A Coven of Bats??

So we were working on some new “artistic” work in the studio last night, and I realized that I only had seven bats.  I don’t usually use bats when I throw functional ware, because it’s usually smaller scale. But when I throw “art” work it tends to be too large to pick up without distorting the form too much.  So today I decided to make some bats of my own and this is how it went…

First I collected the tools I thought I would need to go from start to finish without stopping to find another tool.  I had most of the tool in our studio, but I was missing a jigsaw, which is quite important when cutting out circular shapes.  Luckily I was able to find one at my favorite in-laws house (Thanks Cindy!), so I was set with tools.  Here is a list of tools I started out with: Jigsaw, drill, a nail, hammer, sharpie, drill bit, and an old bat.  I also needed a sheet of four by eight Masonite; to cut the bats out of, so I went and got one of those too (cost about twelve dollars).

After I assembled all that stuff, I started tracing the old bat with the sharpie to see how many bats I would be able to get out of the Masonite.  Here is an overall picture of the Masonite after I traced all my bats, and the next picture is a close up so you can see the circles.  I was able to trace twenty fourteen inch bats, one twelve inch bat, and four eight inch bats.

Next step: Cutting

This step took the longest and made the biggest mess out of all the steps, and it’s not that exciting so we will move on pretty quick.

While I was cutting out the bats, I saw this little bird appear more than once so I thought I would snap a shot of him to share.

Here is a picture of all the bats cut out and ready for the next step.

Next was to get all the holes drilled, and drilled in the right places.  I did this by stacking and clamping them and placing the old bat on top so that I could just drill down through the holes on the old bat.  It was at this point that I realized my drill bit was too small and the next size up was way too big.  So I went ahead and drill the hole, and figured that I would make them bigger (somehow) later.  So now I had a stack of rough cut bats that had holes that were too small to fit on my wheel.  I went through a couple of options to make the holes bigger, first was a rat tail file (didn’t work so well, it was too coarse), second was our dremel with sanding attachment (too big), then a grinding attachment (too fine, just burned the wood), and finally wood cutting router like bit for the dremel.  This last one was the sweet spot, it worked perfectly, so I got on with making the holes bigger.  After that I had to smooth down the edges (so I wouldn’t hurt myself), I did this by putting them on the wheel and holding some rough sand paper to them while the spun at full speed.  I only put holes in the fourteen inch bats, I figured that twenty bats was enough to get me started, I think I will leave the eight inch bats alone, and the twelve inch bat will get holes another day.

 So I ended up with twenty bats for about twelve dollars, I was looking around the internet when I came back inside and saw that I could have just bought them for six dollars a piece.  It would have only run us $120 to buy the same amount I made for twelve dollars...

I mentioned at the beginning that we are working on some “artistic” work, here is a picture of the beginnings of said work.

God Made Dirt, and Dirt Don’t Hurt

Finally we have dirt, or compost and top soil to be precise, but we have it. Now our garden can go ahead with out further delay. We will be putting our plants in the ground on the first of April, our friend Andy (and hopefully his wife Leah) will be coming down to help us move our 140 plants into their new home. This first picture is of our raised bed (s) I calculated (with my advanced maths) that it is about 190(ish) square feet. It took 2 and a quarter tons (4.5 thousand pounds) of compost and about a ton of top soil to fill it out. I spent about 4 days filling it up (it would have taken one or two if I didn’t have to go to work), and now it is satisfyingly full.



This next picture is where we will be planting our watermelons, cantaloupe, pumpkins, and possibly our artichokes. I gave it a layer of compost to amend the soil, and in hopes that it would kill the grass and weeds. But to my astonishment grass and weeds like nutrients too, and they quickly sprouted up through the compost. So we decided to cover them up with plastic and cardboard boxes in hopes that this will kill them (our thoughts were that it would block the light and get too hot for them). We will see how well it works next week.



This final picture is of where I will be planting my 40 sunflowers. I’m hoping that the fence will provide some support (and I can tie them to the fence if necessary), and be a wind break as well.



And the news you all have been so patiently waiting for…I finally bought a pottery wheel!! It should be here early next week, and I can get started throwing some new stuff. But more on that later…

It’s Still Alive….!!! (Botanical Experiment Part II)

As you can see from the picture our seedlings have really taken off (they all most seem to have life of their own). I’m really excited about growing our own food, and trying our hand at preserving what we don’t eat. These little guys (and gals) will get transplanted to larger planters early next week (I will post pictures of the process because I know how everyone likes to see pictures (visual aids are great)). We still don’t have a garden full of dirt, but we have some leads on where we might get some (hopefully it will pan out because we plan to plant the plants on or near the 1st of April (and it would be nice to have some where to plant them)).
In other news we are headed to the opening of Momentum tonight to see all the art (I’m going mostly so I can eat some really good Pho (a Vietnamese delicacy in soup form)). Also, I’m hopeful that we will sell at least one of our motorbikes this month (mostly because the weather is starting to get really nice, which makes for good riding), and I can buy a pottery wheel so all of you can read something other than just about our plants (although I know how exciting it is). I also acquired a biscuit joiner, so you might have some wood working to look forward to as well as pottery (hopefully before the end of summer I will turn out some wood work (I just need to acquire a couple other tools, such as a router and bits to go with it)). I think that is enough parentheses for one day ( I have been told I use to many (I was also told that parentheses inside of parentheses are a bad way to write (so I wanted to try for a third parentheses inside of the other two to see how it will go over with my critic (my wife, oh that was one more than I thought I would do)))).

