The Tabernacle Commission

[1] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[2] See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:
[3] And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
[4] To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
[5] And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.
[6] And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;
[7] The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle,
[8] And the table and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense,
[9] And the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture, and the laver and his foot,.....

This was a great commission for this reason, as often as I've read this passage from the Bible I think about how much of an honor it must have been to be in the service for building the furniture for the Tabernacle but particularly verse 3 that God filled Beezaleel with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship. Beezaleel and the others couldn't have done the work if God hadn't filled them with His Spirit. Equally as important was having the ability to be used of God, in any way He saw fit.

As oft as I've thought on this I've thought about the man that forged the nails that secured God's beloved Son to Calvary's cross, and I wonder what he thought?

Project From the Past "Big Planter"

Man it's great to be back online...this past weekend I was offline and not by my own choosing. It's great to be back, now especially since I have Hi-speed internet. Wo who! I thought I'd share this project from last summer with yall. It's a "Big Planter" I designed and fabricated for use indoors. The tree you see in this photo, is not why this was built. It actually now houses a 12 foot tall tree of great size.

This could be construed as the planter of the "century"...sorry I have a weakness for puns. On with the features:
This thing is made entirely of 14 gauge cold rolled steel and features swiveling casters (cleverly hidden of course), a pull out tray for catching and draining excess water, and a pretty cool design overall, even if I do say so myself. Of course that's me in the photo looking as geeky as ever.

Project from the Past: "The Missing Link"

This is a picture of one of the first signs I did. I hand cut everything but the maltese cross portion with a plasma cutter. I thought maybe I'd call it the "missing link".

Powder Coated Tough!

Just wanted to take this opportunity to brag on the finish I use most often. That is powder coating. As you may have gathered from some of my pictures...I absolutely love clear powder coat over forged steel. It has such a rich tone and so completely compliments the gray black steel. I have a small powder coat setup in my shop and I'm very fortunate to have a prestigeous powder coating contractor in my own town. So I do all the small things and let the professionals handle the larger pieces. If your not exactly sure what powder coating is about the following is an excerpt from the Allegis handbook..

"Powder coating is an electrostatic painting process followed by a thermal curing of the finish. This provides uniform coverage and results in a top-coat that is attractive, durable, corrosion resistant, and UV stable. Powder coat is available in a variety of colors and glosses. Ideally suited for exterior applications. Properties of powder coating include excellent appearance and good abrasion resistance."

If only I could have those same properties!

Project from the Past "Planter Table"

This was another won of those just fun to do projects. It's a planter table that holds a 6" planter. Man there's metal vines runnin every which direction on this thing. The only items that have any sense of order are the circular rings and the legs. Everything else is just moving where it wanted to go. Now that it's been in the customer's possession the flowers really dress it up when they spread out and get supported by the metal vines.

The Secret Revealed!

Finally the time has arrived for me to share with you the secret of the Jamison Door Project.

The picture you see is part of the coolest feature of this project, as it contains a "secret" passage which contains a time capsule. I thought it was a nice cap to a very fun project! The panel slides off towards the door, so the door has to be open in order for you to remove it.

Project From the Past

Here's the deal...It's early mid morning on another Sunday Nite and I can't sleep, so I thought I'd work on paying a few bills....I decided to take a break from going thru the bills and look thru my old pictures......dun tun da dun I came up with an idea! You may recall from earlier posts that my original intent of my blog was to create an online porfolio. In doing this I culled projects from posts that I deemed "not ornamental enough". Well in doing so, I may have not shared with all of yall what I'm about...building things that you just can buy at any store.

So as to try and share some of these previous "Projects From the Past" I'll try to occasionally post some of these early works. Now I know that some of the pictures will be bad, shucks even some of the pieces will be raw iron, no paint. But it will at least show some of the other things I've worked on and maybe inspire some more!

