This piece was made during the pandemic and it was a collaboration between Alana Balagot and me. This short video directed by Rebecca Louisell is the best introduction:
For more information on the build check out our extensive documentation here.
Simple kinetic models
I was asked to do and online workshop and I came up with an idea for introducing beginners to making moving things. The idea is to build a single “engine” out of cork and wire (possibly a wire clip since they are easy to find) that can be moved back and forth between different contraptions. Building a single one also saves some time during a workshop.
The models can be built out of simple 3″ by 5″ index cards. And it’s nice to use the ones with a grid although they are less common. The grid makes it easy to mark the cuts and bends. The card itself also gives you a platform that can be pressed down with the cork when you are rotating the crank. Here are 3 models:
The first one is simply about turning rotary motion into reciprocating motion, notice how the wire fits into a long slit into the paper:
The second one is about how expressive paper can be with no straight creases, looks like a worm 🪱
And this one is about building a simple 4-arm linkage out of paper using a basic pop-up technique
A little wire bending can yield the next level of complexity with two alternating arms:
Drawing plants on plants
I’ve been experimenting with making more process videos. This piece uses several types of woods glued together or as inlays to create a wooden panel that I drew on with acrylic markers.
Some things I didn’t show in the video:
- Most of the wood is was cut using a laser cutter.
- To get some of the colors out of a limited marker palette I squirted a few drops from different markers aside and mixed together.
- I had to fill some of the gaps in between the inlays with wood filler
- I applied 3 coats of transparent gesso.
These are the types of wood I used:
- Torreya nucifera (カヤ) – for its yellow-gold color on the “eye” inlays
- Katsura wood (カツラ) – on the main drawing area
- Japanese Cedar (スギ) – on top for its reddish tone
- Poplar, aka American tulipwood – for it’s green tone, more noticeable on the back.
- Baltic birch plywood – because it’s a staple for making all sorts of things around here and it cuts so well on the laser cutter.
A colorful zine
This post was originally published on my Patreon account, please consider supporting my work by becoming a patron.
After the daily drawing marathon of the 100 day project a few months ago I felt like putting more effort into individual images. So this month I started working in earnest on a new zine. I had some ideas that I wanted to execute but the reality is that most things just take shape as you make them.
Sometimes I choose some simple guidelines or principles when starting a project, a sort of mini mission statement. The ones I came up with for this particular zine where the following:
- Be more playful
- Be surreal
- Use words
- Use more color
I admire artwork that looks playful, but this is also a reminder to be less perfectionist. Telling myself to be surreal is about embracing weird things, weird subjects and weird compositions. Using words stands in contrast to the last zine I made which was a wordless story. And use more color is perhaps also a reaction to that last zine, which was entirely black and white.
Since I’ve been doing a lot of drawing with heavy outlines I had to spend some time experimenting with ways to add more color to these images. Initially things were looking a lot like a coloring book, which is not a bad look but I wanted something different. I found that if mixed monochromatic images with colorful images I could tell myself a story that would also inform the drawings. Something about monochromatic beings in search of color, perhaps in search of themselves. This character is an example of that:
The one on the left has no outlines, and the one on the right has outlines and the kind of shading I tend to do with ink drawings.
The image at the top of the post is also and example of that idea, a colorful alien plant coming out of a monochromatic pot. And with the one below I was thinking about a colorful vortex emerging from the contact between two beings:
You have probably noticed I enjoy drawing patterns, like the tile floor on the above image. or the triangles on the center of this cloud and the shady side of the mountain:
I’m a big fan of decorative patterns but most of the time I prefer drawing them by hand to give them more personality, to give them warmth and an uneven charm. But I think I’ll be breaking that rule with this series. I designed a nice repeat pattern for the background of the plant using digital means and I think it works well. Here is a side by side comparison:
It’s a bit funny to admit I struggle with incorporating digital means to create images when all of these were created using a computer (specifically the app Procreate on an iPad). But this is a big theme for me: I enjoy using computers for making things but I want to resist their aesthetic impositions. Every tool imposes constraints and affects the outcome, a pencil is different from a brush, they are two different ways of thinking and executing images and making marks. And in the same way digital tools are both a way of thinking and doing that influences the outcome, vector images can look square and lifeless, too perfect, but they have practical advantages and even their own charm.
I’m not a fundamentalist of course, but I feel very aware of this kind of code switching, as I’m both a lover of color and black and white, a lover of real paint and simulated screen paint.
