromagnetic pick-ups on the bass. Ok, the deep droning sound was not quite what I was expecting but I had to work with what I got, for there was only one more working day left before the critique.

I then experimented with a variety of guitar effect pedals to enhance the basic sound. After some trial and error the winning combination was an inexpensive Flanger and an Electro-Harmonix B-9 Organ Emulator.

Turn up the volume of your speakers or better yet use headphones or earbuds for the best aural experience while watching the VIDEO.

To really appreciate the full effect one must actually be in the room where the sound can be heard and felt. When my critique group first heard the sound they stood very still, as if mesmerized, and rooted to the spot. My audience said that the sound was very compelling and yet somewhat disorienting at the same time. Some people said they felt themselves getting lost within the sound. Soon after that, everyone wanted to put their hands on the tank and feel the vibrations.

"Nut Job"

2016-04-09T18:11:00.000-05:00

Since the early days of the the University of Houston some eighty plus years ago, there has been a very large and well established squirrel population. Generation upon generation of squirrels living in very close proximity to the humans on campus has made the squirrels quite tame. Students are not supposed to be feeding the squirrels but people find it hard not to interact with them.They are very cute and entertaining after all. Unfortunately most people hand-feed the squirrels junk food. This has made the squirrels into fat little beggars. In some cases the squirrels feel a sense of entitlement and become rather daring and aggressive to the point of stealing food off the plates of students as they eat outdoors.

I made this piece to honor the relationship we have with these creatures and to encourage the students to feed the squirrels healthier stuff. Nut Job is carved Styrofoam covered with sunflower seeds, peanuts, hazelnuts, and corn.

I obtained permission to place Nut Job in the courtyard of the Fine Arts building. Lots of people and squirrels cross paths there. My hope was to document the squirrels consuming the sculpture's surface and create a time-based piece in the process. No luck. Too many people and not enough squirrels. After graduation I might put Nut Job out in a park somewhere and finally be able to witness it's slow demise.

"Domestic Situation" - Senior 1 Semester

2016-03-27T20:54:00.000-05:00

Domestic Situation was inspired by Trouble Chair which was one of the 13 Sculptures from my Junior semester.

"Wire Play #2" - Final Project Spring 2015

2015-08-13T13:27:00.001-05:00

The Final Project for the semester began with the intention to create a 3D sculptural version of a Joan Miro painting.

Miro was a Spanish Abstract Surrealist painter whose playful imagery I find very appealing. A Miro inspired work was just a starting point; and as always my profs encouraged me to push the idea further. That is the mantra that I will continue to hear until I am able to do it all on my own. I ended up making use of the many, small, found objects that I have acquired over the last four years. The title "Wire Play"" references one of the sculptures made for the 13 Sculptures project.

Most of these found objects were picked up off the street while walking from my home to the grocery store. Its a two mile round trip and there is a particular side street that is what I call a "target rich environment" for found objects. Any time I walk down that road I'll find two or three interesting items. The copper wire came from a classmate who was cleaning up her studio space and giving away odds and ends. Even though we had three weeks for completion I had to work out conceptually what I wanted to do, and then assemble it. I spent a few days just experimenting with different objects in various combinations, knowing that I would eventually hit upon the "right thing" to do for this project. This took longer than expected, and I felt pressed for time. It seems that there is always one project each semester where I get hung up a bit. I have to continue working on how to "get out of my own way".

During the critique my classmates commented that the piece referenced things that were: "botanical" or "robotic". Some said, "satellites" and even "UFOs".

This last photo is my favorite for aesthetic reasons.

A major donor and patron to the sculpture program sat in on our critique and commented that my piece was "interesting" and "cute". "Interesting" is always good; but "cute" is not! I wish she had come by to visit us when I was presenting "Artifact" a few weeks before. I think that was my most successful piece this semester.

When everyone's final grade for the semester was posted, I got one of the few solid A's. I feel lucky and pleased for my first semester to end on such a high note.

Project #5: "Artifact"

2015-07-05T19:33:00.000-05:00

I was in the mood to make something large, using tools and materials that were unfamiliar to me. Styrofoam seem like a good choice. Other students had enjoyed working with it, and there were plenty of styrofoam laying about the Sculpture Annex. I chose to create a representational form that would be instantly recognizable. However, the twist would be to present the piece in a way that the viewers would have to puzzle over it just a little.

Seven pieces of Styrofoam board left over from another student's project (partially covered with paint), were cut to size and then bonded together in three layers. Using an electric Saws-All, and then a small hand saw, the basic shape was roughed out. After that, the process of shaping the contours of the object was done using a rotary tool driven by compressed air. It had a variety of interchangeable cutting heads that went thru the Styrofoam like a hot knife through butter. I had to exercise caution so as not to remove too much material.

