| From : |
Mark |
| Date : |
2003-07-17 01:33:54 |
| Subject : |
Flowery Test Stand |
Sune Posselt wrote :
>Sounds to me like you might want to ask someone else than Mark to write the part about safety (says the guy who is planning to put a pulse jet on his scooter) ;)
>
>/Sune
>
>
>Larry Cottrill wrote :
>
>>So, why don't you write me up a small article [with photos] about jam jar principles, equipment, construction, safety and some of your more amusing anecdotes?
Well right now, I am working on a very simple test stand made out of a common inexpensive store-bought metal saw horse with extendable legs. It folds up into a shape not much wider than a 2 X 4 board maybe 4 feet long with a handle for carrying, but it is heavy because it's metal. I have the legs fully extended and this particular one comes in yellow but the other day I saw them at Lowe's Hardware Store in orange. I bought mine several years ago. You could add your own color or mottling if you want to be creative, a spray of a certain color here and strips or dots there.
Anyway the thing looks like it has giraffe legs and it is becoming adorned with the various things I happen to think of. In a way, it is turning into a piece of art. I will photograph it for you, I'm sure you will find it humorous and simplistic, yet I have worked hard for the half dozen pieces that have gone on it so far, design is half the fun. I will explain all the functions and features, it comes to mind Larry that your arrows and skirts you drew on my last valve might be as delightful here. Most things are made out of scrap parts or pieces I have laying around in my garage. I've had to dig through old dusty boxes and drawers for the right screw or something that might work for what I want. If I can't find it, I work on some other feature.
I have to say making something out of a common saw horse has been one of the most motivating things I have done lately. A certain creativity comes about, like being a kid experiencing the woods, the snakes, turtles, lizards, ponds, blue and green dragonflies alighting, frogs hopping, the swirl of a fishes tail and other things you come across, wondering what will occur to you next, for the time being you are absolutely free to dream of what might be, what interesting shapes the clouds take on in your mind, how time stands still; all is racing/taken in at once.
And most of the things I have made can be duplicated without elaborate equipment or apparatus.
I mean this isn't fine art, but it is more than meets the eye, if you build something like this, for me it congeals all the little things I dreaded doing into one place ready to go and work for me. And it's a pleasant greeting to have not to bend or squat down and hook things up all the time. I hope you might feel inspired how it has evolved out of nothing, taking advantage of certain shapes and what simple ideas coalesce into, muse at its nimble long legs and pretensive kitsch, yet its form follows function.
Mark |
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Flowery Test Stand
( 2003-07-17 01:33:54)