• Step # lastone

    Kal • 01/27/2022 at 17:37 • 0 comments

    I'm over the moon with how the item turned out and even happier with how it was received.

    She liked it, which was nice, and what she said about it was in line with everything i like about all my work. This matches her personality more than most things i make, but what she said about it was ...i'm repeating myself. It's nice.

    The chain mated to the head via a slit along one of the wobble-equatorial edges. I'm sure a geometer would call that like the wobble-equator of an icosahedron, right? And then, natch', i potted it pretty thoroughly to the inside of the head with hot glue. This was after attaching the rest of the faces and getting everything square, dropping glue into a black hole so no pics. I was worried there'd be overlap or twist outside of tolerances to the final edges but it looks perfect.

    I was worried the head would feel flimsy if the faces weren't better mated to the corrugated base, they're held on by hot glue, but sealing along the edges seems to've worked. There's just a little flexion and you've gotta lean on it. It's very precise but definitely handmade, which i should have on my business cards.

    She commented on the flexibility of the chain, that was one of the 1st things she said about it. She opened it on stream ((https://www.twitch.tv/glorgana, give her a look)) and got comments about it being breakable but quashed them. She confirmed my observation that it's v. gratifying to sling over one's shoulder.

    She mentioned how pleasingly detailed it is. Ones eyes can rest on it easily. If one has busy eyes, like mine and hers, there's endless detail to fall onto. Something something zen garden marie kondo. A thing of beauty is a joy forever (until it's not, cardboard falling apart faster (but no more than) iron and copper, lead and tin, glass and urethane...)

  • step #thisone

    Kal • 12/22/2021 at 18:27 • 0 comments

    Hadda work up some just straight gumption to fit that elbow-piece. How gratifying that it fits as well as wanted!

    Depression is a real bitch. It's not like there's a "this is the way through it" to depression, it's something you've gotta take a step at a time. That's two aphorisms already and i got plenty more behind but you've heard aphorisms. So fuck it, use the aphorisms. Whatever thing you think of that gets you to having a scrape or scrap better time in your head is helping.

  • 3. Steps 7 through, i dunno, about 13

    Kal • 12/14/2021 at 01:41 • 0 comments

    Rough color swatch:

    It's not going to look as layered as i want but i think it'll look nice.

    I'm 95% (p=0.85) done with the handle. It's gloriously firm and solid. I included wire in the bit that'll hold the 1st chain link which is absurd but, eh, it doesn't hurt at least.

    And assembly is underway with the head. Getting the geometry right had me fearful and not for no reason but i'm making progress without having to undo too much work. As well, research is promising on the "tinkle engine."

    (Why yes, those are HDD rings. And yes, they are ~lovely.~)

    Further ammunition for "Measure twice, cut once" is a bad byword: Some cuts and measurements put error into your results, some take it out and the important part is figuring which checks will best keep you from wrecking yourself. To wit, if you're measuring a bunch of points by compass maybe measure the resulting line by straightedge before moving on, even if you don't need to. That wouldn't've been Greek to anyone with sense for millennia.

  • 2. Corner flexion

    Kal • 11/08/2021 at 19:33 • 1 comment

    What would make the faces better? Glow in the dark stars? You're right. And that lets me run out the plain glue in the nasty baby gun so i can join the faces with color/sparkle glue. Because that would be better. And i'm going to go fancier on joining them (contemplation needed) and this baby gun is nasty, i'm replacing it at the same time as my go-to gun. ANANYWAYAY.

  • First steps

    Kal • 11/05/2021 at 20:54 • 1 comment

    The chain was the first thing i made, to see if it would work. I'm amazed how well it does; It's super flexible and doesn't feel too fragile. Of course it won't stand up to too much wear, this isn't going to be any kind of implement. But it'll look the part without falling apart immediately. Still, this should come with a lifetime service plan. She knows where i live.

    The squares that make up each link came from big grids out of (i think) Eclipse: Second Dawn. I cut half the squares at one point on one edge and the others i glued together 3-ply with white glue. Then i connected the laminated squares with three layers of the cut squares, rotated to keep the cuts from doubling-up.

    For the faces of the head i tessellated equilateral triangles across two big pieces of card (from a soda cracker box and another for pancake mix). Then i spray-glued big pieces of gametrash (more Eclipse and, i think, Protoplanets) and fixed them to those, then cut along the lines mostly with a guillotine. There was a lot of fiddly fixing to do and not all the triangles came out usable. Thunking through the discontinuities in the cardboard shook the place enough my housemate was worried.

    I came out with 38 of them so i need(?) to make two more to have twice as many as i need, because of course it's gotta be an icosahedron. I wanna would have already been started connecting these together in chunks, by taping along the back of a pair of edges and then fixing them with hot glue. But my goldylocks glue gun just gave up the ghost (or was subject to tampering by the surge suppressor, which has also been decommissioned). I've still got the tiny baby one and the 40W monster and, really, either would work but maybe i'll wait on another in the mail...

    The handle (L. above) was the long bit of three plastic hangers glued together-and-straight that i've started layering long strips of gametrash onto. I'm not sure how thick to go, what adhesion technique to use (E6000's been working a treat but it'll get too messy as layers accrue) or if maybe i'll just start over but so far so good.

    But no shut up wait look at this:

    [squeeing]

    Isn't that perfect? Maybe you don't see what it's gonna be, probably i'm overreaching. But i was goofin' on these little bits that come out the FF X-Wing game and that happened. If the joke lands it's gonna be ~perfect~.