The biggest little bridge built by a awesome guy named Dave

I wrote this a while back and put it in my drafts to publish some day, for some reason it just felt like a good time to post something I wrote maybe a year or two ago....  I really wrote it about a special guy Dave who works at the museum, because he is one of the cornerstones of hands on science museums and its been amazing calling him a mentor of mine. - JT

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Teaching....
Learning...
Fun....

The things that make the world go round, I think....

Its the reasons I wake up every day and do what I do, I love to use my talents to share with others and open their mind to use their talents and explore farther.

What better place to work and combine all my loves then at the Exploratorium Science Center located in San Francisco... A dream job.... even sweeping the floors at that place is a pleasure... because you can't go a day working there without a smile and a laugh.

We get to build amazing exhibits for people to enjoy and learn about science.

I always tell people " I know I won't get to walk on Mars in my lifetime... but I know that something that I will do in my lifetime will help the person or persons that will do it... I feel like the person that will be part of that landing is a little kid knee high right now, walking around the museum laughing having fun and something that I had a part in will trigger their young minds to love science and when they grow up their love for science will help unlock questions we all wonder and push the envelope of understanding."

I think that if you don't think like that and have some sort of dream or pride of what your doing and how your helping in the overall scheme of things you will never feel the true worth in your work and have the drive to create things that will push the limits... Its to easy to look at the majority and say disheartening things about where we as a human race are headed... but remember their is one in a millions out there... young Elon Musks and young Henry Fords ready to take on the world and change it for the better... dreaming of them learning from your passion will give you a satisfaction you can't describe.

One person that has some sort of a understanding and drive to make the future bright is a guy not many people get to see because hes got his head down and hes working hard to make it happen...

That dude at the Exploratorium I am talking about has almost been there since day one.... that's late 1960s and his name is Dave Fleming the San Francisco legendary exhibit builder and mastermind.
Dave has these goals of building amazing projects and exhibits that not only teach but display and interact in ways of having fun with science that keep kids and adults spending hours and days at science centers across the world...

I don't really know how many exhibits worldwide Dave has made in his lifetime ( but I want to guess 300+) since he started in his late teens at the Exploratorium while still in college working under Frank Oppenheimer . The concept of doing hands on science center for all ages was not even thought of in the 1960s.... as some know this early group of builders get the credit of saying they really build the model of " hands on, interactive science exhibits in a museum environment".

If the Exploratorium would have not planted the science museum seed in the 1960s for the whole world, its makes me wonder what would be different??... This museum was and still is a building block of the San Francisco tech industry that we know around the world today... I think that's a good example to think about. What if there was no young minds learning about relays and magnets at the museum... would we have Iphones today.... would we have Silicon Valleys famous wafers that brought us in to a crazy era of computing.... something to think about.....

The crew like Dave can still be found working around the clock, with his awesome drive and passion for teaching science... Its amazing, I only hope when I have worked 25+ years in a career I have an overwhelming drive like this crew still has for their passion.

This is a normal view of Dave working in the shop around the clock...

From machining to wiring to designing, hes flying around the shop some times power walking because hes so excited to get to the next thing...

One of the cool projects for the new location of the Exploratorium that I got to team up with Dave on was a really neat Bay Bridge model to teach about how the bridge moves. As you can see up above that's Dave and I standing next to the bridge concepts in the movie below.

Dave's concept was to build a small 1/500 sized scale of the bay bridge and it was to be designed to be outside in the salty air on the end of the museum's pier running parallel to the real bay bridge so people could look and shake the model and compare it to the real thing only a mile away to get a better understanding how it moves in the wind and how it moves with load on it. 

Here is a video showing the concepts based on the Golden Gate bridge to understand how to build the bridge and some info about the real bridge, you will get a good idea of the crew of minds behind this project. 

From day one I was pushing for Dave to design some really neat laser cut 316 stainless pieces with lots of details in them, so he did and thanks to Ryan at Seaport stainless it was totally a possibility to make complex little part to look like the real bridge.

