SCUL has moved! We have now joined forces with the Artisan’s Asylum. From the ‘about us’ page:

Artisan’s Asylum, Inc. is a non-profit community craft studio located near Union Square in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Our mission is to support and promote the teaching, learning and practicing of craft of all varieties. To support that mission, we intend to offer the following:

• A fully equipped and professionally maintained manufacturing facility, which will include but is not limited to precision metal machining, electrical fabrication, welding, woodworking, fabricwork, cooking, painting, photography, jewelrymaking and more.
• Monthly and daily membership plans for the general public to access said facility on weekends and after working hours to encourage DIY culture and community craftsmanship
• A large range of affordable, publicly-accessible classes offered by local artisans, either focusing on creating a final product the student can take home after the class or general training for specific tools
• Affordable daytime space and equipment rental to local professional artists and businesspeople interested in having access to industrial-grade manufacturing equipment and a dedicated manufacturing environment without having to invest in capital equipment and long-term space leases
• On-site material storage and resale and on-site project storage, allowing community members to create and store projects without the hassle of handling material and storage logistics
• Hosting and promotion of local craft-related events

Take a look at the Classes. I’m teaching three TIG welding classes. Friday nights are still open.

I’m teaching a class starting Thursday:

Building Art Bikes
Dates: Thursdays – July 8th, July 15th, July 22nd, July 29th, August 5th, August 12th
Time: 7 PM – 10 PM
Location: 561 Windsor St, Unit A306, Somerville MA
Cost: $200

Pick out a cheap bike from Bikes Not Bombs, chop it up, weld it back together in a fun wacky way, and turn it into a rolling work of art that only you can figure out how to ride. No experience necessary, as the class will be taught by a professional bike welder who can take your idea and weld it into reality. No Joining Fee is required for this class. Students will be expected to purchase a used bike and enough structural materials to satisfy their artistic needs, which can range anywhere from $60 to however much more you want to spend.

Sign up: http://artisansasylum.com/?page_id=307

Mad Rabbit

This is a new prototype for low power lightening field for a ship. 300 LEDs lasted the entire mission.

Bendy Under the Portal of Skunkatude

More like these.

Marlon and his new family, Leanne and Brendan.

Not that long ago, about 3 in the morning, I jumped up from a near sleep with a Eureka moment. About a month earlier Self Destruct, a friend and fellow pilot, suggested I make my robots poseable for stop animation. I pictured purchasing ready-made stop motion sockets and trying to get them to work on my particular scale. It just wasn’t of interest to me. But then it hit me, just as I was dozing off – to make the ball and joint sockets myself.

Early Sketch of Faux Ball-and-Joint Socket

More Sketches from the Early Days

I decided it would be acceptable to use new materials for this new generation of bots, because it allows me to let the robots evolve. In the past I have held myself to a strict law of using as little new materials possible. A few pieces of simple hardware allows me to do much more with the materials at hand, and it’s still well over 90% reused, an acceptable level in my opinion.

By the time I was ready to start building the ball and joint socket I was more excited than I’ve ever when beginning a piece. I felt like a young Dr. Frankenstein and Willy Wonka all rolled into one. The result was Adam:

Adam

A few years beforehand Decaf, another SCUL pilot and friend, showed me a robotic dinosaur he had designed and built, and told me of the utter importance of the ankle. The ankle allows for the bot to get it’s center of gravity directly over the feet to allow for poses so dynamic, they mimic figure skaters.

Adam's Dynamic Pose

Having a ball and socket joint in the neck gives the ability to change the expression by merely tilting or cocking the head at different angles. This was a pleasant surprise to me, even though I decided on the pose of the head for every robot I made prior. Now the task of posing is taken from me, and given to the “viewer” -  no longer an applicable word. Perhaps “operator”, or “caretaker”. What’s the word for someone who plays with toys? A child, I suppose. Playing with Adam certainly brings out the child in me. He’s completely lovable.

Closeup of Adam

After building Adam I realized the first ball and joint socket I designed did not give the robot enough flexibility for Adam to sit. This was simply not acceptable! Hip surgery was performed the very next night. I also realized that some of the advantages of being able to hand-tighten the tension on the joints made for frustration when attempting an exciting pose. A realized the ankle joints needed to be fixed. I was also getting excited about the idea that these little guys could very well be around for hundreds of years, so I added lock nuts to the brass wing nuts for the elbows and knees, with two split lock washers for each joint – a suggestion from another brilliant friend of mine, Buckminister. The brass wing-nuts are ten times more expensive than the steel nuts, but I cannot resist it’s how beautifully accents the steel, and how charming they look. For now, they are standard issue for all elbows and knees.

The four different types of joints in Adam can be seen here.

For more detailed shots of Adam, see his album on Skunkadelia’s Picasa Web Page.

As promised, here’s a look at the trophies commissioned for IFF Boston.

Didn’t take long to pick out a torso, head and feet.

Starting with arms, legs and neck. Gender undetermined.