Purchased this watch on craigslist from an eccentric Italian man in Redwood City. Needed a band and a good cleaning. I found a beautiful band to match the belt that George and Mom bought for me in Mexico. After cleaning and oiling I decided to relume the hands because some of the lume was cracked when I got the watch. It glows an eerie blue at night. Runs very well and I enjoy wearing this one.
Siegerin Watch
Business Card Press
I thought it would be a boss move to have a mini printing press to produce business cards on demand at your desk, or better yet print your business card on the back of other peoples cards. I made this little press on the laser cutter out of bamboo plywood. The bronze bushing give a smooth sliding action and registers the cards perfectly in the press. I made on for Ian to use at work.
Alex Foster's Seiko 5
Alex has worn this Seiko 5 for as long as I have know him. It stopped the other day and I offered to fix it for him. After looking at the damage inside I determined to replace the movement. His Seiko 5 had the Malaysian movement and I replaced it with the Japanese made movement. There are a few minor differences in the labeling of the movement that few would notice but Foster thinks it is a cool detail to have in his watch. I also relumed the hands and face in orange to give it a fresh custom look. I am glad I could save his little buddy.
Roamer Watch
Veronica and I love going for walk on Sunday morning. I found this beautiful tiny Swiss watch at West Portal Antiques during one of our walks. It was marked “as is” so I wound it up and wanted to see what would happen. It gained about 15 minutes during our time walking through the store. I had a hunch it was magnetized, I took a gamble and bought it for $15. I took it home and cleaned it, it had some blood dried in the case seal! (I am now a CSI investigator) The movement was in spectacular shape and very clean. Put it on the demagitizer and then regulated it. It has been running perfectly! I hope I can get my Scuba Dude back from Veronica after I give her this watch.
Laser Campfire
TechShop is having an open house and wanted something fun and quick for kids to do during the tour. I made a jig and found perfect settings for roasting marshmallows. I know it was a hit because I had as many adults roasting marshmallows as kids
Design and Build
I had a student who wanted to raise awareness about water usage and water conservation. He designed a graphic that had information on how to reduce your water usage and how much water you should drink in a day. He distributed them to teachers and kids back at school, what a hero!
Chelsea Liberty Ship Clock
Oh boy I have been looking for a Bakelite Liberty Ship Clock and I finally got one. No key, runs poorly, and is dirty as hell but it is mine now. Cleaned the case, reseated the glass, and cleaned the movement and re oiled everything. After getting it together everything looks ship shape and perfect but it runs fast no matter what I do…
Update May 2018:
I had given up on this clock and put it in my drawer of shame. I had a weird thought that it may have been magnetized somehow and that my have caused the unexplained unreliability. It was a last chance fix before I totally gave up on it. I demagnetized it and much to my surprise it is keeping perfect time now! I can’t imagine what on earth could have magnetized a vintage piece of military hardware like this. Obviously aliens during the Philadelphia Experiment. What a piece of history
Sister Mechanic
My sister wanted to learn how to work on her Mercedes, so I set her up in the shop and gave her instruction on how to work on her car!
Ladies Night
TechShop wanted a new project to offer for events. I came up with this simple steel picture frame. We cut all the pieces before the event. During the event the participants learn how to spot weld the frame and powder coat. The photo and glass are held in with magnets to complete the project. The event takes about 2 hours with 5-8 people.
Vostok Scuba Dude
I finally purchased a Vostok Scuba Dude watch. I love the retro diver on the dial. I replaced the back with a clear case back so I can see the in house automatic movement, I also added orange lume to the “B” logo for added fun. I purchased a bezel delete on amazon and got rid of the rotating dial. I feel that the bezel delete and the rounded crystal make it look like a little bubble under water. I didn’t like how shiny the case (I am worried about attracting sharks) was so I took it to the lab and bead blasted the body. I have been wanting a watch to have a tropic style Pearlon strap and little scuba dude was the lucky recipient. I am very happy with how this turned out.
Update June 2016:
Veronica has taken this watch, she hasn’t taken it off since it went missing from my watch drawer.
Credenza for Lauren and Ken
My friend Jon had this beautiful antique card filing cabinet on the floor of his apartment and I asked if I could have it if he moved. He gave it to me and Veronica and I welded up the legs to turn it into a credenza to put the fish-tank on. Ben let us use some of his black magic spray to turn the base black. I am very happy with how it turned out. The most expensive part of the build was the solid oak board I bought to match the oak on the cabinet. I found the baskets at Cost Plus World Market and they were a perfect addition to the piece. I hope my fish will feel supported now.
Fire extinguisher Lamp
I found a fire extinguisher abandoned in one of the RIT parking lots and grabbed it. It stayed in my college apartment through graduation. After moving back to San Francisco I decided it was time to do something with it. I needed a lamp, so my fire extinguisher became a lamp! My small room needs to maximize efficiency so it is still a fully functional fire extinguisher and a fully functional lamp.
Speaker Recone
Quick project, got these vintage Pioneer speakers from my uncle. They needed to be reconed, so I fabricated some replacement foam for them and got these old speakers ready to rock!
Cast Brass Rockets
I took the rocket I made for Space Cake and made a bunch of wax copies. I am going to cast them in brass. I have no idea what I am going to do with ten brass V2 rockets…
Robot Helpers
Key-ring for Ronnie
Walnut scrap, solder, and a mini eye-hook…
Done.
Retro Telechron Wall Clock
What a beautiful garage sale find! Some Bondo work on the case, machined a new time setting dial, and resprayed the case and I have a very stylish wall clock for my apartment!
Architectural Model
Designed a greenhouse for the roof of Booth (Craft and Design Building at RIT) to help me with my seasonal depression.
DIS Chair Exhibition
My chair along with the other chairs design and built by RIT students are on display at the Vignelli Center of Design.
