I am not an Artist .... I am a machinist....

It happens a lot....

People call me an artist and think I live in a studio....

NOPE.... Wrong.....

I am a machinist that lives in a cold machine shop that smells of coolent...

But every so often I gotta venture in to the art world and throw it down for the kids using some metal...

This time days before the opening, I was asked to make a mini art exhibit to be placed in to the wall, that would serve as a mini art gallery for people to peek in to a hole and see something fun in miniature

( the cool part is - the small window in the wall is a lens that makes the mini gallery appear even smaller, so it looks to be 2x2 inch, but really is about 6x6 when you build it.)

The Compound Art Gallery located in Oakland asked me to do the wall piece, so like normal I waited until the day before the show and then had to rush the concept...

So heres what I came up with in about 2 or 3 hours, didn't even take any pictures I built it so fast, sorry...

So the idea was to make a small stainless steel  cat that said " ART " so I could say I make art...

I designed the tail to make a loop so it can be put on your key chain without it falling off

With the 1 hour old design ready for the laser.....  about 3 minutes later 50 cats were cut....

To the shop to build the box and hammer it out.....

This was the finished product...

A mini power plant that is powered and is designed to be fueled off of " Art Pussy " 

Its designed using Free Range Vegan Steel so I can brag to Artist Chicks about being hip.

Overall .... As it didn't sell at the opening and offended about 40 people, I think it was a success !

Think more then anything I was stoked on the laser drop from cutting the cats...

Was able to make a sweet American flag on my weld shop door. 

That is the Puritan Stitch machine next to it... So damn rad ! 

All this art made me get wild and make some personal projects like this one....

I call it " Light Bulb Scrap "

Its a symbol of an American's boys dream to take over the world but is tragically denied due to fiscal troubles..... Its really to intense to try to describe on my blog.... If you would like to purchase this or other pieces described on this blog post contact my agent..... 

peace and quite for a bit....

The MLS Gravity ride on display at an event.

The light was perfect.... Shot on my iphone

Sheet metal pleasing to the eye

Thru the grapevine I ran in to a dude named Ernest Doty, who asked a question about help working on sheet metal that would be used for canvases.

It was a style he had been doing for some time, really simple square " pans " as we call them in the sheet metal world, with welded corners and such.

His work is very On Point and I like the guy, so why not add some MLS flavor and make it even more rad and join in on the fun.

Since I started working with Ernest about 8 months ago, think I have done 40+ metal canvases ranging from 8 x 8 foot giants to little 3x3 inch babies.

So when the phone call came in for a custom giant canvas during the craziest time of the year for me, some major things got thrown off to the side in order to slide this one in to the work que.

This is still my favorite

A 18 gauge mild steel canvas beat to piss with dents and rust all over it.

All the work he does has hidden messages in it 

" DISTRESS"

Ernest always wanted to be a leg model so heres his chance....

Thats 2 giant sheets of 20g mild steel 

After some cutting and bending we came up with 2 - 4x4 foot

2 - 3x3 and some little 1x1 foot panels, all with different depths on the return to give the canvases an uneven surface, each canvas is about 1/2 inch different in hight from each other.

I was at my laser cutter Seaport Stainless and spotted some

little letters left in the bed of the laser cutter 

So I welded them on....

with grinding under them.

One week later - So rad

That man can do some crazy detailed work in a short period of time.

This was just one of the pieces he finished that week.

The over all is about 11 feet wide by 7 feet 

but can break down and nest in to a 4x4 foot box if you want to buy this piece from him, he can ship it to your door.

Also look for the hidden laser cut letters all over the canvas - the extra touch....

As a tip, I was given a big 18 gauge 4x4 foot piece...

So stoked to hang it in my shop.

So stoked

Each month I make a ton of these little 1 foot by 8 inch pieces for him.

He has so many cool little ones, check out his site or hit him up if your interested.

Ernest Doty

Faucet Flower Vase

Ok, I am sitting here and got an idea.

I know, I have an advantage with having a machine shop filled with weird stuff but I thought of a fun project to do quick, its great for anyone with any skill level to impress someone for the holidays coming up with a hand made piece.

Ready, start the timer!

Go to the junkyard or where ever to find a cool looking bath tub faucet and pull it all apart until its just the body. Also when your out looking for that perfect looking Brass faucet find some kind of tube ( I would recommend getting a plastic one so you can cut it )

I found this old chrome plated brass one so I gutted it

I also found this new test tube made of plastic. A small plastic drinking glass is an idea as well

Find a way ( hole saw, saw, ect. ) to cut a hole the size of the tube.

I have a milling machine but a hand drill would work as well with a hole saw 

Give it !!!!