Styrofoam has a cheap look about it, and I wanted to do some sort of a surface treatment that would substantially change that appearance. After research and discussion with my professors eventually I settled on a mixture of Plaster of Paris and powdered wood, of the type used in making wood putty. The plaster and wood powder was all mixed and applied by hand in small batches because it dries very quickly. The hardened shell built up over the Styrofoam was anywhere from 1/2" to 2" thick. Then the entire thing was carefully sanded by hand. This took several days. Upon the recommendation from a professor, an odoriferous coat of Johnson's Floor Wax was applied all over to give the surface a light brown, matte finish.

The finished piece had the appearance of bone, limestone, or something fossilized. This was in large part do to the "happy accident" of not having evenly mixed each batch of the wood powder and plaster. There was a lack of consistent coloration and tone which then gave the piece an organic look. It definitely had a "natural history" feel about it, which influenced the title choice of, "Artifact".

The finished piece was about 4 ft. wide x 3 ft. tall x 18" deep. and probably weighed less than twenty pounds, but it looks much heavier. I had originally planned to present it by leaning it against a wall, but decided it would look better on a stand. This would allow viewers to walk all around it, and get it up off the floor without necessarily using a pedestal.

The stand was designed on the fly. A quick sketch, and then a run to Home Depot for some lumber. I was advised to build the stand in a low key fashion or it could prove to be a distraction. Unless the stand itself is an integral part of the piece, people should not even notice it. One of my professors said, "If people are noticing and discussing the stand; then you know they don't like the piece and can't think of anything good to say about it". In other words: A fail. I painted the stand a dark gray color that exactly matched the color of the floors in the Sculpture Annex. This turned out to be a good move and really helped it remain unnoticed.

This piece is a representation of my slightly wonky, left ear. My ear has a low grade birth defect that in no way effects my hearing (But, there have been women in my life who would argue otherwise!). When I was quite young, other kids would tease me about it, so I grew my hair long to cover it up. Later on in adult life, my girlfriends and wives adored it and gave it overly cute nick-names -- which I will not repeat here. I prefer to call it my "squinchy" ear, and leave it at that. You have to admit it is an interesting shape, and presenting my sculpture rotated 90 degrees had the desired effect of creating a bit of mystery. During the final critique, my classmates enthusiastically debated what this "bio-morphic" shape could actually be. I stood back with my professor (who was the only one who knew for sure what I had made), and allowed everyone a closer look. "Is it a whale bone?", "A fossil?", "Petrified wood?", "A dumpling?" The one that made me and my professor laugh the hardest was when someone proclaimed, "It can't be an ear. Ears don't look like that!"

This piece was chosen by me and my professors to go into the Annual Junior/Senior Art show held each spring at the Blaffer Museum of Art.

Amazing how my squinchy left ear went from being a source of ridicule, to a unique identifier, to a praise worthy art object. Life is good.

Knot Here, and Knot There

2015-06-21T23:27:00.001-05:00

Junior Block Project #4 is composed of a found wooden chair, an old walking cane, and many yards of cotton cord. This piece was inspired by a clever book I found titled "Why Knot?" written by the famous tightrope walker, Phillipe Petit. Monsieur Petit discusses and demonstrates the how's, why's, and histories of 80+ knots in a very entertaining way. He apparently knows how to tie hundreds. I used about 20 different types of knots on this piece, with some of my favorites being repeated several times. I don't think I ever really counted how many total knots there are; but of those only nine are functional, and actually hold the chair together.

In these modern times of ours, knot tying is fast becoming a lost art. The tying of knots has been largely replaced by: Duct tape, Zip-ties, twist ties, Super Glue and so on. There are kids I know who grew up never knowing how to tie even a simple knot because their shoes had Velcro straps instead of laces. There are only a few professions remaining that still require knot tying. These usually involve livestock or boats of some kind. I'm hard pressed to think of any leisure activities that make regular use of knots. Camping perhaps? Mountaineering and sailing, for sure. This is indeed a sad state of affairs. However, there is still hope. Perhaps such films as "50 Shades of Gray" could spark a new public interest in "recreational" knot tying. But a mere hope is all that it is.

The multiple non-functional knots I used in this piece to represent our society's loss of it's general knot knowledge and usage. There is also a certain pathos and a bit of irony in the idea of using a cane, designed to aid and support a human body, to repair a chair which is another structure designed to support the human frame. There is a little obsessiveness in the abundance of the non-functioning knots.