The plan now is to work on this zine for one or two more months and then have it printed. I feel like I’m pushing some of my own boundaries and creating some satisfying images. I’ll be posting some shorter more frequent updates as I finish more pages.
As always thank you so much for your support, without it this kind of slower, deeper work would be much harder, plus it’s nice to know I can finance the printing using your generous contributions. I’ll leave you with one last finished page:
Like the River
This is a short, wordless, comic about loss. My original intention was to publish it as a printed zine only but I decided to share it online as well. I hope it reads well on screen as I didn’t draw it in square format. I drew it one page at a time without a general plan, I think I was trying to put a feeling into images.
The feeling of being grateful for what is here now, but will be gone one day. I realize it’s a bit much to think about death these days but the last few panels seem to have positive take on it, as in letting go, and perhaps returning to the source, whatever that is.
You can purchase affordable printed copies of this zine on my etsy shop. Thank you for your support!
Mechanical Foamcore Models
I’ve been asked a lot about how to get started building mechanical contraptions and I always mention Keisuke Saka’s excellent book Karakuri, how to make mechanical paper models that move. The book has actual printed template pages that are meant to be torn out and used as building materials. The first time I encountered this book it was on loan from a friend that had built most of the models already, so I set out to replicate the basic mechanisms using materials that I was comfortable with, and that were quick and easy. Foam core, paper clips, skewers, paper, and plastic bits from yogurt containers.
I like this approach because paper craft can be intimidating for new makers as it requires patience an precision, and when it comes to working mechanical models it is sometimes easier to take a more forgiving approach.
These pieces are not new work. They were the precursors to the one month of small machines project so I wanted to document them even though they aren’t pretty. Page 6 of the books offers a summary of the basic mechanisms:
Most of the models are built on a foam core base that is roughly 2.75″ x 2.75″ by 2″. And for the completists out there, I didn’t build a Crank B.
For making the gears I used geargenerator.com. I printed them on paper, glued on the foam core and then cut by hand. The Gear B needs some beveling to make it work.
This is a really good set of mechanisms to get started. Each mechanism will have a set of problems to solve, and solving these problems in whatever material you choose will translate to other materials. I like foam core and hot glue, but you might choose cardboard or wood. Good luck with your builds!
Also if you want an easy way to share these, grab them from my giphy channel here: Cam A, Cam B, Cam C, Cam D, Crank A, Crank C, Gear A, Gear B, Geneva Stop.
Interactive Totoro piece for Giant Robot Show
This year Giant Robot had their 4th annual Totoro Show and I was lucky enough to be invited. I wanted to make an interactive kinetic piece for a while and this was a good opportunity. If you want to see an in depth video about the process check out my talk with Donald Bell from Maker Project Lab on youTube. He was very kind to have me on the show and we had a wonderful conversation that went over many details of this piece and the small automata I made last year for makevember.
The piece is 8.5 in wide, 6.75 in tall and 2.25 in deep. Mostly constructed with laser cut 1/8″ birch plywood with some small parts cut out from 1/16″ birch plywood. It uses a single 30 rpm gear motor powered by an 18650 lithium ion battery housed in a case that includes a USB plug and charging circuit. Most of the axles where parts pivot are made with sewing pins and the wire for the mechanism is very similar to piano wire except I extracted from the bead of bicycle tires. It’s stiff wire with a thickness of about 0.9mm. The switch is wired to provide power to the motor whenever it’s actuated. The characters are hand-painted with acrylic paint.
I really liked the scene where the Totoros and the girls are making the acorns grow at night. I didn’t include the humans in the final moving piece for sake of simplicity.
I usually start this kind of project with some sketches and paper prototypes. First hand-cut, and then laser cut when I have some ideas on how to make it work. These pieces are pinned to foam core to work out the movement.
Here is the initial assembly after cutting most of the parts, the orange stuff is masking tape .
I didn’t have a solid mechanical plan from the beginning. I started with the box and an idea and went from there. A lot of parts like the wire wide were added as the need arose, in this case the wire was drifting back and forth on the crank so I had to add a guide to keep it vertical. The sliders are lubricated with graphite powder which explains the grey stain.
I wrapped the switch cord in black para-cord to give it a less plasticky feel.
It was important to me that the switch would be pleasant to the touch so I put some effort into making the acorn case and figuring out a good “clicky” feel.
walking man automata
One of the most popular pieces from the small machines series was the walking man from November 6. I received videos and pictures of other people making their own versions and recently a school in Barcelona used the idea for their classes, this really made me happy because it’s really rewarding to inspire others to make something. My intention with first designs was to use common materials and methods to keep them accessible, but I can’t deny my love and appreciation for digital fabrication so I decided to design a version for the laser cutter.