The next project was to bend up all the little pieces on my press brake and run them thru the tumbler to make sure everything was kid safe and no sharp parts.

My little DiAcro press brake bending up the laser cut bridge decks.. 

it was a good Saturday afternoon of bending all the decks at my shop.

Once they were all bent up it was time to work on the other parts...

One of Dave's major ideas on the mini Bay Bridge was to show how important the center cement anchorage support is on the bridge so he decided to build a interactive piece to show with and without the support.

THIS IS THE BEST PART !!!

Open ( without support )

Closed ( with support as the bridge is in real life )

At the time I had so many exhibits being built in my shop...

But enjoying every second of it...

As you can see, it creates a great picture with the real bridge in the background.

Here is a quick fly by to see all the mini decks once we had it all together

I would defiantly recommend anyone visiting San Francisco to make a stop by the Exploratorium Museum and really see the 400+ interactive exhibits you can play with, truly a awesome a worthwhile experience and trip for all ages.

JT 

Trying is dying

Well.... I made it another year older and if you don't know I am 72 years old.... or maybe its 27.... either way I feel old in the bones...

Thanks for the birthday wishes...

I was standing around and I said to Gabe, lets build something really really rad that no one seems to think is a good idea or safe, something we can build in a day or two and take to Salton Sea to have fun with for my birthday and with all the friends from LA.

We thought about if for a few and we came up with a crazy idea to build a new flame thrower but making it powered by people to keep it more of a team builder and involvement...

Well, How would we tackle such a thing....

The more I stood there thinking the more I realized why not go backwards and build something that's suppose to put out the fire.... Like a fire pumper truck.... to shoot flames... now were talking....

But its just toooo easy just hooking up a motor to it and sitting back and shooting flames, one person can do that, and the idea was a team builder so the more I thought...

Got it!

Build something like a 1800s Fire pumper

With the fuel taking the place of the water

Some different examples of styles

It would take a full crew to make it happen back in the day, pretty neat to think of this beast throwing flames....

 

So we started with a new style of the hand pumper just freestyling...

I can't just build what has been built... that's no fun...

 

We decided what would be cooler then making it kinda like a engine and making the people the pistons and have it hand cranked as opposed to hand pumping vertically...

Heres what we tried...

First we did some sketches of what madness was in the brain...

Using some stuff laying around we made a fixture and started making a hand crank.

We used some laser drops from Seaport Stainless  = Free

 

Gabe is welding up some of the Brown and Sharp Cams we got from Edward Koehn Swiss Machining , these would be links to the tube we had left over from the Oakley Project = Both Free

Action shot for the ladies

We had these vertical steel tubes from a old Red Bull prototype ramp we built that never worked..

Free !!!!

Gabe did a sweet job cutting these holes in line...

Did you know hes in school to become a machinist now?

And is now CERTIFIED as a level 1 Machinist

I think I am a level 2 so I will watch the level 1 and ask questions....

Tacked up some sweet bearings and holders we got from

Performance Machine that get put in their motorcycle wheels, these were some leftovers from R&D

Ok... Well I didn't take many photos that afternoon because my camera went dead so heres where it went to next... A swiveling gunner seat and the Hawl Pump mounted..

Hes been waiting all year for photos like these so he can put them on facebook

He should have been a gunner in the Army...

That chair was in the trash.... so we welded it to a giant lazy Suzan bearing left over from a bar stool..

Both free 

Having a good stop for the swiveling seat I used the axle sticking out.  

Heres a side view...

 

Ok so that night I made some stuff on the gunner seat...

I was on one of the possessed fabrication nights where all I wanted to do is build... Wait... that's every night...  

 

That's some old garage door bearing rollers I cut apart and just welded the bearings on to make the gun have movement in 360 degs.

That pressure washer gun I found in the recycling at the Exploratorium because it had cracks in it...

FREE!!!

This is a shot of the wood chain guard which was a backup for a exhibit at the Exploratorium called Echo-Tube and the pump was found during the move out of the old museum, Dave Fleming and I found some really good stuff while packing up.

