The process of restoration always fascinates me. The stages of cleaning and evaluation that move into collection of starting needs and price lists. From there you fix parts, clean parts, replace parts, restore finishes, and test things hopefully one at a time.
What I fail at is doing one task at a time. So, in typical fashion I am restoring 2 vintage sewing machines at the same time as my car. Both are Singer, one is a treadle and one us a single stitch electric from the 40’s.
But back to why you came here…the bug is ongoing. I have stripped the interior except the headliner. The fuel tank is out. The engine is stripped and loose but not out. I have new floorplans to install but need to remove the jack points first. So there is progress both mechanical and aesthetic. Having performed extensive rust treatment inside, I still must treat the exterior of the tank. The interior is pretty clean.
I am preparing to order exhaust and probably a wiring harness so you know what the next updates will likely be.
Recently I have completed several sewing projects I am quite proud of, a digital painting I really like, some writing, and a few other things. Today however, I started a new project… restoring my 69 bug.
My sewing and art room is full of parts and I will start sanding and priming after I get stuff soaking in oil or the cleaning bath. The seats and fenders are in the shed but I have them. I need new floorplans…nite the grass under the car.
It has been a while since I restored a vehicle and I still have my job and online shop to run but this is happening as quickly as possible.
First, a painting. this is one of my favorites, a watercolor done based on the cliff dwellings I visited last year.
there is also a home project, mostly done. A shoji screen for the pantry we built recently. We still are changing one wall and have not done the door frames yet. I really like how the metal sheets came out in the center and on the frame above. This project completely changed about 4 times before getting this far.
The other is a painting developed when I was in Florida. Researching the older cultures in Mexico and Central America I designed this, using correct designs and architecture but mixed my own way.
I need to get my good camera working, this one is taking very pale images.
Beakers, Few groups could be as inspired by beakers as the Steampunk crowd, but my mind is currently overflowing with images and ideas inspired by a brief one line and single picture mention in an old Metropolitan Home magazine (March 2007, pg 142). The company that made the hand etched Pyrex beakers with floral designs, rising bubble designs and spiral patterns is out of business, but the image stuck. Following this, I found a blog reference to using Pyrex lab equipment in the kitchen with an explanation of the material differences between American kitchen Pyrex and lab Pyrex (http://www.thekitchn.com/why-dont-we-use-lab-beakers-more-in-the-kitchen-189036). I was sold! Not only is it practical and cool, but she is right, it is safe. This continued the thought of the etched Pyrex, obviously you can safely etch the equipment, the measurements and markings are often etched. So we know the strength is not at risk if the etching is done carefully and sparingly. In reality you would only want spare designs anyway but it adds that touch of beauty and elegance seen in the Victorian period to a classical lab tool still in wide use. Yes, the Pyrex is newer (Corning first introduced it in 1915). However, the safety added by using new equipment is worth the update in this case, especially since it is only a few years. You see lab equipment used as vases and decorative pieces frequently
vases
but I liked the idea of having decorated lab equipment in the lab and kitchen (we know from previous posts I find bring the lab into the kitchen an interesting idea to consider). Beauty, elegance, simplicity, practicality, whimsy, and history brought into our lives – what could be better?
On a related note, I found an article about microscopic gardens I read some time ago and it just felt related to this. In May this article, not the first on the project, showcased these beautiful, fanciful gardens requiring a microscope to see (http://www.boston.com/news/science/blogs/science-in-mind/2013/05/16/harvard-researchers-grow-garden-nanoscience-delights/E3oYRwy8VMZlz3RDIENpfP/blog.html). The idea of using a beaker etched with a floral pattern to grow a tiny garden struck me. You could of course do this with a number of things to make it larger or set a microscope at the ready and control the environment to the inth degree to see what grows. To quote:
“Working with materials science professor Joanna Aizenberg, Noorduin discovered that altering the acidity or alkalinity of a solution could cause crystal blossoms to grow outward into a bell shape, or to make them curl inward. Combining these kinds of techniques, they could create tendrils, the nested layers of petals in a rose, and the delicate cup of a tulip—which Noorduin felt especially obligated to grow, because he is Dutch. He was able to grow even more complex structures, such as a stem, a leaf, and a flower, all contained in a vase.
Juan Manuel Garcia-Ruiz, a research professor at CSIC-University of Granada in Spain, demonstrated a decade ago that crystals could grow in unexpected curves and spirals. For years, he said, no one had believed that the crystal forms he grew, which so closely resembled living forms, were really crystals—assuming instead that there was just biological contamination.
He said the new paper brings a finer level of control to the process, showing how it is possible to modify the shapes.
Researchers not involved in the work appreciated its beauty and the effort to find ways to control the mineralization process. But when asked why these studies showing how to manipulate matter at the smallest scale were so pleasing to look at, they all had a slightly different take.
Hendrik Dietz of the Laboratory for Biomolecular Nanotechnology at Technische Universität München in Germany, wrote in an e-mail that the choice to build something beautiful is only possible once it’s possible to control matter at the small scale. Thus, the intricate sculpture-like flowers are a way to judge the scientists’ level of control.
“Beautiful (or funny) things such as DNA smiley faces etc should therefore not be taken easily as child’s play,” Dietz wrote. “There is serious science … that has enabled the authors to pull these things off.””
I made this box for a friend while we watched Doctor Who recordings the other night. The designs are burned in, then I stained it.
Top, this one is much more intricate than my previous one.I did the sides as well.Back, I like the simplicity of it actually.I drew basic shapes in pencil but did most of the design with the burner.I think this is my favorite side.The designs were mostly freehand.I tried to keep the designs going around the curve and across the lid edges.The inside is stained but not burned. I signed the bottom, also burned.