I’m still using wood and paper but decided to skip the use of wire. In this case the simple crank works well made out of wood. I’m using 3 mm birch plywood and some 90 lb paper but the paper thickness doesn’t affect the design very much so use whatever you have at hand. The paper is glued with regular white glue and you might have to glue the wood depending on the kerf of your laser cutter. Download the files from this github repository (See below for an improved version).
And check out this embedded video for the assembly. I would love to see your builds so please tag me on social media or send me an email.
Update: I made a much better version that lets you choose the material thickness of the wood and has easier assembly, check it out here: Walking Man Cuttle Template.
And it comes with a companion video and better assembly instructions:
A new high contrast baby mobile
A previous post described my process for making a plywood mobile. I’ve since added a new tool and some materials to my process so I thought it would be relevant to document this latest build.
This mobile was commissioned by a close friend (disclaimer, I struggle a lot with commissions so I don’t take them easily). I started by drawing several sketches by hand and then putting them into a digital document as a mockup. I made several but I’ll show you only the one my friend chose:
The fish are a salmon and a flounder since I wanted to have some species from California. I’m particularly proud of the salmon drawing. At this point I converted the images to vector drawings and started cutting them on the laser cutter. I used 1/8″ birch plywood. Every piece was cut in two parts that were mirror opposites. The plywood had masking tape which allowed me to precisely cut the mask for the shapes I had drawn.
In order to glue the pieces, I made registration holes that fit a paper clip. Conveniently I could later use the registration holes for hanging the pieces. The holes were 0.03″ in diameter and 0.03″ apart.
I pre-treated one side of the plywood with spray-on shellac and a light sanding before applying the masking tape. I found that a light coat of shellac allows me to remove the masking tape without raising the grain and it’s a good surface for painting.
The fun thing about scoring the masking tape is that I don’t have to re-trace the drawings and I get to paint one of the colors with a blunt tool. For the black, I did two coats of Montana water-based acrylic paint, and for white two or three coats of Golden high flow acrylic. I like high flow acrylic because it can be applied with a brush or a quill for finer detail.
The bleed wasn’t too much of a problem on this project because I had a two-color palette but, incidentally I just saw this video where they suggest applying a clear coat before painting to clog the edges of the mask. I have to try that next time. On the last picture, I’m applying paint with a small brush and a quill for small areas.
I didn’t do all the pieces at once because I wasn’t sure the proportions were right on the mockup. I worked from the bottom up and at some point, I even re-cut the pieces that go on the flounder. The process could be more efficient but at the end, I was happy with the results.
For the lines, I like using bead stringing wire. It’s flexible, strong, and it looks really clean. The one downside is that you need to purchase crimp tubes and a crimping tool. I think you could skip the crimping tool and use regular pliers if you are in a pinch. The crimping tool just gives you a slightly cleaner and more consistent look.
In order to make the pieces face down for the baby to see, I used this triangular arrangement:
Perhaps the most challenging part of this project was taking pictures of the finished product. It’s really hard to convey the experience in still images. Here are my attempts, thanks for reading!
Laser cut posable arm lamp
I started using an inexpensive video LED light for taking pictures and then I realized it doubled quite nicely as a desktop lamp. Adam Savage suggested something similar as a custom workbench lamp.
My first attempt to make some arms was too simple and flimsy so I decided to replicate the classic design of the posable lamp base with materials I had at hand. I got some inspiration from a design by Matthew Phillips I found on Instructables (he also provides cut files if you wanna go that way). He used rubber bands instead of springs which I thought was pretty clever.
I drew mine from scratch because I wanted a specific size and I had a bunch of #8-32 screws to assemble it. I also made a base that fit the needs of my current desk but I can see how this can be improved with some sort of clamp system.
The base is made out of 3/4″ plywood and its wedged in between the wall and the desk.
Feel free to use this SVG file for your own needs and inspiration with some notes and disclaimers:
- I used #8-32 machine screws but I made the holes with a really tight fit to provide some extra friction.
- Where there are slots they were sized to the plywood I used and the kerf of my machine, so you might want to adjust that to your needs. My plywood was 0.125″ thick.
- The holes for the rubber bands are sized to the bamboo skewers I had at hand, so as with everything else your mileage may vary.
It’s a simple design so I’m sure you can adapt it to your needs quite easily.
