Here is the latest version of the spiral cutting router jig. I originally made it without the pulley and belt system but grooves were cut at too sharp of an angle. By adding the belt I was able to speed up the rotation rate of the spindle compared to the back and forth travel of the router. It was an interesting mechanical experiment.
I first saw the SawStop table saw a few years ago. Their early demo videos showcased its amazing safety techology that allows the SawStop saw to stop the blade’s spinning and drop down through the table when it encounters anything meat-like (i.e. your finger!). You keep your finger for the price of a saw blade, which seems like a pretty good trade to me.
Their first demo videos showed a hot dog stopping the blade, which was pretty cool, if a little cartoony. Now, the inventor has a new video showing up on YouTube in which he uses his finger to demo the tech. That’s faith.
Whew, it’s been a LONG time since I’ve last posted, and to you, dear reader, I apologize. I’ve embarked on adventure that has been taking up a lot of my time, and I’m not talking about my homebrewing hobby …
Sarah and I have begun remodeling our attic. It all began with some plans (with some help from my friend and contractor Andrew Young), which led to a building permit, which led to the purchase of a sawzall, which led to … me neglecting this blog. But let’s move on, shall we?
We are fortunate enough to have a full-size attic – the plumbing permit for our house in 1927 listed it as 1 1/2 stories (saving us about $10,000, a story which I’ll tell another day) and we’re planning on converting the existing space (right) to a master bedroom and bath, which will up our home’s totals to 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and about 1500 square feet of living space. Here are the plans for what the new space should look like:
I have always heard that demolition is the best part of a project, and I have to say, it has been fun, if a bit sweaty and dusty. But … we’re almost done. Most of the attic’s walls and ceiling were covered in some vintage wood paneling whose surface concealed some very old insulation. When you pulled down the paneling, the insulation and miscellaneous roof debris came with it, coating my head with asphalt, roofing nails and the occasional abandoned wasp nest. Good times. Next, I’ll regale you with stories of chimney removal. Really good times!
In one of my many experiments on the now-all-but-abandoned DaveSelden.com, I had a somewhat regularly occurring feature I called “Studio Visits,” where I documented visits I made to other artists’ studios, with lots of photos and minimal text. Other artists’ workspaces are usually so private, and it’s interesting to see how the setup differs based on personality and end product.
On my recent European vacation, I had the opportunity to re-visit the studio of Constantin Brancusi, a favorite sculptor. In 1956, rather than see his beloved space demolished in the name of a construction project, he donated its contents to the city of Paris to be recreated elsewhere. In his later years, Brancusi believed the perfect venue for experiencing his works was his studio, where each object was carefully positioned with respect to other objects, optimal lighting conditions and physical needs of the viewer.
In the ensuing years, the studio was recreated in various forms, all to some degree temporary, but in 1977 the studio received a final resting place at the Centre Pompidou in front of Paris’ Museum of Modern Art. A building designed by architect Renzo Piano references the original studio heavily, respecting the artist’s wishes as to placement of works and lighting conditions, but maintaining a safe distance between the visitor and the valuable original artworks it now contains.
Something I have been thinking about lately, and something that I noticed in Brancusi’s work (as well as in the Louise Bourgeouis retrospective inside) was the care and attention Brancusi gave to the pedestals for his pieces. In many ways the pedestal was so integrated with the sculpture, it is hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.
And of course, there were the tools, laid out in neat order as he left them. They were the only evidence that this was a studio, really, so clean was the floor and so white the walls, you’d think you were simply in a strange museum. Artifacts of his life were there if you looked, though, including a violin on a bench at the rear of this photo, apparently for the impromptu parties that were often thrown here (Max Ernst and Jean Tinguely had adjacent studios). His sleeping quarters were in the raised area above.
Walking around Bruges on my recent Europe trip, I spotted this interesting tool near a construction job site. It’s a combination table saw and chop saw. Not probably the best thing in the world for building fine furniture, but I bet the owner of this tool likes carrying one tool around instead of two! Pretty cool idea, actually. I think the table saw fence doubles as a guard for the top of the blade when you’re using it as a chop saw.
Posted a bunch of our trip photos to Flickr yesterday. I have some more things to share from the trip, and I’ll be sharing those over the next few days. For now, it’s out to the shop!
