BIKE RACK EXPERIMENT

Just finished in the studio, checking out the Evening Standard nice article on design week and a photo of TickTock, result.

A few photos of the racks and how the bikes could attach [needs some refining] but working. I will have to add some more hoops to lock the bike frame to, still need to work on heights of rack in the photos - is not in the right place on Bowsers body. 

ITS ALIVE!

Standing at 9 ft 2 inches.

Thank you guys for helping me to lift Bowsers body onto his legs. I am so happy with the result, when his arms went on i wanted to hug him [hes very hugable and leaves you with nice rust marks on any thing your wearing]. 

It was good news to hear from the engineer, he said we should have no problems with the size of the base and should be quiet safe. I would like him to come and have a look before we take him to the site where he will be for Clerkenwell Design Week, as that could be a nightmare if i need to change anything. He is currently stood on just his to legs with no base and seems quiet stable. I am almost finished with the grinding of paint, and have a design for the racks sorted in my head but will have to wait for the steel sheet and bar to arrive before i can start on the base.

Am back to work tomorow so i only have one week of evenings and next weekend to finish him. keep tuned in...

ITS ALIVE!!!

BOWSER UPDATE 6

Joe Rush  of the Mutoid Waste Company once told me to keep things small, i am begining to see what he meant! I have had a good day and the weather has let me weld in the yard all day [Bowser is to big to fit outside] so i have been finishing the arms and legs outside. The welding apron out of my delivery bike basket has come in very handy in saving a new set of overals, talking to my brother Benj who works for Shell says his team of welders work with 47 inch tubing, thats a different league! I managed to cut the access panel and drill arm holes in the 2nd side. It's great that the metal sheet inside the bowser that used to stop tank slap is in the most perfect place to strengthen the arms so there is no need for aditional support. Thank you Gringe for helping me aline the butt joints for the arms and getting stuck into the last large chunk of paint removal i o u one! I will be drilling holes for the legs tommorow and will then attempt to jack the body up on our bbq which quite luckily i  haven't cemented together yet. I have a few people over to help me with this so may not have time for an update, wish us luck! Included is a nice arty shot i like from the Gringe, thanks again and i hope you and Sofie enjoy your trip. I think i have solved the problem with the racks and we are back to the original design, just waiting to hear from the engineer about what size base he suggests.

BOWSER UPDATE 5

Have not got as much done as i wanted today, got the back detail finished, would like to add some more but we will have to see how much time i have left nearer installation. The new welding magnets work great they make things much simpler when tacking parts on the body. Spoke to the nice chap who will machine a block of aluminium with the Clerkenwell Design Festival-Mechanical Alchemist logos, found out he needs the design in a DXF file?? computers. Got the holes for one arm  finished [step drills save time] need to get all the bolts for the arms and legs tomorrow. The rusting has gone well and  blended with previously finished parts.

Included is a sketch of how the bike racks would be easier to use for youngsters and bikes of any size, but have been reminded that this design could take up to much pavement [back to the drawing board]. After many interruptions i called it a day and will be doing more research on the upright rack design.

BOWSER UPDATE 4

Another industrious day in the pig pen!

It's awesome to have a whole week to spend in the studio, I'm learning more about how I make things, it's hard to design them to the last detail and I find myself constantly changing the design to work with the materials and the impracticality of the situation. I'm not sure how I'm going to jig him about to fix the legs on yet..

£300 later and the new welder's running perfectly, it's about the size of a small shoebox and means I can weld TIG in the future too!

I would' ve put pupils in the middle of the eyes, but I've made them a bit more friendly pointing down to look at people when he's perched up on his final pedestal.

I've thought about washers behind the eye bolts, but this affect how a coach bolt works, so I'm happy with the end result on them bad boys.

I will be replacing the perpsex with thicker perspex after Fatman smashed it right up during testing.

Included is a photo of the beginning of the rusting process, tomorrow we can see how the process develops.

There's a temporary welding table made from one of his chunky old legs below, with the upper part of an arm aligned and ready for welding. 

I think i'll have to run a big bolt through the middle of the robot and add some bracing to stop his arms collapsing in, as they are going to be mega heavy.

I got shook right up by my idiot housemate Lambchops this afternoon when he banged on the garage door shouting 'Police', I thought I was gonna get done for noise pollution and breach of the peace!

Scumbag, I'll get him back..

Matt from work came over to get me to braze a cracked bike frame last night and fellow bike nut, Greg Beer, dropped over to interrupt me again this evening and get some tattoo stencil papers for his girlfriend, Bek, then I was back to the grind welding his arms together (hopefully straight!) before finishing up for the night, ordering a chinese and settling down for Shameless on the sofa. 

Nice.

BOWSER UPDATE 3

Great to see the delivery of pipe turn up this morning, its a shame they couldn't help us with some shorter lengths. Thank you Muttonchops and aging rockstar for assiting me with cutting the 6m lengths in half. We had to do the cutting out on the pavement just so we could get them in the studio and out the other side giving us some space to move [heavy work]. I have now started to cut it into body parts and weld on flanges after a possible rethink of the way the bikes attach, then just to blow my welder up, it was very old anyway. I will have to go and buy a new welder tommorow [not cheap but found a nice arc/tig set] was running low on rods anyway. Finding it hard to decide how i will finish the eyes, ali spockets and small pistons or steel pipe outers and larger pistons? photos tommorrow, while faffing about i realised how much dust i have been busy creating, time for a clean up!

BOWSER UPDATE 2

I have started applying the rusting agent to finished parts of Bowser, the teeth are fully fabricated and i have been drilling all the holes for the riveting, then removing the access panels for the eye and arm attachment. The pipe and fittings should be delivered tomorrow and i plan to remove all the recycled bike racks from their original mounts, I need to do some more working out of heights and fixings for the bikes and then we will be getting there!

BOWSER UPDATE 1

A few photos of the clerkenwell Design Week commission, detailing to the front, top, back, and scrap ali teeth fabrication [shown before welding]. I am taking my holiday in the studio this year, so i will try to update my blog for the following week.

Clerkenwell Design Week Commission

A great opportunity to work on the largest Robot I have created.

It's great to be working on such a large scale although it is not without it's problems. A 250 gallon Bowser was delivered all the way from Liverpool (by a former wing commander), which arrived at our place in March. The bowser is going to be the main body for the Robot which will be made into a giant JNR and is expected to be 9ft in total height. This time the design incorporates a simple bike rack which will be installed around it's waist.

Working on such a large scale allows me to have many options for detail however I am still working to a deadline. The work is due to be installed on the last weekend in May. We have an engineer involved who has to sign of the piece at the beginning of the week and onsite.

To sign up for a free wristband register at www.clerkenwelldesignweek.com