Lower Haight Summer Art Walk, Saturday Aug. 6th
Stencil cuffs, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
Steiner will be closed between Haight and Waller and that’s where I’ll be. I’ll be selling these new cuffs with brass stencil plates, also some new women’s belts made from a used horse harnesses, a new up-cycled doctor bag, belts with vintage buckles, etc. Noon – 6 more info: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=224767767567645
BHI at Art Mur Mur – Friday, August 5th
bridle-cuff, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
BHI will be selling this cuff made from an antique horse harness at Art Mur Mur, located at 23ed and Telegraph in Oakland. I will also be bringing some new women’s belts also made from a used horse harnesses, a new up-cycled doctor bag, new cuffs with brass stencil plates, belts with vintage buckles, etc. There will be music, food, galleries open and many people. 6 – 9 p.m. Click on image to enlarge. More info at: http://oaklandartmurmur.com/
BHI @Treasure Island Flea, July 30 – 31
Hex clock – Etsy 10, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
Come by this Saturday or Sunday to Treasure Island Flee Market , 9am – 4pm, to pick up this clock, new wallets, belts, bracelets, etc. I’ll be with Romey Designs in booth 215 across from The Window Lady.
http://www.treasureislandflea.com
BHI will be at Indie Mart, Sunday July 24th
Leather bag: De Rio Negro – 1, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
Come join me at Indie Mart this Sunday, 12-7pm @ Thee Parkside. Biggest one yet and goes till 7pm. It will be epic. This upcycled bag is my latest creation and will be available here first. It may not make it on to the web. More bags are on the way. Also, my last two clocks, a pile of new belts, even more bracelets, iPad cases, and much more. Click on picture to see more images of the bag.
Leather Envelope Cases and Mustache Stands for iPad now at Black Heart Cases.
New Mustache Stands, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
Now that the Kickstarter project is over, the Envelope Cases and Mustache Stands are now at www.BlackHeartCases.com. Pictured here is a fresh stack of staches. Stay tuned for some special color editions of the Envelope iPad case, a case for the Kindle, and a wallet.
Mate gourd
gourd, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
I got this last October, down the coast, at a pumpkin patch. I just let it air dry. It got some water on it that softened the outer skin and removed some of the color. I used a Japanese saw to cut the top off. The new edges where placed onto sandpaper to make even. The seeds and fibers were then scooped out and the inside washed. If I had some rock salt, I would put it inside. I’m not sure if I should keep the top and add a hinge. Also, should I add a metal border? What method to employ: Fabrication, electro-plating, machining? I will be adding a base similar to a wine glass. I’ll probably machine it out of steel.
Laser engraving and cutting service
Laser engraving and cutting service added to new site: http://www.blackheartcases.com/
Maker Faire 2011
Giant tricycle , originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
This giant tricycle was made by Todd Brarricklow. It can be used on train tracks as well as the road. He can be found here:
toddbrarricklow.com
I went both days. I was given tickets for Sunday so I could be interviewed for a new television show. More on that later. Somewhat hush-hush.
New reivew of my Kickstarter project
New write up on Cult of Mac:
http://www.cultofmac.com/leather-biker-ipad-case-comes-with-mean-mustache/95656
Funny take on my craftiness. The stashes are a big hit. Every villain needs a mustache.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blackheartindustries/leather-envelope-case-and-mustache-stand-for-ipad
Kickstarter project update
My Kickstarter project is about half way through. It’s been a-lot of work. More work to come. Maker Faire is coming up this weekend, time for pirate style marketing.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blackheartindustries/leather-envelope-case-and-mustache-stand-for-ipad
Wooden cards
Wooden-cards, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
New batch of wooden cards, fresh out of the oven. They smell nice and toasty. Just in time for Maker Faire.
My first blog review
I’ve been writing hundreds of emails to promote my Kickstarter Project:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blackheartindustries/leather-envelope-case-and-mustache-stand-for-ipad/posts
It’s the little things that keep you going:
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Number=40600
My 3 speed road bicycle
My 3 speed road bicycle, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
I love this bike. The chromoly frame is probably an early LeMond. It has Campy dropouts. I like the way the cable housing runs though the top tube. The crank set, bottom bracket and bullhorns are made by Mavic. The rear hub is a 1963 Sturmey Archer AW 3 speed. It has 40 holes. I replaced the axle with a longer one, which is a difficult procedure, like working on a clock. The rim, a Velocity Deep V, had to be ordered. The lasing pattern is 2 Leading, 2 Trailing with 4X Spokes. I found the design here:
http://www.terminalvelocity.demon.co.uk/WheelBuild/
It makes a 5 pointed start that matches the crank set. The front hub is a Sunrace. Nothing special, but they are the company that bought Sturmey Archer, so the hubs match as well (yes, it’s a stretch). The brakes are Campagnolo Deltas. People will tell you that they don’t work so well. This is true if you don’t have them adjusted right or have old pads. The brake levers are made by Syntace. The inside ends of the bullhorns had to be ground out to hold them. This combination has to be the most difficult possible. First you clamp down the brake lever body with an allen wrench, then attach the lever. Feed the cable though the hole in the bolt you just fastened. Fish the cable out of the hole in the bullhorn and then push the cable housing over it. Now feed the cable into the brakes and tighten down the 3.5 mm hex bolt?! I use a 5/32″ allen wrench. Finally trim the cable and tuck it inside. Ridiculous. The stem is a Shimano Dura Ace. The handlebar is held in place via a hex bolt hidden behind a cover at the bend. Beautiful design. Lastly, the shifter is from the 1950s. Click on picture to super-size it.