I felt I had no other choice than to title this piece as, "This Is Knot Your Seat".

The dramatic lighting effect was both loved and hated by my classmates. What do you think?

"Untitled" : A Performance Art Piece

2015-06-14T16:40:00.001-05:00

This is project #3 from the Spring semester of my Junior Sculpture (or Block) program. Please watch this 1 minute video, and if you find yourself intrigued then you can read the "inside story" below. Enjoy!

I became aware of these "Drawing Robots" a few years ago, and thought that at some point I'd like to do something with them. These little robots run on batteries and have a small motor with a short axle. At the end of the axle is a small yellow plastic disc mounted in an off-center fashion. As the motor turns the axle, the weight of the off-center rotating disc, creates a wobbling motion which then causes the robot to move in a circular way.

My goal was to make these little robots do something they weren't designed to do. In this case, to make sound. On one robot I substituted the pen-legs for a ping-pong ball, the spring from a doorstop, and a wire brush. This one became known as "the Sweep Bot". Also, I glued a short metal rod onto the "wobble disc" and added a nut to the end. This put substantially more weight further out from the center, and created a very exaggerated wobble.

The same enhanced weight arrangement was added to the second robot along with golf tees for legs. This one I named "Tap-Bot" as it literally tap danced when the motor was turned on.

The third robot was given the same weight set-up as the other two. Long, thin dowels were added for the legs. Bells were affixed to the legs and the whole thing was wrapped in a sheet of Mylar. This one I named the "Tall Bot".

The two short bots were placed in small wooden boxes with holes drilled into the sides. These enclosures amplified the sound produced by each one. The Tap Bot was especially loud as you can hear in the video. The Sweep Bot did produce a "whooshing" sound, but it was not loud enough. I purchased special light bulbs to use as footlights that were designed to change colors automatically or in response to a remote control.

In the video the flying bot finale was a complete surprise to my audience. When I'm working on a project I tend to keep some aspect of it a secret. I like to surprise my professors and the other students when it comes time for our presentation and critique. The professor who was grading my project said "I've been teaching a long time and I've seen a lot of strange things. That was one of the strangest! I want to congratulate you Buck, on allowing yourself to get so...weird".

I was at loss as to what to call this piece. In the past I have stated that naming something "Untitled" can be a bit of a cop out. But in this case I made an exception.

Planes & Grids

2015-04-05T20:30:00.000-05:00

This is my second project for the semester. Two found birdcages were deconstructed and reassembled into a mobile (my very first!). I was inspired by a book on the works of Alexander Calder, who for all intents and purposes is considered the creator of the "Mobile".

13 Sculptures

2015-03-29T19:46:00.001-05:00

Starting last January I entered into my Junior semester of Sculpture Block classes. "Block" refers to three semesters of intense focus on sculptural work, processes (methods in how-to make things) and concepts. One must submit a portfolio for evaluation by the professors in the department in order to get accepted. It is a small but vigorous program where students have regular access to professors and grad students for guidance.

The 13 sculptures project is the first and only assignment in the Junior semester of Sculpture Block at the University of Houston. The 13 is is a way to kick-start the students and get their hands and minds busy. The idea is to work fast, and not over think. We had two weeks to complete the work. I found that the two weeks went by very quickly! All future projects, ideas, and concepts must be generated by the students entirely on their own. Each student is responsible for exploring and finding their own "voice" as a sculptor.

The following are the best of my 13 sculptures. Some were made very quickly, and others were made with a bit more time and consideration. Most of these pieces were made with found objects.

Iron Wood

Wire Play

Crumpled Screen

Blockhead

Flying Glove

Sinking Balls

Trouble Chair

Wood Pile

Conversing Stones

Hair Ball

(Look closely, that's a ping-pong ball covered with my hair. Most of which came from the top of my head.)

New BuckToonz for the New Year

2014-12-21T17:00:00.001-06:00

Hello friends and fans.

BuckToonz has been put on hold due for a few months for a number of different reasons. I won't bore you with the how's and why's because I have good news to share. There are plans to resume regular posting (and the ensuing hilarity) in early 2015. I appreciate your patience and in the meantime, why not take a stroll down memory lane and re-visit some of your favorite cartoons of years past? You can access the blog archive located a little ways down and on right side of the page.

Wishing y'all Happy Holidays and a Wonderful New Year! Have fun and travel safe.

Rhyming Time

2014-07-02T23:30:00.000-05:00

I never fancied myself a poet, but on past occasions I've tried my hand at a bit of prose. Now wait...before you click away-- I promise this will be kind of fun.

This first one tells the tale of how I dealt with a roach infestation many years ago when living in a tiny apartment.