Close up of the brown and sharp gears that I got from the Koehn Machine shop and the big monster #50 sprocket was from when I did R&D work for Clorox, it got the wrong bore in it...

FREEEEEEEEE!!!!

Close up of that sweet pain job and pump....

Sweet 1" aluminum pipe over 1" steel tubing...

Perfect for a handle grip.

 

As you will see that's some left overs from Greg Minnaar's Bike Shop racks...

The propane tanks are held by a sample of an aluminum sail boat mass

You can see the sweet bearings in the gunner swivel at the top left of the photo.

both ----   FREEEEEEE

The seat was mounted on this giant Stainless Steel Gate Valve I found in the recycling at the Exploratorium.

I cut the back and shaped it so it didn't hang over - custom & FREEEEEE

Those are engine puller ( cherry picker ) legs at the bottom with wheels, Some one stole my cherry picker from my shop ( classic Oakland style ) but they forgot the legs.. so that week we decided it wasn't going to return so we welded the leg on the bottom, That engine puller was free so I can't complain... Making those Legs FREE too

Overall shes a sweet piece of scrap metal all welded together...

I can't say it was the best idea....

Gabe even painted his truck to get ready for the flame thrower... !

 

Then... I got a hernia and my intestines dropped in to my ball sack...

Fuck that.... I had to go get surgery for my birthday...

So much for going to desert...

and the dream of blowing minds shooting flames...

The healing process in California is styling... My titanium hand made pipe got used for a few days...

 

Well... I am resting these days but it was a bummer we didn't get to go to the desert and test.... Maybe soon...

Check out these videos to get a good idea of what we built.. 

 

This video shows us running the pump at full speed, its bypassing pressure and is not easy to pump...




We didn't have any water left in the tank for testing...

Enjoy - and don't get burned.... Until next time....

Out of hiding for a bit... Good to be back...

The last months have been a wild ride that I wasn't expecting....

Its been just a good old around the clock of building rad stuff to make people smile... My year long full time term of working at the Exploratorium Science Museum ended the other day and but was kept on as a builder/designer part time to keep the fun going so I am super thankful they see my love for building the joys of science. The coolest part of that museum is when they find people like myself and others they really like they give you freedom to do other stuff without any pressure, its really what makes the place such a special place to me and what keep me wanting to bring new concepts and ideas to that place. They see the true benifits with having me more as a freelance dude without the pressure and they really notice the results when they get my true love of my craft in every project I work on for them.

The last months I have also been working on a TV show for a major network as a lead role as a designer/fabricator designing stuff to make peoples lives better that have lost limbs - thats as much as I can go in to detail about ...

The other projects have been for Red Bull and all the events they have been hosting such as the Training Grounds Media events they have been holding, which are Red Bulls enter in to the Esports Online gaming such as StarCraft 2 and other games... They have really just given me freedom to be creative and design some of the most rad trophies for them. The big event for me this year is the America's Cup sailing race, where Matt and I will team up to build one of the most rad trophies Red Bull has seen for their Youth's Cup race using the AC45 boats Red Bull bought... Stay tuned its going to be so rad.

Check out some of the projects ... heres some pictures

Welding away on the Exploratorium's " Bay Window Exhibit " 

There is 5 of these in stainless and 3 in mild steel... 

Its a lot of work... thats all I really want to say....

After the 2 pieces of glass, inner race and bearings are put in the mud samples are put between the glass and its closed up. Once installed on the railing the water is put in to the exhibit and then....

You give it a spin and you get to see how rocks and sands settle from the river deltas in to the bay...

Heavy rock lands first then the swirl of light sands show how it travels.

This photo is Erik Diamond " El Jefe " giving it a spin without the covers on it, so we can see all the bearings spin freely. Overall Adam, Shaun, Erik, Herb, Brice and Jesse and who else I am missing really nailed it with this exhibit, it really fills the side of the museum with some rad learning fun projects. 

After hours I have been working on my Espresso machine

I have found that its not worth risking it by using hole saws and other cutters trying to cut holes in the spheres because of damage, so this is how i do a lot of the bigger holes about about an inch in size. Don't risk your hands or body by trying to drill it with the big sizes. Gabes figure pictured in the top left. 