Light guide clock part 13
Rotary switch, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
I found this amazing rotary switch at the Techshop. There’s a date marking: May 1960. It has 4 pairs of contacts per position, of which there are 30. The solenoid takes 48 volts. The forward push opens a leaf switch, the one to the left. The backward pull advances the rotary contacts. At the 0 position a double throw leaf switch changes contacts and another leaf switch closes. I must use this beautiful switch for my clock. I also found several timer relay modules that have tube type connectors. What I’m thinking is to use the timer module to send a pulse once a minute to the solenoid. That takes care of the first 30 minutes. At 0 a relay is used to switch to another row of contacts on the rotary switch. Not quite sure how I would do that yet. That would take care of the full 60 minutes. What about the hours? I have quite a few micro switches with rollers. Maybe at the completion of the 60 minute cycle, another solenoid is used to advance a wheel with 12 switches around it. The wheel having a point on it to turn on one of the roller switches, or something to that affect. The rotary switch makes a very satisfying sound when triggered. All this stuff is going to make the clock much bigger then I had originally planed. Once the clock is running, I will machine a metal frame to hold all the components. Everything will be exposed so you can see the clock working. Clicking on the picture will take you to Flickr, where there is a photo of the switch from the other side. Thanks Peter Wendt for your help with the first attempt at this clock. His nixie tube clock schematics being the foundation for this project. His clock designs can be found here:
http://www.mcamafia.de/nixie/ncp_en/ncp.htm
Launched project on Kickstarter!
I’ve been working on this like crazy. Head over to Kickstarter to see the Envelope Case and Mustache Stand:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1740329935/leather-envelope-case-and-mustache-stand-for-ipad
F M Smith Mfg Co.”The Universal” Rivet Press
I picked this up a few months from one of the folks I get my leather from. I got my choice of dies from a box full of them. None where a matched set. I machined and polished a shallow concave surface onto both dies. The top die leaves a circle with small teeth embossed in the leather. An interesting detail. This has sped up production of the leather envelope cases, soon to be released. Also, less noisy then hammering.
Another Hex clock at Etsy
Hex clock – Etsy 10, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
This clock is made of reclaimed oak wine flavoring sticks and pine. It has a vintage paper covered metallic face and an American made quartz movement. Black heart branding on lower right side. 10.75″ x 15.75″ x 2″.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlackHeartIndustries
Diamond clock at Etsy
Diamond clock – Etsy 9, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
This clock is made of reclaimed oak and pine. It has a vintage paper covered metallic face and an American made quartz movement. Black heart branding on lower right side. 7″ x 16.5″ x 2″.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlackHeartIndustries
Another new clock at Etsy
Rectangular clock – Etsy 8, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
This clock is made of reclaimed oak. It has a vintage painted metallic face and an American made quartz movement. Worm-holes, scratches and chips are deliberate as weathered details. Black heart branding on lower right side. 10″ x 14.75″ x 2″
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlackHeartIndustries
New Hex clock at Etsy
Hex clock – Etsy 7, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
This clock is made of reclaimed oak with bark accents. It has a vintage painted metallic face and an American made quartz movement. Black heart branding on lower right side. 9.25″ x 13.75″ x 2″
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlackHeartIndustries
Alameda antique faire 2-6-11
Alameda antique faire 2-6-11, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
It was a very lovely day, so many people came out for the faire. As the ferry doesn’t run in February, I took BART over to Oakland and road my bike through the Oakland portal, a tunnel under the bay connecting Oakland and Alameda. It’s wasn’t fun. Closer to the entrance of the faire there were people waiting in their cars for over an hour. I road quickly between the cars. I got there at 9 am. On the way back things where much worse. At 1 pm, the day was much hotter, the traffic in the tunnel was bumper to bumper and not moving. No air. I thought I was going to die in that tunnel. When I finally came out the other side, I spent ten minutes with my hands an my knees. I didn’t feel quite right the rest of the day.