There is a very similar version of this post on the glowforge forums in case you want to glean some extra wisdom from the community.
Experiments with Air-Dry Clay
When I saw Shaun Tan’s “The Singing bones” I fell in love with his simple and evocative sculptures. I was delighted to find out he used inexpensive materials and techniques so I set out to experiment on my own. In the afterword of The Singing Bones Shawn explains:
“The main materials I’ve used are papier-mache and air-drying clay, carved back and painted with acrylics, oxidized metal powder, wax and shoe polish. The resistance of clay in particular at a small scale encourages simplicity, especially where the key tools are blunt fingers and thumbs: Faces and gestures are abbreviated, just like characters in the tales themselves. “
He also wrote a blog post about his process. I remember playing a lot with modeling clay when I was a child. I created a lot of creatures and strange faces and I think I wanted to experience that aimless sense of creation again. I bought some relatively inexpensive Crayola brand air-dry clay at a store near me and set out to feel the material.
It’s nice to work with when wet and it accepts the common clay techniques and tools. But my favorite part is carving it when it has dried a little bit (usually a few hours depending on your climate). A made a short video to demonstrate:
The tools I’ve been using besides my fingers are a couple of carving gouges, an X-Acto knife with a #22 blade (the curved edge is nice for scraping), a paper clip and a bamboo skewer:
Size wise I’ve stayed below 1.5″ x 1.5″ roughly. I think this type of clay can support bigger sizes especially if you make a wire structure but it’s nice to have limitations. Here are some of the characters I’ve made so far, ruler and coins for scale:
I think I would enjoy making more elaborate sets for these characters but so far I’ve kept it simple. Sometimes I take pictures on top of my sketchbooks or inside a lightbox I made out of foam core and tracing paper. Total cost (without the lamps) was less than $2, there are a lot of tutorials out there for building your own, this Instructable would be a good start.
Right now I’m more interested in the shapes than in the stories of each character. Although I hope some of the pictures will suggest a story by themselves. Here is a collection of the ones I’ve posted so far on my Instagram account. I think it’s a fun and approachable material, I suggest you give it a try.
on the Root Simple podcast
Kelly and Erik have been a source of inspiration to me for years. Their blog, RootSimple.com, and their books have enriched my life and given me ideas for lots of experimentation. Beekeeping, fermentation, baking, gardening, organizing, and even cleaning. At some point, they’ve helped me directly or I’ve reached for their solutions (we use their “almost universal cleaning spray” daily around the household, a blend of 50/50 vinegar and water). That’s why I was so excited to be on their podcast.
We had a wonderful conversation that spanned many topics. Erik was very encouraging and he almost made me forget there was a microphone in front of me. You should head over to their website to listen and check out the show notes. Although if you are in a hurry you can just hit play right here:
Listen to “108 Artist/Maker Federico Tobon” on Spreaker.
Here are some bonus pictures and notes:
I found the actual comment about the Michel Pollan inspired rules for social media. I wrote: “Post positive things. Mostly yours. Not too much.” It’s not a very strict rule, and I would probably reevaluate it if I had different goals for my social media presence, but I mostly abide by it.
My CNC router is specifically a ShapeOko 2 with a few modifications. It lives in the utility room of my apartment it perhaps it occupies more space than it deserves.
Here is some information for the CNC aficionados: That red box houses the electronics (power supply, Arduino, GRBL shield and motor controller) and I added some buttons and switches to the top for easy access. Other mods are the LED strip on the Y rails and the HDPE waste board. It’s humble by today’s standards but I do enjoy the little beast. Behind the red box, there is a raspberry pi that helps me control it via WIFI using the wonderful chilipeppr grbl workspace.
This video shows the ShapeOko 2 in action making some pockets for the color pencil inlays:
The 3D printer turned laser engraver we mentioned is a circa 2012 Solidoodle 2. The company has gone extinct but some things stay alive beyond their creator’s intentions. I followed the directions on this instructable almost to the letter to turn it into a laser engraver. It’s not pretty but it does some jobs.
In action while working on the Opposable Thumbs Challenge:
We were talking about cat training on the podcast so here is a video of our cat Kuro jumping between two tables and doing a high five:
https://www.instagram.com/p/sTIBRFoeIt/
Erik mentioned some of my sewing projects. Some time ago I designed and made a lot of messenger bags. My messenger bag pattern was based on the golden ratio, more of an intellectual exercise than an actual belief in its powers to make things better, but it was fun:
And finally, this is a picture of the beehive we moved to the roof with Erik’s help, I wrote a short blog post when we did it with some more details and a couple of videos.