When setting up the small stainless steam generator I purged it with argon and used lab clamps for the torch and did it on the welding positioner. The foil is set up to cover the other 2 inch NPT fitting but not to hard because i want the argon to escape slightly so it doesn't pressurize and blow out the weld. 

I machined some parts for holding the gauge on the stainless steam ball, still got a lot to do but its a start.

Went out for a ride with Steve Pete, Greg Minnaar, and RatBoy Josh from the Santa Cruz downhill team

Gabe driving me to Oakland Airport so I can fly to Hollywood to film the TV show... 

I feel cool on these days....

The shop truck is like a limo that leaks gas and is missing windows... 

I have been filling orders for Exile Cycles Gas tanks and Gabe has been watching and following along on his personal projects. Hes building a tail for a cafe racer out of a little honda gas tank. 

Its 4 AM does your mom know where you are?

Mine does....

CNC ? yeah right.... I can make it from hand almost just as fast...

Getting wild on the Excello Mill with a big block of aluminum 

Throw it on the old K&T Model H mill for a clean up around the outside

In under a week with the help of Matt Carney on the computer and Seaport Stainless laser cutting we had a custom Giant Hard Drive Trophy for Red Bull Training Grounds in Santa Monica

I weighted the platter disc so it always had the logos perfectly level 

I was so stoked when the kid that won it held it and the logos stayed correct.... Everyone was stoked...

So they asked if I would do the next event in Florida 

So this is what Matt and I came up with in a afternoon .... The event is this weekend so I will show more pictures soon

Red Bull Training Grounds - Orlando, FL

Built this trophy with Matt Carney in under a week turnaround... Custom Billet aluminum keys and full sheet metal construction ... sick !!

A new customer of mine is Boasted Boards

I have been running the prototype production of their wireless Electric Skateboard...

Its so rad.. I got to take it out for a afternoon .... Talk about fast !!!

.000 on the money.... sheet metal parts ! 

I bailed out to Cheyenne, WY the other day to go visit Union Pacifics Steam div. 

So rad...  

Why wouldn't you jump the fence and climb UP's BIG BOY.... 

Back from World Cup Mountain Bike Racing,  Greg Minnaar, His lady Laila , Gabe, and myself made up some good old Sushi... I had to take this photo to show Gregs family and friends hes all grown up and can clean up the kitchen all by himself...

Figured I should learn to make a worm gear....

its hard.... If you want to waste a full day and lots of money on tools I will tell you how to do it...

the Plus side is ... My cold saw is fixed now...

I will have more details on it soon but this is one of my new shop aprons I designed with the help of John from High Above Bag company out of Seattle, WA. This bad boy is so damn sick with the removable pockets and all the goodies... If you really need one... Send him an email... I will be making a post about the design and details about it and how to buy it but if you can't wait... hit him up... Best apron you will buy, the quality and details are so well done....

Espresso boiler time...

Tom the owner of adams and chittenden Glass in Berkeley made me such a rad Lab style sight glass.

These guys make some of the Gov. Labs most crazy glass experiments pieces. Lucky for me, Tom is a huge fan of the Exploratorium and also just down the street from my shop, so he was stoked to help on the project and make this wild glass tube for the water level. 

Top view of the details of the glass and also the fab work

Steam generator... Figured I can get it up in the 50+ PSI safely ...

But who knows... I am just a welder not an engineer....

This is the table I started building for the machine...

Don't ask how my brain got on this one. 

Sometimes it works in a wild way... All freestyle design

Ryan at Seaport cut it for me off some drawings but who knows what it will look like

0% CAD on this project... All in my brain...

Still figuring out how to take a picture of the table... 

Just wait to see how wild the table is going to be ...

Never seen anything like it...

Well enjoy some of my joys in the last months.

Theres more to come but I figured all the piles of emails asking if I was dead or gave up on the MLS site forced me to do some updating and letting you all know I am still here turning the handles making chips and sparks..