The Suitcase Machine

Drawings Jan. 2012

2012-01-28T07:03:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on Paper

Classic Magic - Custom Magic

2012-01-10T06:39:00.000-08:00

The Cups and Balls Routine is considered the oldest magic effect on record. Images of this routine were found written in stone on the great pyramids of Egypt! It's still performed by street performers, and all kinds of magicians today. These are hand sewn, and leather cut baseballs I made over the weekend. I made them in a lemon peel style. I can't tell you how difficult it is to take something flat like leather, and shape it into something round! I finally have a complete set that match!

Last Drawings for 2011 Charcoal on Paper

2011-12-27T15:11:00.001-08:00

Charcoal on Paper

2011-12-12T16:11:00.000-08:00

This is my new studio. It was an old textile factory converted into artist's loft's. I love this new space because I can finally make bigger things. These are my 2 new pieces.

Crank Organ Music

2011-08-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

After a week of re-learning music theory I punched out some music for my organ. I built a few tools so I can measure everything to scale. It was fun seeing music made with holes on paper. The paper had to be cut exactly 5 1/2 inches wide, and the length is based on how long the song is. For every second of music, 70mm of paper is needed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir8XZddfdd8

Dummy Restoration 2

2011-08-07T06:44:00.000-07:00

This is a Paul Winchell, Jerry Mahoney, Semi-Pro ventriloquist dummy. I was asked to restore him from a magician friend Vanishing Vinny. He has a great trick he's doing that requires a very classy looking dummy.For the restoration we came up with a fair barter. He would design for me some important promotional material I needed for an upcoming magic show, and I would restore the dummy for his magic show. I accepted the challenge and it took me about 2 full days of work to finish.The original clothes were stained, torn, and stinky! the creepy part was that their were sweat stains on his collar.Anyway, I took apart his clothes piece by piece and slowly replicated his outfit. He works great!

Dummy Restoration

2011-08-07T06:30:00.000-07:00

Monkey Makeover

2011-07-20T14:56:00.000-07:00

My organ is finished but I have no monkey! I searched online for the perfect mechanical monkey and came across a toy that was made in the 50's and 60's. The toy was rusted and broken. I replaced a broken motor and sewed a new pair of pants. The monkey interacts with the organ because of an Arduino microcontroller. I also used the guts of an old voice changer toy. The mic from the toy is now used as a sensor to detect a certain level of sound, which

activates the monkey to turn on. Everything is nicely fitted into a small canvas backpack I made. I am excited to test this guy out!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJUbvyT9MOw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

my handcrafted Busker Street-Style Organ complete

2011-07-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-Z8ahF1BlY

My handcrafted Busker Street-Style Organ Pt 2

2011-07-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

Here are more photos

My handcrafted Busker Street-Style Organ

2011-07-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

This is an organ built by the John Smith Busker Organ plans. This organ took me five weeks to make. I spent early mornings and late nights through the month of June and the last week of May. It was the most challenging thing I have ever Built. Worth every moment!

Hand Carved Chess Set

2011-01-10T07:51:00.000-08:00

This chess set was carved using oak. I stained one set of pieces with a dark walnut stain. The board was outlined with a wood burning pen. Dark stain was applied to half the squares, and the whole thing was then sealed with Mod Podge. I nailed leather to the bottom of each piece and sewed a small pillow to hold everything in place within the box, which was also handcrafted. I love this chess set. I now need challengers for some chess and wine!

Stan Laurel marionette

2010-12-26T19:22:00.000-08:00

Stan Laurel is a marionette. His head, hands and feet are all hand carved from wood. The suit was purchased and was intended for a new born child. I had to cut and re-sew everything so it would fit comfortably. Stan Laurel has controlled eyebrows, mouth, and hat. They are all controlled with springs, strings, and dowels. Rope holds the head, hands, and feet together. The marionette string is a multi-stranded bracelet string.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrxekU6ZBU8

mint box card trick

2010-11-23T11:30:00.000-08:00

Mint Box Card Trick is built inside of an Altoids tin. There is a wooden frame inside. The handle is made of wire from an old hanger and an eraser. A carved wine cork keeps the hole sealed on top. A few other sneaky things make the selected card rise. Everything needed for this trick is inside the tin. Everything, including the cards, fit to make this effect all self-contained.

Ball Box

2010-04-23T10:23:00.001-07:00

"Ball Box" is made from repurposed cigar boxes, bottle caps, and wine cork. The foundation of the box is made from pine. The box's interior uses traditional magic principles for vanishing an object. The hinges for the doors on either side are made from a clothing hanger. The wire was cut and pressed in to fit from the top and bottom, so the doors can swing freely.

The Dream Box

2010-02-18T08:19:00.000-08:00

"The Dream Box" is made in a repurposed Upper Cut cigar box. I used leather, brass, different foam boards, and cardstock to build the inside and outside. The handle is made from a wire clothes hanger. There is woodburning done on the front, and it's glossed over with ModgePodge. This box is the beginning of something I have always wanted to make: to have someone name any card, then to turn a handle on a box, and have that card appear. Watch the video, and let me know what you think! I'm curious to know how this holds up before I really start trying to perform it.

The Miniature Lightning Box

2010-01-15T08:06:00.000-08:00

"The Miniature Lightning Box" is made from the insides of a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) and an old TV flyback transformer. The circuit inside of the CFL can generate high frequency currents that are fed into a high frequency transformer inside the base of the bulb. The high frequency transformer boosts the voltage so the fluorescent bulb can light up. The TV transformer makes high voltage and high frequency current to generate enough electricity to trace the electron beam that lights up the screen. When you take the CFL's transformer and replace the fluorescent bulb for the TV transformer, you can create well over 1,000 volts! this is my version of a high voltage supply/Jacob's Ladder. I love this project because the spring animates along with the electricity.