Roaches Goodbye

This war has raged here long enough

Tried traps and sprays and other stuff

My food and garbage they still eat

And run at night across my feet

But I'm a smart and clever man

For I have genocide in a can

I pull the tab, release the spray

And leave my house for the day

I come home late to a welcome sight

A victory won by chemical might

I walk the floor and then I feel

A hundred bodies beneath my heel

The city where I live was built in a coastal region that has a very high water table. The local newspaper once stated how that water table effects the structure of buildings across the city, and causes them to slowly sink a little each year. Around that same time I also became aware of how many people, including myself, who have accumulated large amounts of pennies, and stored them in big containers for a future trip to the bank. I then saw a "correlation" between these two things and came to the following conclusion....

Copper Deposits

They say this city sinks each year

A foot or more this time they fear

Its pennies saved in jars like mine

That sink this city over time

Objectified

2014-06-18T23:26:00.002-05:00

In this week's toon I'm referencing one of my own
sculptures, which can be seen here.
Is that a little weird or inbred somehow?

Having It Both Ways

2014-06-04T23:30:00.000-05:00

This week’s toon is one of the few remaining relics to be found in my secret, archive bunker. Many years ago I was totally opposed to the idea of hunting. Over time, I reconsidered that opinion. This cartoon has been altered quite a bit from the original version which was rather dark, and heavily biased. These days I’m all in favor of taking rational measures to protect our wildlife resources, but it seems that the conservation groups that are backed by the hunter demographic, have an ulterior motive. I find that a bit ironic, even though I have donated money to such groups.

The way I see it -- if you shoot it, trap it, or catch it…then EAT it! What I don’t endorse is the idea of trophy hunting. I think its wrong to kill an exceptional animal just so you can hang it's head on your wall, and make boots out of its hide. Hunting should be done to keep animal populations under control, and to feed people. Hunt in order to sustain Life...not ego.

It Grows On You

2014-05-21T23:30:00.000-05:00

Every year prior to the winter holiday season, Americans are inundated with a particular TV commercial and its familiar "Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!.." jingle. For those in the audience who live outside the US you may not be aware of the annual Chia Pet phenomena. The Chia Pet is a small terra cotta figurine usually in the shape of an animal or the head of a famous person; which is used to grow chia (Salvia hispanica). The chia sprouts over a few weeks and creates the appearance of green fur or hair on the figure. This is a novelty product that is readily available throughout the year but is only advertised for a few short weeks. It has been extremely successful for almost forty years. From a marketing standpoint I find this amazing.

For those of you who now have that silly Chia Pet jingle stuck in your heads, you can go here to get some relief.

Duck (Alphabet) Soup

2014-05-07T22:51:00.000-05:00

"Nap Time"

2014-04-16T22:43:00.000-05:00

The goal of this week's project was to use metal rods, sheet metal, and plate metal to echo the form of something organic. We could use plants, animals, insects, microbes, or even natural phenomena for inspiration.

As usual I like to inject a little bit of fun into my projects whenever possible and this time around I was in the mood for a little dark humor. The idea of a snake-eating-a rat came to mind. Nothing against rodents of course; I strongly prefer them over snakes, but I wanted to create a typical scene out of Nature. We all know what happens when a snake eats a large meal; the snake becomes very lethargic and will rest or sleep for a long period of time as it digests its kill. This is where the title for my piece "Nap Time" came from. Also, creating this scene would allow me an opportunity to experiment more with hot bending techniques, and to attempt a ship-in-the-bottle type illusion which has always fascinated me.

The snake body was formed by hot-bending 3/8" metal rods into coils. The rods came in 48" lengths, and were welded together end-to-end as needed. It may not look like it but the snake body used up about 14 feet of rod. This took much longer than I had anticipated and was quite physically demanding to manually bend a total of 18 coils. Although super heated metal can be quite pliable, I could only bend an inch or so at a time, to gradually form the concentric circles.

Nails were bent and welded in place to create fangs. The tail was made with two pieces of hand-cut brass, and then struck with a ball peen hammer to create a scale-like texture. This part was fun in that I got to finally put to use a tiny anvil that I have here in my home studio. The tail is attached to the body with a spring. There is a hollow space inside the tail that holds four BBs which will rattle briefly when the tail is flicked with a finger. Thus my piece becomes "interactive".

The eyes of the snake were not the best choice according to my class and instructor critique. The "language" established by the steel and plate is interrupted by the plastic of the eyes. I can remedy this by substituting something such as small metallic discs or using nuts for the eyes.

