Posted by Jerry on September 6th, 2004 — Posted in Journal, Woodwork
Well, Sunday I just had to go back to the Working With Wood show – catching up on the demonstrations I missed the first time around. I always learn heaps at these shows – there was an excellent demonstration on making small wooden boxes, using a router and four cutters.
Outside there was a demonstration of chain saw sculpting – and a bizarre but skillful sculpture emerged of an Islander in an outrigger canoe – an amphibious one!
And there were the usual displays of portable saw mills, including the mighty Lucas mill – which turned my burnt ribbon gum tree into boards for me after the bushfires last year. But each year there are new innovations, like this one for smaller chainsaws for lifting slabs off lumber where it lies – great for reclaiming timber from dead trees or storm windfalls. This one doesn’t run on rails, but rather rides over the tree trunk while keeping the saw blade parallel throughout the cut. Simple, but effective.
This is at the start of the cut
and this is near the finish.
The result is a timber slab suitable for a bench seat or coffee table, and the size of the setup is ideal for reclaiming urban trees that are often not so large as forest trees, ones that would otherwise just be chipped when they grow too tall for the telegraph wires.
And yes I did pick up a couple more toys – notably a thread cutter for a wooden embroidery frame that my partner has been dropping subtle hints over…
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on September 1st, 2004 — Posted in Journal, Writing
I just had to respond to something in Sara’s blog (Sara Splits Infinitives) As an Australian, I spent a little time in London, okay I suppose it was fairly central, and I needed a plumber – what with the pipes being of indeterminate age….
Anyhow the plumber turned up as I arrived home to grab some lunch, so I asked him if he’d like a coffee or tea. He looked at me standing there in my work clobber of chalk-stripe suit and tie as though I were from another planet, and started calling me ‘Guv’.
So I said ‘mate, the name’s Jerry, and what’s with the deference thing?’ I made him coffee and we talked a bit about how strange I was finding all this class stuff, so he asked me how I saw the situation.
I said ‘well, you’re a businessman, and you have a skill that I don’t have, and that I respect – and that makes me one of your clients… does it really matter that my overalls look a bit different? I’m sure we both like a beer after work…’ ‘Really?’ he said, ‘you know, I never thought of it like that!’ I’m not sure whether he was more surprised that I made him coffee, or that I had taken the time to talk with him!
cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on August 29th, 2004 — Posted in Journal, New media, Technology
It’s good to see some rain at last – but still only a trickle compared with what we need. Today has been a fixing day, replacing blown light globes in the dashboard of the car and in the speedo and tacho on the bike.
The Lostbiro web project is coming along and I have been madly preparing a site plan and getting photos taken ready for the great site building. Sharon has very helpfully organised the contents of my personal part of my ANU site into something resembling a decent site, and she has agreed to do a bunch of special graphics for me – *happy dance*!
Lostbiro? Yes, I’m now the proud owner of a domain name! I shall be moving a whole pile of stuff from my ANU site and will be building a full-on site for my band, Full Circle.
The big priority at the moment is to get the band site organised so we can go live by next weekend. The band email address is already working (fullcircle@lostbiro.com). Why the urgency now? Well, our National Folk Festival application goes in this week (first thing tomorrow), and our band’s web address is being listed – so I guess we ought to have a site ready for people to view.
I’d be interested in any ideas for things people would like to see on the site – so feel free to email me (or the band) or leave a comment on this blog entry.
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on August 28th, 2004 — Posted in Journal
It was quieter than usual for open day, but no less interesting. The metal wedge in the tree trunk sculpture was … er… enhanced by the addition of a giant cardboard hammer!
First stop was Sharon Boggon’s button installation in the foyer… the upper shelf shows button necklaces by Valerie Kirk
Then it was on for a quick visit to the 3D printer, or rapid prototyper, which is a seriously impressive piece of equipment.
The machine works like an ink jet printer, but it lays down an extruded plastic polymer resin. Unlike a printer, however, once the first layer is done, the matrix base moves down by one thickness of the resin and the process starts again. Gradually a 3D shape takes form, whether a conch shell form or a plastic adjustable spanner his device can build it using information from a 3D design program.
The device was purchased jointly between the Canberra School of Art and the John Curtin School of Medical Science – the latter using it to model artificial knee joints and the like.
After buying a couple of raffle tickets for a beautiful woodwork bench, Sharon headed off to fulfill her responsibilities for the Day. I made a visit to the metalwork shop and encountered some lovely jewellery and small metal objects. But being seriously wierd, the thing that really caught my attention was a wire extruding machine!
This device looked like something Leonardo da Vinci might have put together, at once simple, elegant and very functional. The principle is that you take a piece of metal, heated until soft and malleable, hammer it into a thinnish rod and then while it is hot, pass the end of the rod into the smallest hole on the extrusion plate that it will fit, then using a pair of pliers, draw the rod through the hole. When it is pulled through, insert the end you have been holding into the next tapered hole and draw it through that – each time you do it the wire gets progessively thinner and longer.
Of course for anything other than silver or gold, or perhaps copper, you will need more strength than a normal weedy human like myself can provide. That’s where the machine comes in. Basically, it is a frame that holds the extrusion plate, and the pair of pliers has hooked legs which cn be attached to a ring – itself attached to a hook which can grab a chain driven by a geared hand crank, so the fore applied by the pliers is something like ten times what a mere human can apply. Simple concept, neatly executed.
The glass blowing was similarly medieval in technology, but the outcome was exquisite – these are very skilled artisans, carefully shaping and adding coloured glass. The glass blowing was a very delicate part of the operation.
The ceramic kilns saw good use – as pizza ovens! And, despite the range of very attractive small dishes (you could buy a coffee and cake combo and keep the plate) what again took my fancy was the simple and inexpensive construction of a small kiln. The hinges were a couple of bolts through a lug welded onto the door frame, and the rest is just fire-bricks.
The hole at the rear is for the tuyere, or flame nozzle from a simple propane burner.
The door also has a hole, stoppered with a shaped fire brick through which you can look to see how the firing is going.
Anyhow, I had a great day as you can see
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on August 18th, 2004 — Posted in Journal, Technology
My neighbour a few years ago thought I was mad when I told him I was making an electric motor. “You can’t make one, you buy them!” he said. Nevertheless he was intrigued when I took a piece of dowel, a large steel bolt, a reel of insulated copper wire and a tin can that I set about demolishing with some tin snips. He was even more amazed when I connected up three ‘Dolphin’-type square batteries and started the thing spinning. He even brought his young son over to watch the contraption. Yes it cost more than a new small electric motor, and yes it was less efficient than a bought one. but I had the satisfaction of knowing exactly how it went together. The instructions came from a 1950s children’s encyclopedia that I had picked up from a Lifeline bookfair.
I was therefore delighted to find a website devoted to all these neat things you could build out of household (or nearly household) items. Ever tried to build a ‘hero’ steam engine or thermopile? How about a crystal radio – or even a laser communicator powered by a cheap laser pointer used in lectures and presentations? They are all here on this site! It’s like that children’s encyclopedia, but updated and includes how to make your own solar power panels! It’s well worth poking around – and maybe you too will get inspired to find out how much of our modern ‘black box’ technology you can build yourself 🙂
Cheers
Jerry
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