The Nickel Box

2009-12-16T08:31:00.000-08:00

"The Nickel Box" was made from copper, wood, bolts, screws, epoxy, scrap metal, skeleton key, paint, and nails. The tiny box was made from scratch, using scrap wood from another cigar box. All of the copper was hand cut to fit the box. I love this routine, because no electricity is required for it to work. The goal of this project was to create a magic effect that works like a crank toy.

The Jedi Mind Trick

2009-11-25T14:13:00.000-08:00

"The Jedi Mind Trick" started with a Star Wars "Return Of The Jedi" soundtrack cassette I found at a thrift store. Playing around with the case, I realized that playing cards fit almost perfectly inside, if you remove a few plastic stubs from the interior. The stand is a soap container from Walmart. A strong LED lights up in the center. The sound is from a musical greeting card. Everything, including the rise of the card, is perfectly synchronized to the music, with the help of a micro-controller.

War, Love and Peace

2009-11-11T11:51:00.000-08:00

"War, Love and Peace" was made using the shell of an old RCA radio. Using a web application (Processing) and an Arduino micro-controller, I was able to create a sort of online hit counter. The computer goes online to a specific website - I used http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/ - and counts how many times the words war, love, and peace appear. It returns the result to the web application. The application translates the data to the micro-controller. The micro-controller displays the value on the analog gauges and the red LED. The large gauge is for "war," the small gauge is for "peace," and the red LED is for "love." There is also an LCD screen that displays the words "war," "love," and "peace" every time it receives it. The program updates every ten seconds. If the New York Times blog posts something new, the machine will also update. Mechanically, what once controlled the tone of the radio now controls the contrast of the LCD screen. What controlled the volume now turns the hands of the clock backwards and brightens the large lightbulb. This project was inspired by the last chapter in Massimo Banzi's book, Getting started with Arduino. I chose to make this piece interact with the New York Times blog page, because it is one of the most current world news sources on the web. I tried the project with several major news sites, in fact, and concluded that war is consistenly the most common word in news out of "war," "love," and "peace."

Drawing Automaton

2009-10-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

The "Drawing Automaton" is a drawing machine that is powered by magnets. Inside there is a plastic cylinder that spins as you turn the handle. Around the cylinder are small magnets placed in random spots. The wires holding the pen are held together by springs which are pulled by fishing line. The line also has magnets attached. As you turn the handle, the magnets from the line attach themselves to the cylinder, and the tension causes the springs to expand, making the pen move. I challenged myself to create a hand turning machine that can draw in every direction. Though the drawings are random, I still consider this project a great success.

The Email Notifier

2009-09-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

"The Email Notifier" was inspired by:

http://www.j4mie.org/2008/02/15/how-to-make-a-physical-gmail-notifier/ and http://blog.tinyenormous.com/2008/11/25/gmail-notifier-project-for-dummies/

This is something I have been trying to figure out for over three years!. To have physical objects like a bell, lights, and a gauge alert you when you get an email is a really complicated thing to figure out. There is a python script that checks for any new mail. There is also another script that prompts the python script to continuously check for new mail instead of just checking once, and there is a third script written out for a micro-controller to listen, wait, and take action when it receives news. The micro-controller has the bell, lights, and gauge attached to it. It is amazing to see it all in action. The links above only got me so far. I had to write a whole new code for my micro-controller. Once I did that, I was able to add the bell, gauge, and 2 vintage style light-bulbs. The best part about writing the code for the micro-controller was the freedom to make endless patterns. When I get an email now, one light-bulb blinks, then the gauge points to the other light-bulb and it blinks; this is repeated twice and ends with the bell ringing. The casing is from an old alarm clock, the gauge is from a multi-meter, and the electronics are held together by an Arduino and Arduino motor shield. This is by far one of my favorite projects. Any questions about making your own, write me at suitcasemachine@gmail.com. Or, even if you don't have any questions, email me anyway, just to activate The Email Notifier!

The Talking Television

2009-09-08T14:48:00.001-07:00

"The Talking Television" was inspired by "http://www.angelfire.com/80s/sixmhz/tvscope.html.".

If you have an old television, it can be converted into an oscilloscope!. I decided that instead of having waves of lines, I wanted lines that were free and random. The dangerous thing about this, is a television has enough electricity to kill you. The voltage is dangerously BIG (tinker at your own risk). I learned my lesson, I blew out an itouch experimenting. I still consider the project a huge success because the visuals change by pitch and intensity, and the patterns are always new. There is a 1/4 inch out on the side of the T.V so you can plug all kinds of electronics (guitar amps, record players, other T.V's, etc...)

Rufio

2009-08-10T12:54:00.000-07:00

Rufio is made from walnut and pine. His arms and legs are jointed with pine dowel. The whole piece was hand carved and took about 20 hours to complete. This project dates back to the winter of 2003 when I was first introduced to carving. I was inspired after seeing a wooden monkey at Tinker Toys in Woodstock NY. I could not afford to buy it at the time so I set my mind to make one.

The Music Box

2009-07-10T07:26:00.000-07:00

Michael Schaffer, creator of software program Ardrumo (http://code.google.com/p/ardrumo/), was a great help and inspiration for this project, "The Music Box." Michael made an electronic drum kit using foam circles, some sensors, and an Arduino. Then he wrote a program to translate the sensors into Garageband. The result was a complete homemade drumkit DIY style with the option to change the sounds. I took his sensor idea and built it into a cigar box. All the sensors are hidden, so it makes it more of a mystery music box. It is all self-contained, and the options are endless. I have preset sounds like Mozart the Dove singing, my dog barking, and me whistling. So when I tap on a certain side of the box a different sound plays. Happy birthday Nikola Tesla! :)