Way back when I started on this rolling ball sculpture stuff I got this idea that it would be fun and cool to use old gears and bits of other things to construct the ball lift that I wanted on my sculpture. I got even more interested in doing this when I found out that custom made brass gears cost around forty bucks a piece(!). I dug around on eBay and found old clock parts that looked fantastic. I could get a bag of them for about seventy bucks, but I would have so many, I could use them for all sorts of stuff and it would offset the initial cost in the long run.

I managed to dig a couple of gears out of the collection that would kind of work with the chain I had ordered. It would take some doing, but I could make it happen. Besides, it would look cool, really, really cool. A while back I started actually trying to assemble all of this gack into an operable Electroencardioshnooks, and found out that one of the pieces was going to need some machining done on it. It was just a gear with a shaft. I needed the shaft turned down at one end to mount the whole thing on a bracket.

So I began looking for a machine shop somewhere in my area, which isn’t easy to find. There was one down the street from my office (way out past the west side of town), but my job was too small for them to take on. They told me to go into downtown to have it done, which would have meant I’d have to take half a day off work to do it, which I didn’t want to do. So, I kept looking. I finally found a place not too far from my house, and the beauteous thing of it was that the joint opened at 7am, meaning I could go there on my way to work. Awesome.

I went. I explained what I needed. No problem, I was told. Happy to do it, and won’t cost more than twenty bucks.
Okay, twenty bucks I can handle. It was one job.
Guy calls me middle of that day. The shaft broke as they were trying to machine it. It’s an odd size. They need to order more material to replace it. They won’t be able to have it to me for a week. I say, use something larger and just bore out the gear to fit it. They guy, probably not wanting to do the extra work on such a little job, says that he can get the stuff in to do it right, and it won’t be more than twenty bucks. Okay, I’m not in a rush.

I go back a week later. I show up and I’m asked if “they got it done.” Huh? You were the guys that told ME to show up today. I’m assuming it’s done. A quick check is made. It’s not done. Come back tomorrow. Fine. Tom leaves, not all that jazzed.

Tom goes back today. Job is done! Happy. Guy explains job. Due to the existing gears on the shaft and how they were assembled, it turns out that the shaft required was larger anyway, so they had to use a bigger one (negating my wait time on that material from the past week). Hey, these things happen, but it’s still only twenty bucks, right? Nope, it’s twenty-five. By this time I’m just happy to have it in my hands and be done with it. I’m still glad I have it, but I’m a little more glad that it’s just finally all over with.

How much is a miniature lathe, anyway? Maybe it’s time I just cut out the middle man.

This simple little piece ate up weeks of time. It happens when you want to make nifty custom things.

In other news, I’m working on the novel. Again. Still. It’s looking like I’m nearing and end on this thing, which is good. I love finishing stuff! Before I couldn’t even begin things, or if I did, I couldn’t finish them for fear of them being imperfect. This one is about as imperfect as they can get, but I’m steamrolling onward (at about the same speed as said steamroller). It’s taking a long time, but I’ve not given up on it yet. When I’m done, the good will be that I can look back and say, “Well, there was that time I wrote that 90K-word novel. If I did that, then I can do this thing I’m working on now.” It won’t be great, it may not even be mediocre, but it will be finished, and when you’ve spent a lifetime fearing finished things, it’s a great victory. So, onward toward victory.

Oh, I’ve started reading a new bit of fiction this week. I absolutely love it! It’s called “Geek Love,” and it’s by Katherine Dunn. Circus performers, love, jealousy, bitterness, family, betrayal, kids with flippers instead of arms, hunchback albinos – this book has everything you could want. If you like twisted tales that also highlight the difficulties and joys of family, then this book belongs to you. I was riveted from the start.

I forgot one last thing. I’m working on another drawing. My niece said upon viewing it, “Cool! It looks like when the TV goes all fuzzy.”

One last last thing. I have word from Tina that she has found the apparently ideal piece of wood for the base of my current rolling ball sculpture project. Sanding is in progress to prep it. Stay tuned, stay creative, kids.