The rat is hand-cut from light sheet metal, and it's texture was created using a wire brush attachment on a power tool called an Angle Grinder. The rat's eyes are copper BBs (the same kind that were placed inside the snake's rattle), the tail is a brass rod, and the legs are heavy wire with small magnets for the feet. Here's the ship-in-the-bottle part of all this; the rat went in last, after the snake was assembled and painted. It is not as easy as it may look.

The rat body with tail was inserted first, and then the legs and feet were attached while inside the snake. This procedure took the better part of an hour to complete, and the whole time I was trying not to scratch the painted surfaces or warp the rat body. I found a version of Super-Glue that will bond metal together rather nicely and I used that to attach the magnetic feet. Why magnetic feet? I liked the look of the magnets and it allows for re-positioning of the rat if and when needed.

Here I am in my welding gear.

To balance out the macho, robotic look..I added a "Hello Kitty"sticker on the side of my helmet.

The next post will be on Wednesday May 7th.
See you then.

Two for the Price of One

2014-04-02T23:30:00.000-05:00

This week we look at two recent projects from my Sculptural Processes class in which we spent the first half of the semester working in the wood shop and the second half working in the metal shop. I’ve used all the basic wood working machine tools before but never to the extent that they are used in this class. As far as metal shop goes I’ve only done some very basic spot welding which took place many years ago.

Wood Shop “Towers” project. Working in pairs each team was provided two 8 ft. x 2”x4” pine boards. The goal was to create a tower (something that is taller than its base is wide) that uses all of the main power and machine tools in the shop. The design categories were to build; the tallest, the strongest or most aesthetically pleasing. Initially it didn’t look like I would have a partner because on the day we were assigned the project we had students who were absent, which gave us an odd number of people. Instead of waiting (and wasting an entire three hour class period) until the following week to see if I would have a partner, I went ahead and designed a tower for myself.

The next week I was assigned a partner, and in order to save some time we went ahead and used my design but the actual work of constructing the tower was evenly split. We had to use the provided boards but they could not look like standard 2x4s. They had to be split, cut down, or re-shaped in some way. Our base was a bit overbuilt because at the time we didn’t know how large and heavy the arc was going to be. Wood screws and wood glue was used to hold the entire thing together. The screws hold the pieces in place and allow for the glue to dry. The glue would set and become structurally sound after 24 hrs. and that is the true strength that holds the project together. Finding and cutting the proper angles was the key to our success. After that, the build was pretty easy. This project preceded the 3D wooden puzzle fish posted here a few weeks ago.

Metal Shop “The Body” project. Working again in teams of two using up to twenty feet of 3/8” steel rod we were to reference, represent, enclose, modify, or otherwise interact with the human body or one of its parts. Once again special attention had to be placed upon making solid, clean, welds, and spray painting the surface in a professional way. This time my partner had a strong idea and we went in that direction with a few modifications. We wanted to combine form, function, and fun by creating a coat and hat rack that looked like an abstracted “butler” type figure. My contribution to the original design was the addition of the wheels, the bow tie, and the hand with tray. The bow tie was originally going to be cut and formed from sheet metal but for a variety of reasons that did not work out. So the tie was created with red felt and “museum board” which is a very stiff and strong cardboard material. The tie had a purpose in it was used to conceal the junction of four rods coming together. Not a pretty sight for us first-time welders. We have been told a number of times that “a good craftsman covers his mistakes well”. And that is exactly what we were doing; covering our unsightly intersection.

Bending of the rods was done mostly “cold”, using manual labor by placing the rod in an iron brace and using brute strength and body weight to make series of incremental bends. The hardest part was bending the 2ft circle for the base. That was a two hour process of continuous, slow, and deliberate work that I did on my own. The figure’s hand was hot bent with an Oxyacetylene torch. One merely heats up the rod until it glows a bright orange, and then the metal becomes quite pliable.

We went through a few working titles for this project which ranged from simply “The Butler”, to “Winston”, and eventually to “Wobbles (the Butler)”. The name came from the fact that our figure being a little bit top heavy, had a tendency to wobble somewhat any time it was touched or moved. We thought the wobbling was not a detriment but it actually helped to animate our guy and put a little “life” into him.

Painted wooden balls were placed on the ends of the coat and hat hanger arms. Painted black wooden balls were also used to cover the nut & bolt assembly that holds the wheels on. We wanted the option of being able to remove the wheels in order to place Wobbles in a semi-permanent location. A plastic tray was velcro-ed onto the hand and there were three shot glasses placed upon it. We had a little trouble with gravity just prior to our presentation on Critique Day, when two of the glasses slid off and broke on the concrete floor…yikes! But it all worked out fine in the end.