The picture you see above is my version of a leaf brake. It's aptly named the "MK II Super Brake". It will form 30" of 18 gauge cold rolled steel without batting an eye. It features chrome moly forming bars and adjustable cam locks. I came up with this design after building one for use in my shop. I showed it to a couple of folks, and ended up building 3 more. Why on earth would I build a brake? Simple. My appetite for tools exceeds my budget, so if I can't afford what I need, I take a chance and build it myself. Besides that what Denver Broncos fan would want one of these in their garage! Look for more "Projects from the Past" to come in future posts.

This Days Progress

This day's started with me still feeling a little under the weather, but I had projects to resolve and or start. This project was for an chap I know who does some exquisite work with glass. He's been doing some slumped glass bowls which are quite large in diameter. He asked me about making some stands so he could display his work, so I came up with this design. I just finished it about 45 minutes ago. I chose to powder coat it in a copper vein finish. I tried to adapt sem-traditional joinery in the bottom. The bottom with a flick of the wrist actually rotates and slides out of the "mortise" on the sides, then the whole thing folds up for stowing.

The goal was to make a sturdy stand that could hold very expensive glass, that was easy to pack and complementary to the glass artists' work. Hopefully I've accomplished all.
I'll know Monday, when I swing it by his shop and get his reaction. Today I had hoped to make some progress on some other projects I've been working on, but just quite didn't get it done.

WHIMSICAL PARKING METER

This was a project I recently finished, which was just a fun whimsical project. How else could I explain a Greek inspired column base for a parking meter! It features a hidden passage in the back, so you can store all your revenues received from the parking meter.

I've wanted for some time to replicate a Corinthian inspire column, I just couldn't find a project to work it in on....until now. Besides that when you see columns they're usually holding up something very heavy and or important, so why not a parking meter?

EVEN MORE DOOR PHOTO'S

I'm guessing that I'll have to keep posting pictures of this door until I get some feedback. No seriously, I'd like to know what yall think, so please leave a comment. This is just a closeup of the copper rose door pull.

MORE JAMISON DOOR PICTURES

Just thought I'd share some more photo's of the Jamison door. This is a closeup of the copper ribbon and brass crown.

Jamison Centennial Ornamental Door

Finally, I'm able to post some pictures of the project that I've been working on since the End of November. (Not the whole time mind you, just the spare time!) This project features several firsts for me....they are:

Copper Rose Door Pull that actually engages in a catch

Full Wrap Pin Hinges that swing level

My First Try at Repousse' Work in 16 ounce copper and soft Brass

Ornamental Window Grille

The overall size of this door is 37" tall x 27" wide x 6" deep

Dan Rhyner and Joe Mayernik were responsible for the fantastic job they did with all the wood work. Pete Smith fabricated some awesome lady bug bolts that hold the Copper Rose Door Pull to the door.

I guess I should tell you about this project's start. I work as a full time metal worker for a freezer doorway manufacturer in Montana. We are owned by the Jamison Door Company which is located in Hagerstown, Maryland. Well, they have been in business for 100 years as of this year, and I came up with an idea that we should build something commerative of that. Wala! you have the Jamison Centennial Door. A smaller version mind you, but one that captures the essence of what they do.....Build doors. And will fit quite nicely on any wall.

This door does possess a secret that I can't fully disclose now, but I will post details of this at a later date. Until then please enjoy, and I fully encourage you comments and feedback.....good or bad!

Making Memories in Metal

Just wanted to trumpet once more about the project that I've been working on.....(It's been the one that has consumed so much of my spare time of lately.) I should be able to post some pictures up this weekend.

As with any project that has it's ups and downs, it's still always sad to see them go away. Thank God for pictures, so we can re-live these projects. At least if we "make memories in metal" they will last for some time to come, perhaps even a lifetime!

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Perfection......The goal of all professions. Perfection if I could know it could be summed up by the title phrase "Continuous Improvement". When I rethink projects I've done, I seem to reflect most upon the things that weren't exactly what I wanted them to be and or just didn't turn out the way I expected. Most of the time that's been great because some things, as I've learned working with metal, take on an life of their own.



So I guess continuous improvements are a natural part of life, if we allow it.