One of the things I studies in college was Interior Design. I have been considering a couple interior design projects in Steampunk. Today has been very long so I am going to share a few of the ideas I have looked at this week in that area. Many of these are images I got from Secret Garden on Facebook, others from gaming sites. I did not take these photos and did nothing to them, they are property of other artists, I am sharing them as part of developing a foundation for a Steampunk design. Much of it would obviously need to be custom, but then I wanted to consider multiple price ranges and skill levels. I would want to have readily purchasable options, custom options, build-able options, ways to alter accessible or current items, and ways to use different types of spaces. This is obviously not a one day project, but would be a good series.
You could do some interesting things in a Steampunk interior design project with this window as a base.It’s the stair railing that caught my eye here.TraditionNot much for baby pics, but this bed was too perfect.There are many ideas that this brings up for a Victorian leaning Steampunk interior. Some changes, but the idea is there.This would just be a base for many things, but what a great way to expand a Steampunk design and get that added depth and the tiny Victorian rooms without actually closing the rooms off.I know I may be unusual in this being a first thought for a Steampunk design but it appeals.The obvious choice.Another great use of space, that also draws in the international and colonial travel aspects and allows the rooms within a room idea.An obvious one, but one that could be expanded in so many ways.
A fantasy, fairy-tail bedroom gone metallic and a bit of Steampunk Victorian. I know I have gone less with the gears and mechanical aspect of steampunk this week, but this is an exploration project to learn, develop, and create. Not as pleased with the bed as some other things.
I left the tag from the original image at the bottom, don’t want to steal an image. Changed all the materials, added stuff, and generally altered the image. I could have worked another hour, but it is past bedtime. I used this because I love the staircase and the way the bookshelf is integrated really appeals to my Steampunk style and what could be done with it.
This is my original drawing, done in Sketch-Up.This is an art rendition done in GIMP and Photoshop.
I designed this unit off a modular shelf unit I saw some time ago. I used gears instead of tubes and designed 3 possible shelf sizes to fit however is needed into the gears. Each gear can be added or removed separably for reconfiguration of the unit. The units are 1 foot in depth and internal diameter but could be any size, even mixed sizes, because they are gears, they can be fitted more solidly than tubes. You could do the gears out of metal and the shelves in wood or reverse.
Today’s pieces are all developing ideas. They are complete pieces in themselves but based on drawings by others. Probably the storage shelves are the least recognizable from original. However, I chose these because they each inspired drawing or images in my mind I want to develop more before working on. The shelves use the Chinese influence that was growing in Victorian times because of the newly acquired Hong Kong. I also want to do some using the other influences that were entering the design and furniture heavily at the time and nearby. I quite enjoyed studying those influences in design classes. These influences appeal for several reasons: one, the styles tend to be dramatic and interesting, and they go well with steampunk. Two, the travel and incorporation of things from other cultures and places really fits my approach to life and Steampunk. Three, the influence of a newly emerging global society and the impact on life, science, design, economy, and more fascinates me and is a very helpful study when trying to understand people, culture, economy, and more. Four, they are interesting cultures and designs in and of themselves, and the aspects from their history that have similarities to Steampunk are work finding. without further ado…
The brass and wood with sinuous details fit the Steampunk feel and it is a Victorian base. I added those and the somewhat Chinese Lacquer feel.This is just a developing idea based on an image from the Doctor Who Facebook page. I want to do a drawing and Photoshop it completely from scratch. I did not do the base image.Yes, its fairly simple and has only subtle links to the topics at the moment, but it is an idea I want to do from scratch both on computer/pencil and an actual table or model.
I drew the design mostly in pencil, then used a soldering iron to burn the image. I will stain when I do the sides in another project.To get an idea what it will look like stained, I uploaded into GIMP and colored.
Wood-burning and leather-burning are something I have always liked and wanted to do more of. Lacking an actual wood burning tool, I used a cheap soldering iron I had to burn the design into the box ( see right), top only. I wanted to see what it will look like stained, so I uploaded into GIMP. I like it. I will stain it as part of another day’s project, when I do the sides I think. The soldering iron’s single tip took a bit of getting used to and practice to get the strength, depth, thickness, and tone I wanted in each line.
I really like the combination of working by hand and computer for some things. I think I may do a version of the recent pieces in my art programs as well.
On a side note, I used my metallic paint to continue the painting I started the other day. It really is becoming a long term project.
Metallic paint going on, hat is now purple, cards are white. Most other things are temporarily covered awaiting the paint and redesign of them.
More Steampunk furniture. Yes I like designing and building furniture, I also currently lack what I need for models, jewelry, and a lot of physical art forms. I do want to paint more though. This one was done entirely in Google Sketch-up. I drew each component except the small clock, I just liked it and it was marked free source. I don’t have many materials in the program yet and haven’t found my pro version, so it didn’t have a few things I am unsure if I can do in the standard version. I’m learning.
This piece is a Steampunk worktable, full 3-d model. If you look at the 3 views, some of the details you will see are 2 perpetual motion machines, 2 clocks, quite a few drawers, some almost Galifreyan symbols, and a variety of woods and Brass, copper materials. Gears connect from one side to the other inside the piece and power the perpetual motion machines.
notice the clock, and the perpetual motion machine on top.notice the extendable fan table, one on opposite side as well.You can see the interior gears and perpetual motion machines as well as most drawers.good shot of brass top, the perpetual motion machine, and the fan tables.
Frankly, this piece grew entirely organically, there was no plan. I was drawing components to have them for future use and just started drawing.
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