metal work

 I don't know if you've ever been to Portland between the months of September and July but it kind of rains a lot here. And it rains for a long time too (as in about 6 or 7 months of rain plus 2 or 3 or 4 more months of un reliable weather). To combat cabin fever and to help myself not have a wet ass all the time I made some fenders.  I should say I made some fenders again. The last set of these got stolen, along with my bike in the early spring.  I'm still waiting to see my old bike go by so I can bulldog some one in the bike lane...Anyway, I had some copper left from the last time I made these.

Pretty simple to make.  I just had to draw a center line and wail on them for about 6  hours until they were roundish.  The first set took way longer.  The rear that I made last only actually took me about 2 hours start to finish. I'm starting to get the hang of stretching the material where I need to to get the curvature I need.

I just beat on the copper on a panel bag I made with some suede hide and some playground sand. They have a slightly dimpled look as I didn't feel like spending 12 more hours picking out all of the high and low spots to make them perfect.  I like the look, plus I'm hoping the indentations will help capture water and make them patina faster.
 And like always, no process photos, I'm always too busy making things to stop for documentation.

Chess set

Another class assignment here. We were to make a chess set using an extrusion as the basis of our pieces. This was supposed to teach us about designing parts that had repeatability, rather than the one off masterpieces we usually built for each one of our projects. I think it was also pitched this way to keep the work load down and success attainable. I stayed very diligently on task for this project and I barely finished in the 11 weeks I had.

The first step was deciding on an extrusion. We could make our own or go out and buy something that was readily available and work from that. I know what your thinking, "If you make it Dusty, then how is it an extrusion?". Well it's technically not an extrusion but so long as my professor agreed that what I came up with COULD be extruded then I was allowed to proceed.
So I sketched for a little while and chose my extrusion, got it approved then moved onto sketching my main form for my pieces.

(Pardon the splatters on this sheet, I got a little cutting fluid on them during the manufacturing process.)

 Whipped out some control drawings then it was onto the mill to cut my extrusion on some aluminum bar stock.

After milling the individual pieces were cut to length.
Each piece was then chucked up in the lathe and the profiles that made them unique were cut away.

Then they were taken to the drill press and an array of holes was drilled into the tops, later to be filled with brass rod.
Next the higher ranking pieces were polished, these pieces represent royalty in the game and I thought that their finish should be given a bit more attention.
The board I chose to make was copper rather than wood. I etched grid into the copper by making a sticker out of a piece of vinyl and laser cutting it. I floated the sheet on, peeled out the free blocks and then dipped the whole board into a solution of ferric chloride for a few hours. I like the way metal wears and patinas when it is handled so I didn't clear coat the copper.
As you can see in the picture below some oxidation had already started to occur. Finger prints and smudges, moisture rings. I feel all of the elements add character to the objects that we surround ourselves with and I try to design with that in mind. I designed this set as a piece that would "wear in" rather than wearing out. In the time since I made this set the board has gotten a little bit darker and the pieces are still just as lustrous as the day I polished them.