Head over to Root Simple for the rest of the show notes.
a podcast on crafting security
This month I was a guest on episode #8 of the opposable thumbs podcast. The podcast is hosted by Rob Ray and Taylor Hokanson and on each episode, the hosts and a guest tackle a creative challenge and then discuss the results, discoveries, problems, and solutions. I was very excited about it when I listened to the first episode so a made a gift and sent it their way last April.
This was my first podcast and it was a really nice experience. Rob and Taylor were super welcoming and very organized. They had an agenda and documents about what to expect as a guest, which was very helpful. And while recording the podcast we were able to exchange notes and pictures using slack.
I wanted to post a couple of pictures of the thing I made here but you should go listen to the episode and look at the other projects on the opposable thumbs website.
Part of my inspiration was XKCD comic number 936 on Password Security. My intention was to make a sort of analog password generator that looked good and was nice to handle. So I made a “flexi-cube” (I’m not sure if this is the technical name). This video tutorial by pocket83 was very helpful, I mostly used it for inspiration but it really covers the basics if you want to make your own.
Part of the fun was making a jig for cutting the poplar squares using the table saw sled:
This is a closeup of the Jig, I had to add a thumb-rest after cutting a few cubes because my thumb was getting sore:
After cutting the cubes I engraved the words using the laser on my converted 3D printer (an old solidoodle-2 with a 30 dollar 1/2 a watt purple laser that I modified following this instructable).
After engraving the cubes I assembled them using elastic hair bands. I made 3 different versions: the first one has only English words, the second one is bilingual (English and Spanish) and the third one has Japanese words written in Hiragana with their corresponding translation. I finished the poplar with olive oil to bring out the color.
This is, of course, a proof of concept, but the basic idea is that you would be able to generate simple 3 or 4-word memorable passwords by playing with it. There are a lot of possible combinations. Each version has 27 cubes with 2 words per face. That is a total of 324 words in the English language one and 162 words on the bilingual ones. It’s also just a fun toy. On the subject of passwords, don’t take my word for it, there is more to it and there are more sophisticated ways to generate them, do you research.
opposable thumbs
I made a little gift for my friends at the Opposable Thumbs Podcast. They take on a creative challenge every two weeks and then talk about it with some tool recommendations thrown in. I’m enjoying it a lot. I’m particularly fond of their code of conduct because it aims to create an inclusive space, which can be hard to do among geeky people who enjoy talking about obscure subjects. I’m copying it here for future reference:
Our podcast is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, knowledge of presented subject matter, or religion (or lack thereof). We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Our overall belief is that mutual respect and voices from all walks of life must be heard to create a balanced society. We want our community to be more diverse…whatever your background, we welcome you. We actively support an inclusive environment, and we want you to be a part of it.
Although I wasn’t trying to join their first challenge (paper clips and and 2×4 lumber) this thing sort of came out while tinkering aimlessly at my desk. I had improvised the shape out of a scrap on my bandsaw while trying out the technique that Jimmy Diresta uses in this video (similar to the well know bandsaw reindeer that Matthias Wandel takes to the next level here) and it seemed like a nice way to hold a hand-cranked contraption while being vaguely thumb shaped. I’ve been trying to make paper clip gears with various degrees of success since I saw this video of Arthur Ganson making wire gears and I made one for this project but it didn’t quite fit the way I wanted, and it wasn’t perfectly centered, so settled with the offset orbiting hands design.
Give the Opposable Thumbs a listen and do let me know if there are any other similar podcasts I should be listening to.
One year of Melt-thology
I have a ritual with my friend Joe Linton. On the third Tuesday of (almost) every month we ride our bikes to Meltdown comics and draw together at the Melt-thology comix jam. A big part of the appeal for me is to hang out with Joe and talk about comics and life, but it is also a good opportunity to draw in a different environment. Occasionally Joe will bring his daughter Maeve (aka Super Maeve) and it’s great to watch them collaborate on a comic.
It’s a very friendly set up and at the end the artwork is collected with $3 for printing costs and you get a zine the following month with a collection of everyone’s contributions. It goes from 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm which sounds like a lot of time to complete one page but I’ve been surprised more than once, this stuff takes time.
If you are in the L.A area I would encourage you to go. The venue is the legendary Meltdown Comics and it is a fun way to meet other artists and share some of your work. Find more info on the Melt-thology facebook page or Instagram.