Upper left we have a giant knob followed by a variable resistor. The leather covered box has a pendent on it of Christ nailed to an anchor. What a score. Leaning on the box is a beautiful photograph of a young woman with very long hair and a violin. Also, two tin types. To the left is a large and very well made craft scissor that cuts zig zags. It is held up by a box full of nuts suitable for switches and potentiometers. The two wooden cylinders contain many small brass screws. Farther left we have three clips, one for paper, one for sheet music, and another metal clothes line pin for my collection. Next to that we have three hooks with three hooks that are for mounting under a table and a victorian iron hat hook. I’ve already mounted it onto my wall. To the far right is some vintage capacitors followed by some switches and some miscellaneous electronic components. At the very bottom is a vintage voltmeter. The largest item is not pictured. It is a piano accordion. I bought it not knowing how I was going to get it home. As I was hanging out at my friends booth, I ran into another friend that had borrowed a car. The accordion is with her and if all goes according to plan, I will have it tomorrow.
White Elephant pre-sale – 2011
White Elephant pre-sale – 2011, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
Ok, I went a little crazy. The main thing I’m excited about is the mechanical handheld games in the center. These are hard to find. I found the mother load. The boom box is in perfect shape. The Erector set is incomplete and has some newer pieces as well. I like using them to make all matter of gadgets. The American Tool set is complete, but I got it for the box, which I already have one just like it. I use it for my leather tools. The carts are for the Intellivision video game system and three for the N64. The Hamilton Beach milkshake blender needs a little love, but is beautiful. I got lost in the “bric-a -brack” department. The leather photo album, metal boxes, accordion files, pencil sharpener, Japanese lacquer box, ink, calculators, and clips came from there. The leather photo album only had a few pictures and will become a collage book. With the pages being so thick, I realized that I can cut into them, making it posable to use subtractive methods. I have become obsessed with clips lately. The clothes line pin is made of brass and the red clip says: Masonic Employment Service, for dependable personnel, men and women, phone HIgate 5885. I don’t have a great deal of wall space, as I live in a converted attic, so I layer my artwork and photos using clips and use picture frames as a way to add structure, instead of just highlighting the subject. Another meaning of frame. The poker chips have been removed and the box has been made flat on the inside. Also, the loose leather has been glued down. The hat is from World War 2, American. Hooks for my craft show display. Some electronic parts and finally a small Boss mixer. Some day I’ll come out of retirement and make some noise.
Tricycle – part 4
Tricycle – part 4, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
The shifter has been added. It requires the use of a cable with a cylinder at one end, like a mountain bike brake cable, not a standard Sturmey Archer cable. The barrel adjuster needed to be drilled out for the wider cable. A wheel, with a custom bracket, has been added at the axle to guide the cable. This arrangement is slightly unsatisfactory. It works, but the small chain, at the indicator rod, is coming almost straight out of the nut. This makes it posable for the indicator rod to unscrew, although this is unlikely. The shifter was designed for this type of frame, however it doesn’t fit very well. It is currently mounted on one of the top tubes. The bracket fits better then if it were over both tubes, but it can rotate. The two holes on the shifter had to be ground to fit better. I may ground off some more metal and mount over both top tubes. The rear brake cable has been moved to run behind the shifter. It needs to be shortened. Also, the fulcrum is held in place via a pipe clamp. Looking for a proper clip. I may make my own. One that can also hold the rear brake cable. I now understand why the 1930s car horn has a relay. The current would be very high though the switch. The relay works and will be kept. A battery needs to be acquired as well as a Battery Tender. A lock is to be added to the power, to prevent random people from pressing the horn button, when the bike is locked up. I would like to give a nice shock to the button, for such people. However, as this will not kill then I fear for retribution to my tricycle. Compromises don’t come easy. I’ve noticed that the same type of people are using the flat bed to hold their coffee and standing/sitting on it. Maybe I can add a remote to the horn to give them a mild heart attack. One more thing, the old school white grips are on there way, via the postal system.
Tricycle – part 3
Tricycle – part 3, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
A front fork of proper dimensions was acquired and painted black. It is solid steel, not tubing. The original race was used. It needed shimming. Brakes, levers, cables, housing, and flat bed were added. The housing is held down with pipe clamps and cable ties. I had to make eight brackets to hold the plywood flat bed in place. The only real problem I’ve had has been with the drive wheel. Last night the small chain broke due to the wheel not being properly secured. The small chain pulled the Sturmey Archer cog from it’s seat. The drop out space is quite large, so I added a larger washer. Also, the frame twists quite a bit. The vintage car horn on the flat bed is going to be added under it. The battery that will power it will also power the lights. Two more items need to be found. A Sturmey Archer 3 speed shifter and some grips. One other problem has arisen. A terrible screech from the pedals. Something that I didn’t rebuild, yet.