An Etsy Adventure

We have started an Etsy page, where we plan to sell the items that we have been making. We are starting out by posting some of the brushes we featured in an earlier post, the black bamboo ones. We will soon be adding some pottery and hopefully some knitting will be coming soon as well (she says probably not). Also, we have linked our Etsy page to this blog so that it is easy to locate our shop. So please take a look and let us know what you think, and any suggestions will be appreciated.

A Treadle Darkly

Working on this treadle wheel feels like I take one step forward and two leaps back. The last post I said that it was finished and I was getting ready to actually make some pottery on it. Well the next day we head into the studio to find that some time since we left the day before and arrived that morning someone had taken it upon themselves to break it (probably not on purpose, they probably stepped on the flywheel which broke my “awesome” JB Weld job). Anyway, today I go in hoping to catch our friend Maki so she can mig weld the “weld” that broke. Which we do and she does weld it for us, although after she has finished and left for Alaska I realize that the other JB Weld has broken (from the heat or something else I don’t know) and now I’m stuck with an almost finished treadle wheel. It seems that the driveshaft has been giving me the most problems, when I thought it would be the easiest part. That will show me to think something is easy before even trying to do it once. I think the hardest part for me is knowing that I have to rely on other people to weld these parts for me, if I could and had the equipment to do it I don’t think I would be as upset. Well, I guess welding gear is a good investment for the future if I plan on building my own equipment. I’m going to try another approach to the driveshaft, I’m going to use pipe instead of solid steel. This way I can use pipe elbows to make the ninety degree turns that I need for it to be a treadle wheel. I think I might try to do that tomorrow, I’m already feeling better about going back to work on this rollercoaster of a project.

And the Treadle Marches On

The treadle wheel will be finished this week (I have to keep reminding myself this, because I need to move on to other projects). Truthfully I am looking at finishing this project tomorrow; I just have to glue one more piece of metal into the frame and then make the seat (which I don’t see as taking that long (he says knowing he will regret it later)). So today I attached the drive shaft to the wheel head and to the flywheel, and it all spins nicely.



Here is a photo of the driveshaft; the part that is offset is what makes this a treadle wheel as opposed to a kick wheel.



I also made the piece that attaches to the foot peddle and to the driveshaft, I have used an old leather belt, some screws, a piece of two by four (cut in half and laminated together). In this picture there is a piece of metal bar sticking out of one side, I have since removed it because it was too long, I have replaced it with a hinge that I had lying around.



I also have cut the board for the foot peddle, attached the piece that attaches to the foot peddle to the foot peddle and to the driveshaft as well. I will have this project finished and will post pictures of the first pots that I will throw on this treadle wheel by Friday (I promise).

[witty title here]

Well, I have really finished the frame for the treadle wheel (I noticed in the last post the photo was of an earlier incarnation of the frame, it is truly complete now). I was missing a few support beams, and had to move one that was in the wrong place.



I have also completed the splash pan, and my other half has started work on the drive shaft. Here is a photo of the steel plates that get attached to the drive shaft; this is before they were grinded and filed down to the right size.



Tomorrow it looks like the whole thing might finally get finished (I know I have been saying that but I truly mean it this time...I hope). I can’t wait to try it out and see all of the things that I can do better next time (they already seem to be mounting up (which is a good thing in my book)). I plan to build another one this summer, I am teaching a class at the college (Stephen F. Austin) this summer on brush, tool, and equipment making. And a couple of them seem really interested in making their own treadle wheel, so it seems like it will be a fun summer.

Bamboo Snob.....

I just wanted to share some photos of the black bamboo after it has been cut down to length for the brush handles. They also have been sanded and de-limbed (meaning the limbs or branches have been removed). This first photo is before I take all the wax off of the bamboo, as you can see it looks cloudy. This is from the dirt and wax that coats them.



This next photo I’ve used my handy dandy propane torch to melt the wax off the bamboo. As you can see they are no longer cloudy, which makes the colors brighter and gives them a kind of gloss.



I fear that I’ve become a bamboo snob, because I no longer like working with the green bamboo. The black stuff seem so much more alive, I dread the day when my stock of black bamboo runs out and I’m forced to return to the green stuff. Although, I’ve acquired some black bamboo to grow, right now it seems to not be doing much. We are hoping that it’s growing roots, and will send up some shoots...soon...

With a Bang...

I want to start this blog off with a bang.... as in the bang of a hammer and other noises made by other tools. Meaning I am going to start off talking about making tools and equipment for use in my (at the moment non existent) pottery studio. My first major project will be the construction of a Leach style treadle wheel built from the ground up. I will be posting pictures as the project proceeds, along with photos of other smaller projects that I will also be working on like brush making, and various tools for the potter. Stay tuned for more exciting episodes as we (my wife and I) slowly build our dream studio.