I cut down the plastic test tube and dropped it in! 

Fits great!

Done - 15 minutes later !!!

I mounted a screw ( you decide how to mount it ) thru the plug pull hole

TIP - IF you find a brass one, sand or file off the chrome and under the chrome will be a beautiful raw brass body that will have a great GOLD glow !!

MLS works 365 days a year for the love of metal crafting... 

Enjoy the fruits 

The wheels keep turning.....

This weekend I was working on my Lab style Espresso machine ( post coming this week ) and on the Top Speed Bicycle.

Good weekend of just hammering in the shop on all the projects and keeping the young kids happy teaching welding, by the way I had my youngest TIG student this weekend, 8 years old and I was proud to see him running the torch. Its amazing what kids can do if you get the wheels turning on proper methods and safety!


Friday I picked up the huge block, all 26 pounds of 7075 aluminum to make the front hub for the Top Speed bike. If you look at the 3D model you can see the front steering is inside the hub so it requires the hub to cup over the front steering point on the bike. Its not a big deal except for the fact that I need to start out with a huge 4 3/4 inch round of 7075 aluminum. This grade of aluminum is an amazing grade to machine and makes very light parts out of, but your welding fact for the day is DO NOT weld it, and there is a link why if you have some time to read about welding.

Yep, I used a can of Murry's for a size reference!!
After I am done making the hub I will have a good chunk left of this bar left and the hub will be under a pound   with a huge pile of chips left in the lathe, which to me might as well be my paycheck laying in the machine.

I love my shop, its coming together very nicely

Thats Margaret Holland's Oil Painting of  " Chuck " on the right

Chuck is a living legend in the Santa Cruz, CA area I've heard

She is a really good oil painter and I get to hang it in my shop as inspiration !!!

And on the left is Louise Chen's " Love to Bee Home" painting 

Oh Yeah, the bike is coming along as well, got some 4130 tubes tacked on after 9 hours of making about 15 mistakes trying to put tight bend after tight bend on to rolled tubing ( kids don't do this at home, its not a good idea if you only have one shot to get it right ) 

Success......!

Thanks first of all to the people that came out and gave me a high 5 !!

I was really taken back by the people that drove hours to come say hi, see the bikes and art, I hope I didn't let anyone down...

Over the whole night we had almost 400 people come thru the good old Actual Cafe!!!!

The employees loved those tips!!!!

Like I told you in the last post that I would be easy to find with my used car salesman brown suite, and let me tell you, I know it was a fire hazard but it was well worth wearing it!!

Jon Suzuki sold a whole bunch of great photos he took around Oakland and else where, some of the photos were very cool like the old Schwinn photos..
                                      

Jon Suzuki had some great photos up on display

My personal favorite was the one in the middle of the chainguard on the Schwinn Racer

The big Penny Farthing up on display for the kids and it is still at the Cafe if you are in the area.

The speed bike is still up on display until my body heals up from the last crash.

Setting up for the show while we waited to see what Mike Cleaver who rolled up with a super rad late night build - A kick ass BMX CycleTruck cargo bike that could do bar spins !!! He also rolled up with a super cool bright Pink cargo bike.

 I also had my custom 1938 Schwinn New World track racer with a custom race mechanic stand ( I need to do a photo shoot with that set up).

To close this post - Let me show you the best USED CAR SALESMAN in the Bay Area and for you Californians, NO its not Cal Worthington

Just rolled up on the 1938 Schwinn Superior to a photo by the Oakland North news, Matt Ducot is in the background locking up laughing at me like normal.

Want more info and pictures check out the Oakland North they are hip with the news

A night on the town..... Oakland style .....

Well, tonight is the Bicycle Art Show at Actual Cafe in Oakland,CA.

I stayed up all night working on everything and I am tired....


Come out if your in the area, its going to be a good time - look for the dude in the one piece 1970s tux, thats me!!!

This 36-29er Coker machine is going to be sooooooooo much fun !!!!! I took the solar panel off for the photos, the rack is only tacked ( i still need to do a lot of tweeking on it to get it looking right ) and i need to make the stand for parking it which will also be the fork brace when your riding.

Soulsticycle Art Show

All went well on Saturday night

Lauren Fagan put on a great art show in Hollywood devoted to cycling and the art from the riders.

I was asked to put some pieces in the show so I put in Brie's track bike and the all most done Beach Cruzer project.

Check out some of the photos.......

good turn out early in the night

Brie made this cool pair of jeans for her track bike, this was the bike I built about a month ago

The beach cruzer on display

Better shot

Wall shot with some pieces

These are disc covers for wheels used in bike polo