I feel like my submissions have been a mixed bag. Sometimes I try to do a mini-comic and sometimes I go for a simple illustration. I like the two hour restriction because it forces me to finish something quick, so I concentrate more on the overall effect rather than getting caught in the details. Here is a collection of all the ones I’ve submitted so far in order of appearance, also notice I got to do the cover for #19.
diy belt sander
In my last post I documented my budget bandsaw repair. This one is about documenting a little belt sander I built with mostly found parts. There are tons of home made belt sander builds on the internet and I don’t feel like I’m adding anything new, but I still wanted to put it out there, maybe I will inspire your own build.
I tried to keep it as simple as possible and the most obvious consequence of doing that is that it’s not particularly pretty. But it works and I made it with minimal parts and expense.
This sander uses a 1″ by 30″ belt. That means the belt is 1″ (inch) wide and has a 30″ circumference. It’s useful for sanding small parts and inside corners. It’s also very easy to change the belts in case you want to use different grits. It’s also particularly nice for sharpening knives and other tools.
The starting point was this 1/2 hp motor from a pump that a friend was getting rid of:
My first step was to drill and tap the axle:
Here I’m starting the tap with the drill press to keep it straight:
And then finish it with the hand holder:
I used a 1/4″ – 20 bolt but in retrospective I think something thicker would be better.
The next step was to cut and glue a couple of plywood circles:
And mount them to the motor:
This is after some turning and sanding. I secured the motor to the table and used a chisel against the 2×4 improvised tool rest to turn the piece and give it a crown:
Not bad:
After that I started working on the idler pulley. I had a skateboard wheel, I secured it with a bolt and some washers:
And mounted it on the drill press:
I did the rough shaping with this rasp:
Finished it and crowned it with this set up. The Blade is secured to the 2×4 with a screw. The 2×4 is clamped to the drill press table. This allows for fine control of the turning.
Detail. This blade is really thin but it did the job. I think if i were to do it again I would use a thicker utility blade.
The next step was the structure. I started by making a sleeve for the metal post:
Then I positioned this door hinge on top of the sleeve
And trimmed the excess metal:
After that I added the tension adjustment bolt. In this picture I’m setting it up to weld the nut in place:
The tension adjustment bolt needs to rest on a flat surface so I added this piece to the main post:
This is the main post after welding the base:
And it comes together when bolted the the plywood base:
After I made sure everything was working I took it apart and painted the metal parts and made some wood knobs. The top knob adjusts the tension and the side knob tilts the wheel to adjust the tracking.
Added some 3/4″ plywood for the front and the table:
In order to mount the switch I hogged out a pocket with a router bit mounted on the the drill press. Not super clean but it does the job:
The switch. Wired and protected with shrink-wrap tubing:
Here you can see the switch from the front and other final details. That knob in the front threads onto the table to secure it in place. I wanted to be able to remove it easily for changing the belt and cleaning.
And here is a closeup of the backing plate. I found an aluminum l-bracket and cut it to size:
And it’s done. I finished it with shellac. I love the feeling of making your own tools (almost) from scratch. I mean, if I were to buy a $70 belt sander I wouldn’t put it on my resume.
Budget bandsaw repair
The “workshop” part of the wolfCat workshop name means a few things to me. One, it is a hope: I aspire to build that ideal workshop, my ideal workshop. For years I’ve made do with whatever is at hand: empty balconies, borrowed kitchen tables, benches in forgotten places, corners in someone else’s garage. I’ve also worked in very nice workshops with really clever people. I love workshops and I love making. My current situation is not that bad. I share a one car garage with a group of folks. We have a few nice tools and as shared spaces go this one is pretty organized.
For a while now I wanted a bigger bandsaw and had been looking online for used deals. I had also been considering building one following Matthias Wandel’s plans. As it happened this ended up being something in between. A little disclaimer: I posted a short version of this build on imgur.
I happened to find this bandsaw listed for $70 USD with some crappy pictures. I texted the seller to ask if it was still available and he told me someone had stolen the table and I could have it for $30. I figured I could make a table and said I’d pick it up. When I got there the top wheel and the tension mechanism where missing too. I took it for $25 since I was there already. Worst case scenario, I thought, I could use the motor for another project.
I didn’t document the building of the tension mechanism but this is what I came up with. A 1/4″ plate with some 1/2″ – 13 bolts and nuts. The tilt adjustment is a solid rod I tapped with a 1/4″ – 20 screw.
Then I added the clamp for adjusting the tension. Here it is seen from both sides:
Attentive bandsaw users might notice I’m not using a spring. I just didn’t have one strong enough and I wasn’t about to go buy one. I decided to just try it and add one later if necessary.
