Illuminated Tools: Getting Started

First I did 1:1 sketches of the tools.





These aren't exact blueprints, just scaled examples of where the project is headed.

Since I've had a hard time finding high carbon steel in my area I used a local metal reseller for most of my steel. She had some nice new 4340 available in bars for $1.50/lb, so I cut that into coupons and tacked them together without any fill rod, and forge welded it into one block.



My first "forge" was a stack of fire bricks that I pointed my O/A torch into, I have since built a more respectable forge.



I built this small press to help with forging and forge welding, it uses a 20 ton air-over-hydraulic cylinder. It's a bit slow and I'll definitely build a better one when funds allow.



For the wrench I used a car coil spring, straightened and upset on one end. I used an air chisel to cut a slit in the upset, then opened it and wrapped it around a rod (sorry, no pics). Then I filed the open box by hand to fit a 3/4" bolt.





Then I forged a taper on the other end and cut 1/4"-20 threads, this is how the handle will be affixed.

The Illuminated Tool series

As I near the end of art school I'm expected to take more initiative and to find my "voice." Part of that is  doing an Independent Study, a semester long project of my own design. I'm currently working under Constance Dejong on a series I'm calling Illuminated Tools.
You may be familiar with illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages, hand produced books highly decorated with illustration and gold leaf.

Source

I will be applying this methodology to hand tools, items that have come to be considered dirty, low class, and low value. Any good tradesman knows the value of a quality tool, but somehow a country built by tradesmen has allowed the production and sale of cheaply made and disposable tools to take over the market. I suspect this is directly tied to the lack of appreciation given to labor and craft based occupations and the decline of the middle class. But I digress.
My goal is to present high quality, hand made, usable tools that are obviously precious by their polish, adornment and fine materials.

I'll be making four items overall for this project, a hammer, a wrench and a drafting set (a compass and straightedge). These items represent what I believe are the three major stages of human industry that led us to where we are now: forming, such as smithing and hand working raw materials; the industrial revolution, when work became more about operating and maintaining machines than making products; and design, when concept and creation became separated.

I will be making everything but the raw materials by hand for this project, and many of my tools will be homemade as well. I'll also be learning completely new skills like smithing, forge welding, electro-chemical etching, and wood turning. I will also be practicing skills I don't normally use like polishing and drawing. Most of the materials will be forged steel and cast bronze.
This will be my primary project for the next few months.

New Castings Coming Soon: Cameo Jewelry and Sci-Fi Rayguns

I've been trying to build up some stock for two upcoming sale opportunities, a Dia de los Muertos themed pop-up store in downtown Albuquerque, and a crafty art fair at the University of New Mexico.

I've been making cameos based on molds and casting them in bronze and silver. These will become pendants, pins, rings and earrings.

I'm also making rayguns which will be cast in bronze as well.

New Ceramic Skulls After Firing

One 'art' please...

Golly everyone, it sure is a good thing that I'm in art school, look at this art I made from a picture of my ancient skull:

I found the contrast and brightness sliders all on my own, and I was brave enough to turn them BOTH all the way up. Get ready world, next I'm going to turn your contrast up!

Ancient Skull

My handmade ceramic skull based on Paranthropus Aethiopicus is available for sale on my store.

New Work, Ceramics and Leather

After a nice vacation and plenty of video games I got back to work.

Fetus animal totems, fertility totems, a fictional animal skull, and a skull based on Paranthropus aethiopicus. 

New sugar skulls, made by me and glazed by my mother.

In-progress

A new style of mask I'm playing with is to boil vegetable tanned leather in water, and press it over a a plaster mold of my face with one of my bronze masks

I wasn't happy with the first try so I boiled the leather longer and did it again, with much better results,

Isn't the color of my kitchen walls terrible?

Four done so far:

Carving Fool

Working on a hand carved from wood. I started with my dear friend Rebecca's left hand.

Which she was kind enough to lend out.

 I will be using 3/4 inch pine doweling, coarse files, and my pocket knife.

I cut individual pieces of dowel for each  section of each figure, working from the cast I rough out the shape of each finger and do more detailed carving with the knife.

They will be sanded and stained, and I will attach them together with copper brackets at each joint.

Regrouping, Minimally

Following my ordeal trying to work with glass I still needed a minimalist sculpture for school. I had two steel frames already made, so I ran with them.

I had welded on tabs that were going to hold the glass sheets, but now they were unnecessary and unsightly.

But thankfully they were easy to remove.

After grinding and sanding off all the blemishes, I cut one corner off the larger frame and put it on top of the smaller one, and slightly at an angle.

Then welded on some quick feet to keep it upright.

And painted it matte black.

Before

After

And bam! Display In the courtyard.

UPDATE: This piece was very well received and I was invited to install it in a courtyard on campus, along with another student. It is also available for purchase.