Free Goggles! Anyone? Anyone? Bueller...?

I have a pair of goggles that I just want to be rid of.

I was trying out a few new techniques and most of them didn't go like I wanted. The still look pretty cool, and they are built as tough as anything I normally make.

They don't feel right on the face. And the bridge is ugly. I didn't finish it out with hardware (nuts and bolts etc) so you'll have a little work to do there. The strap is homely.

Wow, these are just shit. You should be offended that I would even offer them. Actually ... like I said, they look pretty cool. The bridge is made from a pipe hanger. It's copper plated steel that has been shaped to this purpose then secured to the lens retainers with hand formed rivets (no pop rivets or press rivets ever). The bridge has a threaded hole in it that accessories could be mounted to (targeting reticles, magnifiers, filters and such).

The oculars are formed from copper pipe that has been cut to follow the contour of the face. The front edge has been hammered out to form a flange for the lens retainers to attach to. Kind of like the old steam fittings. Where the copper meets the face I have attempted a leather pad of sorts. I'm not a leather guy. It's alright, just not the kind of awesome I would think to sell.

The swivels for the strap are secured with hammered rivets and hand formed out of copper sheet. The strap itself is leather. Some kind of suede.

Lenses are your basic welding goggle polycarbonate.

What do I want you to do? Well you'll pay for shipping... and ... I expect feedback.

To get them you need to send me a convo on etsy. They go to the first qualified candidate.

Cheers.

Working on a very special project.

I have cleared my bench and my calendar in anticipation of a really interesting special project.

I don't want to go into too many details in case the client decides to not go forward.

The plan though, is to make a hand. Life sized. Bright yellow brass shined up like gold. The kind of hand that looks like it should have "Bad Ass Motherfucker" written on it somewhere.

There is a Marine who is recently one hand short of a matched pair and I got to thinking that this has got to be the most vulnerable the man has felt in his young life. A synthetic 'life-like' hand is never going to pass beyond the first look so why not lead with it. "Yeah, it's a gold hand, jealous?"

Anyway I got in contact with the guy's handlers (whatever they call it) and he's interested. Not committing to anything yet, but interested.

So I've been doing trial runs on this all weekend trying to plan the best possible technique for casting a model of a human hand.

Design Constraints:

1. I want it to be brass.
2. The hand will include wrist and a sleeve of sorts.
3. It should weigh approximately what the original hand it is replacing weighs.
4. First version will be a static model, but should take into account that later versions will have articulated fingers.
5. The hand will be hand-shaped but stylized to some degree so ultra-realism is unnecessary. Following that, casting in pieces and brazing them together is an option.

I have been reading several approaches to the mold making and casting process.

In particular I like what Olivier Duhamel has written on his webpage BodyScapes. He has a few books on this subject he would like me to promote and I'm only too happy to do so. If they are as good as the information he gives away then they are worth every penny.

Check it:

Body Casting Manual - download now

I think promoting his book earns me a digital copy. If so I will give a full review (for good or ill)

If anyone has any incite on this project I am open to it all.

edited to Get Mr. Duhamel's first name spelled correctly. Apologies.

Best Garage Sale Ever!

You ever get drug out to a garage sale?

"They have tools." your significant other may say to entice you. And then you get there and it's a card table full of store brand tape measures and an unworking circular saw. So now your stuck there for 45 minutes while she paws through the half acre of baby clothes and 20 year old paperbacks.

I've pushed people down stairs for less.

But this time ... Oh sweet gods.

This wonderful man died some time ago and, owing to a quirk in his brain, he liked to collect tools. He had every god damn tool I could ever ask for. He actually had 5 or 6 of each, neatly arranged from smallest to largest. I don't judge.

I've been trying to replace my small anvil for some time now since there was a mishap at a storage facility that claimed my last one. I was on the verge of just buying some shitty poured iron abortion from Harbor Freight and low and behold the first thing I see in this garage is an 18" length of railroad track. Not the best for true blacksmithing but I hate black smithing. And track anvils are great for white and greensmithing. $5.

My air compressor is a loaner. I don't use them much and just haven't got around to getting one. Right there under a card table full of files and burnishers (fucking burnishers!) is an oilless compressor like airbrush artists use or house painters or something. With a half horse motor on it. $5.

Stacy gets a commercial grade potter wheel and motor. $5. A vintage Fischer Scientific burner. $1.