Next I started building the wheel. I took a lot from watching Matthias Wandel’s bandsaw builds on youtube so if you are looking to do something similar I can’t recommend him enough. Check out his build at http://woodgears.ca/bandsaw/homemade.html
I started by cutting two 14.25″circles (the final wheel needed to be 14″) with this simple circle cutting jig out of some 3/4″ birch plywood:
Then some holes. Mostly convenient for clamping (next step) and for rotating the wheel with your hand when adjusting the blade:
Gluing the two circles. Is it possible to ever have too many clamps?:
The next step was to make some bearing holders. That sketchy looking circle cutting tool is very convenient if you want to cut really precise circles. I took about 4 attempts until I found the right size. The bearings are press fit on the wood so a very tight fit is important.
Mounting the bearing by pressing it with the vise:
And this is how I made the axle. I call it the poor man’s lathe. 1/2″ bolt mounted on the drill press and the angle grinder with a flap disk to shape the nuts.
Making sparks:
Halfway there:
Checking the fit:
The final result. I think I had to shape the outside nut a bit more later on but you get the idea. I’m not so sure that this 1/2″ bolt is going to last though. I’m expecting it to bend a little. Perhaps I’m going to have to get a real solid axle a few months from now.
Once I had the axle I was able to mount the wheel to the table. The screw mounted to the wood block is for truing the wheel. There are two bearings. One of either side of the wheel. You glue one first, then you assemble the whole thing and position the second one making sure the wheel doesn’t wobble. If you want a better explanation see how Matthias does it in this video https://youtu.be/eEB0fM-71T8?t=6m30s
And this is how I turned the wheel. Another sort of poor man’s lathe. I made a “tire” with inner tubes around the drill chuck. A spring holds it tight against the wheel. The 2×4 on the opposite side is screwed on the table and that is the tool rest. I rounded and crowned the wheel using a couple of woodworking chisels. Side note: in the gif it looks like the wheel is spinning counter-clockwise. But it was actually spinning clockwise:
Once the wheel was rounded and crowned (incidentally this video on how crowned pulleys work is pretty good) I balanced it by drilling holes where it was heavier.
And a final coat of shellac to make it last:
A 10″ bicycle wheel inner tube is the tire. Another one of Matthias’ brilliant ideas:
The top blade guides were missing too so I made a new set with some plywood and walnut. This was the hardest wood I had lying around, we’ll see how long it lasts. Someone on reddit suggested dipping the guides in hot wax for lubrication. I’ll be trying that soon.
Top blade guide installed on the saw:
The table trunnions are based on a circle with 2″ radius:
This started as a quick prototype out of plywood scrap and ended up being the final one. You know how it goes:
The trunnion assembly:
I shaped the washer so it would rest flush on the round trunnion:
Filed a square hole for the carriage bolt:
And this is how they look on a temporary table I made out of crappy pallet plywood:
I made the final table out of 3/4″ birch plywood. Here it is with the jig I made to cut the insert pocket with the router:
The pocket is 1/4″ deep for using 1/4″ plywood inserts. I had to make the round corners into square corners with a chisel:
Then I made the miter slot using the table router:
Mounted after a few coats of shellack.:
After cutting the slit that allows you to replace the blade I added this extra piece of wood that keeps the table flat. It swivels out:
And it’s held underneath by this knob. You can make some neat knobs once you have a semi functional bandsaw:
I thought the switch was in a very awkward place so I decided to rewire it:
After a trip to the Home Despot. That part to the left is a strut clamp, you can find them in the electrical section:
Very convenient that strut clamp:
New switch position:
I felt I needed a switch fence to avoid starting the bandsaw unintentionally:
More shellack:
You know. Going for that metal + wood look:
The last touch was adding a light:
I had one of these IKEA JANSJÖ LED work lamps and after taking off the base I mounted it to a piece of plywood and clamped it to the bandsaw arm. I might make something nicer in the future but this works ok for now:
After using the light for a bit I got tired of switching it on and off so I added this outlet under the base. Now the main switch turns the motor on AND also the left side of the outlet where I plugged in the IKEA light. I figured the outlet would be convenient if I wanted to add dust extraction in the future:
Cat Tax:
I hope my budget bandsaw build was interesting to you. I just love bandsaws and this one has become one of the most used tools in our garage.
