Wired to the max!

Peter is making great progress on his Sign Challenge piece. He's now finished glazing and aging the top section and has moved on to the wiring.  It is amazing to see how the addition of the various coloured wired changes the piece in such a dramatic fashion. The wires ties everything together beautifully and give the impression of incredible detail.

Trade show booth - part five

As we design any project I feel that two things can do a great deal to make it stand out. These are colour and texture. On the trade show booth we will use both to best advantage in a variety of mediums. Warm rust and weathered patinas will play against cool worn teals and smooth riveted steel against the deep gnarly texture of weathered wood. We are still in the early stages of the finishes but the project is already starting to look pretty cool. Today the crew sculpted the first of the woodgrain surfaces. Look closely and you can see the recessed steel letters cut into the lower deck.

Trade show booth - part four

With addition of the top faux I-beam along the top of the back wall the welding done on the front of the booth and it was time to begin the painting process. We had originally planned to have the steel all exposed and rusty but changed our mind to have it a weathered teal green instead. Before we got to that we first had to add the rivets and textured primer coat to make the back paneling look live steel. We used Abracadabra Sculpting epoxy to fashion the rivets.

I carefully laid on three coats of teal green on a steel shelf and allowed it to dry. Then I brought out the finish sander and judiciously went at the corners and edges to scrub off the paint. A little acid sprayed on and we had instant authentic old. I loved it!

With the test successful it was time to recreate that same look on a grand scale. We'll first brush on three coats, then add glazes and weathering and some real rust. The sculpted concrete work  on the pillar supports and floor will soon begin. We are also busy on the pieces which will be showcased in the booth. It's going to be a wonderful display!

Sign Challenge progress

Peter has now finished the sculpting on his Sign Challenge piece and has moved on to the painting process. It is looking pretty amazing!By the end of day tomorrow he should be into the glazing and aging process.

My piece has most of the base colours finished but we still have to do a little sculpting on one small element. Once that is painted we will move on to the aging and glazes.

Trade show booth - part three

The current large project underway in our shop has used our MultiCam plasma cutter in a large way. It has in fact caused me to fall in love with the handy, dandy machine and the ease in which we can create custom metal parts. We've taken the design/build approach. Each piece is first sized up visually. I make a few measurements and a quick sketch before heading to my desk. I fire up EnRoute and in a few minutes build the needed vector. I then grab the file and head to the plasma cutter computer to generate the tool paths and then it's off to the keypad to set the machine in motion. While the parts are cut I am sizing up the next part of the puzzle. Before heading to my desk to design again I tack the freshly cut steel parts in place, ready for our welder to make them permanent. The process is repeated many times through each day.

In less than a week we have completed a very complicated build of the heavy duty trade show booth. We've made a few alterations from the design to make it more versatile in the future.

On one of the corner posts we built a table/chair combination. It is our intention to do painting demonstrations (on a small 3D model) during the show. The table/chair pivot on the corner post to swing inside the booth during transport.

There are still a myriad of large and small details yet to add to the booth to make it a standout at the show. Stay tuned...

Mechanical marvel - part one

Peter (my son) is also entering a piece in the 2016 Sign Challenge. He says someone has to keep me in line. :)  It was a chance for him to learn and practice EnRoute software and also get up to speed at operating both the MultiCam router and plasma cutter. It is the first time he has worked on the high tech stuff. I am amazed at how fast he became proficient at designing in the software and operation machines. I looked over his shoulder and coached him a little when he was stuck the first few days but now he is totally off and running - at full speed!

Peter is building an automatic, artistic android with steampunk styling. The years that he spent as an animator came in handy as he adds that spark of life to the mechanical marvel! 

Trade show booth - part two

I drew up concept plans for an entire West Coast town more than five years ago. Every building and structure was styled in an energetic, steampunk/nautical flavour. I had a lot of fun creating the concepts but unfortunately the group was not able to get the funding necessary to proceed and the plan died. Those concepts (which I still own) have lain dormant in my files ever since. I am still confident that those initial ideas will some day actually be built as first envisioned. As we talked about the trade show booth I knew it was time to dust those old ideas off and showcase them once more.

Our MultiCam CNC plasma cutter and EnRoute software made designing and fabrication of the parts very easy and quick. Forming. fitting and welding up the flanges on the curved beams is still being done by hand. Our large hydraulic press makes it easier but it is still about eyeballing the curves, forming, fitting, forming, fitting until we get it right. Then everything is carefully measured, clamped into place and then welded up. The first beam will be finished tomorrow and the second one begun.