Just insane. So often you roll up on a yard sale and the people think their shit is made of gold or something. That box of paperbacks I mentioned had a sign "Price = 1/2 of list price". I shit you not. I bought an old old dentist drill motor for a buck!

I had to borrow a truck to haul it all home and I don't think we spent more than $50.

Anyway ... had to get that out of my system.

My First Mask

It's more of a half-mask really.

It started out as just ... I don't know the term for it but it would be the equivalent of doodling only with a hammer and some metal instead of paper and pencil.

So it took a roughly cat shape. I like it.

You can buy it here.

You can read its story by selecting from the list on the right.

Sneak Peak - New Product Dropping Soon!

I can't say much about it just yet.

The cat's got my tongue.

Spring Cleaning

Running a coupon code this month in my etsy shop.

Don't count on me running many things like this, I find them tacky.

But I'm gearing up to do a Renn. Faire this summer and hopefully I will be at Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago this year. That means tripling my inventory in the next few weeks. And ... since most of what's up in my shop are prototypes and new designs I have no idea if I should make more of them or concentrate on other things.

So if you have been holding out, do so at your own peril. The coupon will get you 25% off and most items include free-domestic shipping already.

Also, keep an eye open for a few new designs I'm wrapping up. They should be dropping in the next few weeks.

The coupon code is:
APRIL25

New Goggles Dropping ... NOW!

You can see them on my Etsy site here.

Yes, they are Sized to fit American Girl Dolls.

Yes, I will make more people sized things. Try buying a little of what's already there.

Yes, I wrote a story for these. Go read it here.

Yes, I made a video showing off the cool little mechanical gadget on the goggles.

Artificer Made the Grade!

Steampunk Addie and her mommy over at steampunkaddie.blogspot.com have received their purchased goggles and bestowed upon me their mark of approval.

What a fun thing to say.

I'm thrilled they ... alright, Addie is a doll but she earns her personal pronoun dammit ... they liked the goggles. The reception I received has even inspired me to create another pair.

I don't know if I can keep this up. It's hard to be a filthy lecher while making dolly goggles.

But I'll try.

New Dolly Goggles are Dropping Tonight

I haven't put them up on etsy yet, still need to put this doll through a photishoot.
I have some adult human sized goggs in the works, but I'm apparently a doll person for the time being.
That's okay, it's fun. It's certainly not easier than doing full guage metal. It's own unique set of challenges.
So, here's a pic to whet your appetite and be sure to follow me on twitter for a coupon code coming soon.



Another pic hot off the camera...

Foundry Success

Here we are again about an hour after the failed brass casting in my last video.

Here's the face after a little grinding and polish. He still has a long way to go but you get an idea.

A great primer on trademark protection

An appeals court brief that deals with the limits of trademark protection.

New Kids on the Block

Epic Fail Pouring a Brass Face

Had some people over to do some foundry work.

Just fun stuff, making a brass face. Basically I was going to melt my copper scrap and pour blooms of it onto flagstone to make crude sheet metal.

The we had guests so that was pretty boring work and in order to be entertaining ... well we had fun.

We actually melted all my copper scrap and then added enough zinc to make a really good brass.

The failure shown here is pretty bad but we were not deterred. I will post the successful follow up effort later.

Make a Brass Rose for Mother's Day

I'll be selling the rose I make in this video through my ETSY shop.

New Goggles Dropped Today!

They are up for sale at ETSY here.

I figure, if someone will buy them for their cat, why not a doll?

These were fun to make. They are incredibly robust. I should switch to lighter gauge materials when I do mini work like this. The thickness of this metal make these feel really solid.

I wrote a Penny Dreadful to go along with it and I will upload that as a page here.

First set of videos.

Well I got the address of the blog wrong in the video but all in all, not bad.

The first is an introduction to extreme martini making.

Something more practical, how to make your own ball head pins

Lastly, something for the jewelers and metalworkers, how to make your own copper sheet metal.

FIRST!!

I first-ed my own blog. So here it is. I will grow the blog if you guys grow my audience. Show me love by following me on twitter @artificermade. To be honest twitter is not my 'thing' but for you guys I will learn.

Tweets will soon be sending out info about new products, new video tutorials, and new contests and freebies. I will not tweet stupid jokes, chain-letters, preachy political or religious crap. If I wouldn't want to read it I won't send it out.

Let's do this...