Warm Heart Automata
A little story about how not to steal like an artist first. Sometimes I seek inspiration in social media. One day I found this awesome illustration by Instagram user @you_just_illusion and decided to use it as the base for this drawing. I sincerely though I had made it different enough and imbued it with my own style but that’s not how he felt and he let me know in a polite direct message. I apologized and we agreed that a shout out to his work would be enough atonement.
I think sometimes there is a fine line between inspiration and copying and it seems like I crossed the line in this case. I wasn’t trying to be malicious but sometimes this happens. Originality is not very important to me. I subscribe to the “Everything is a remix” idea. And almost everything I do came out from somewhere else. Sometimes the influences get lost, mixed with the others. And sometimes you make the wrong judgement about how far you actually mixed something. In this case no one got seriously hurt and we had a good interaction. And I’m also satisfied with how this piece turned out.
The first version I drew was for a zine project I was working on, which you can see in the background here:
I’m on a quest to unite my visual output with my maker spirit. Making drawings that move seems like a great way to do that. I started by cutting the outlines out of 1/4 in plywood and attaching the flames to a couple of dowels.
My initial idea was a simple crank and some wavy motion but I wasn’t entirely sure about how the mechanism was going to work, so I made a prototype out of scrap wood and wire:
And here is what the final version looks like with the two cranks:
After I had the mechanism figured out I moved onto painting. I started with a few coats of white acrylic ink. I sanded that with 600 grit sandpaper to get a nice even surface and applied a coat of workable fixative. The fixative helps with bleeding. I applied the black ink with a brush and and quill for the fine details.
I like how you can still see the grain of the wood on the white areas.
Before the final assembly I coated the main surface of the box with superglue. It acts as a hard clean finish. The other parts were coated with a matte finish. The moving sections were lubricated with bee’s wax. I made the handle out of some ebony scavenged from the keys of and old piano a friend found in the street.
One final detail is the wall mount. This system with two matching pieces of wood cut at a 45 degree angle is called a “french cleat”. The screw on the side is for added stability when using the crank.
Artist Trading Cards for Reddit
I signed up for an artist trading card exchange on Reddit (at /r/ArtistSpeakEasy if you are curious). I like artist trading cards (ATC’s) because you can finish them fast and move on. Little 2.5″ by 3.5″ experiments. I’ve never actually traded them but I still like the idea.
For this batch I made a little card holder which you can see in action here.
I love receiving things on the mail and I wanted to create a nice experience for those who got one of these cards.
cat sketch
rainy days are the best for sketching sleepy cats.
a friend from a distant land
messy bird
This is a page of one of my big scrapbooks. When I posted it on my Instagram account someone told me it reminded them of the work of Kenneth Patchen. I wasn’t aware of his work then but his painted poems are wonderful to behold.
imaginary animal
Since I started paying attention to the work of Carla Sonheim with her drawing lab for mixed media artists book this kind of thing comes out of me here and there.
bird in hand
A little leftover from my high contrast mobiles project.
morning page
I was experimenting with morning pages by drawing for 10 min first thing in the morning. This was completed over 3 days.
Happy Dreams Postcard
I made this illustration around the holidays and sent it to a few friends. It eventually became the inspiration for the high contrast mobiles.
cat monk meditating
some human monks meditate -and sleep- so long that they turn into cats.
rediscover the familiar
I think he is saying: “there is a place over there we have not seen today”
king Worm is tired
another set of weird characters. I like the way king Worm turned out. the jagged crown is cool. the other guy seems a bit out of it. the overall feel was Sendak inspired. I think he could have a stronger pose.
this space between us
this space between us, where our eyes meet. a gift.
this is how we fly
and I told my dragon friend:
let’s be weird together!
thank you
for you are a star to someone’s journey.
maker advice
Jimmy Diresta is a wonderful maker and youtuber. In a response to one of his twitter followers he said:
Just make shit with reckless abandon. Money will come when your 50. But you will always have fun!
-Jimmy Diresta
I really liked the idea so I made this illustration one afternoon.
a great beast
I just came back from a wonderful road trip with my brother. This land is huge.
travel sketches
some sketches I did while driving across the US. I didn’t draw a lot during the trip, mostly enjoyed this vast land and my wonderful brother.
heart of darkness
A scribbly heart illustration in my sketchbook. I love black and red.
cat faces
some silly faces for Halloween. have fun, eat candy, pet a cat.
birds
a good day for drawing birds
cloud animation
another stab at animating hand drawn artwork using processing. i got the seamless loop nicely this time.
heart castle
{heart castle}
we have replaced the moon.
but our heart is not as bright.