Home-made shadow box or memory box for Box Assemblage Art

Box Assemblage in its original expression is an artistic grouping of two and/or three dimensional collage made up of found objects placed within the confines of a box.  Often the box and its objects contain a specific narrative, pay homage to an idea or person, or pictorially represent a memory.  The most famous of the Box Assemblage artists was the New Yorker, Joseph Cornell (1903-1972), who created 'worlds within boxes', initially just to entertain both himself and his brother. Using pallet wood and discarded window glass to create the box within which to assemble the objects, seemed to us a great way to continue the theme of reuse, repurposing and recuperation, which lies at the very heart of the genre.

This like many of our projects is a joint adventure in which Sue and I pool our resources, this time to create an assemblage box for a gift. We've made several of these for our own house too, in particular the alternative to the bathroom cabinet  and the rather whimsical triptych on our rural seaside life.

We store up ideas in cardboard boxes, for use later - usually in Winter, when we actually live in the house rather than the garden and/or workshops! Below is an idea with the working title Our Bird Box, which will feature some of Sue's collection of cock's eggs and moulted feathers she has collected over the years.

If you are interested in the roots of Box Assemblage and the life and work of Joseph Cornell there is a great documentary Worlds in a Box narrated by the late Tony Curtis, himself an aficionado and artist of the genre.  You can find it on Youtube.

A word about using old glass

In our box design we incorporated glass from windows we source from a local joiner. Much of this collection has been used to glaze our house and make greenhouses. In the older windows, the glass contains imperfections of manufacture, ripples and bubbles, features which only add to its appeal for use in artistic projects. This does however, make it more difficult to cut, so in the true spirit of Box Assemblage, the size of the glass dictates the size of the box and thus creates the restrictions of the 'world' in which to assemble the found objects. Assemblages are often on-going projects, so starting with the glass and then slowly building up a collection can make for an organic process and a very satisfying final effect. Similarly, we incorporated a hinged lid, which could allow for opening and adding to the project.

Preparation of the planks

Select planks of the same thickness, which are the best looking and the least damaged.  For the back of the box we used some tongue and groove, which had been thrown out at one of our neighbouring DIY stores but pallet wood would be fine. Some of the pallet wood I had selected for its appearance was warped, which is quite a common occurrence with pallets.

I started by planing the upper and lower faces of the pallet wood plank. Once I had the smooth planed face of the wood, I could then proceed to deal with the warped edges.

I attached a straight edge to the planks and ran them through my home-made router table. The straight edge ran along a guide after which I could then remove the straight edge, turn the plank over and use the new straight edge of the plank against the guide to repeat the process on the other edge.

Construction of the lid

I removed the glass from the window and cleaned the putty from the edges with a sharp knife.

On measuring the glass thickness, I found that my circular saw would cut a groove of adequate width to fit. I then cut the groove in two of the planed planks and then cut strips from them to make framing material.

 
The sawn edge of the grooved strips was 'cleaned' using the router.

The strips were cut to length to fit the glass and I decided to have mitred (picture frame) corners, so I used my home-made hand sander to tidy up the cut ends.

The frame was glued together around the glass and I used a frame clamp to hold everything together whilst it dried.

Assembling the box and the box assemblage

The walls were assembled using butt joints, glued and nailed. The rear face of tongue and groove was stapled in place thus reinforcing and stiffening the structure.

For the box assemblage we used found objects, plus I fabricated certain others from scrap metal, pallet and fruit-crate wood and bamboo and Sue also made items in modelling clay, which she painted with ecological paints and water colours. The assemblage was then first planned and then finally glued with hot melt onto the back wall of the box, which had firstly been lined with selected papers and sheet music. The whole idea was to  create an amusing, eclectic composition with a dash of surrealism.

As you will no doubt have guessed the box was made for someone who is a hunter-gatherer and who has also been an artisan baker with a prize recipe for a traditional  regional dish. He is also a fellow devotee of pallet repurposing!

I fitted two recuperated hinges and a catch fashioned from a piece of wood and the box was ready for its lid.







 


And now, if you'd like to, sit back and watch the film:

Thanks for dropping by and feel free to comment and/or share this article. Hope to see you next time. Cheers, Andy

© Andy Colley 2014

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Home-made Tools - Hand-powered Sander - Precision Picture Frames

There is a preamble to this blog post which discusses the use of bicycles as upcycling material - a link to it can be found at the bottom of this article. It will also take you to a copy of the film: Home-made Tools - Hand-powered Sander.

 A whole pile of architectural drawings, patiently awaiting frames

Introduction

From time to time I need to cut mitred corners for picture frames. This is something I find impossible to do free hand - if I'm following my 45° line I invariably do not keep the saw cut square to the upper face of the wood. I have a mitre block to aid me in this operation but I never seem to obtain beautifully butting joints. I've seen mitre saws for sale but I dissuade myself from purchasing one as I keep thinking of how little I'd use it. So, when I found myself with the task of making frames, I thought about rough cutting the corner and then achieving the final satisfactory joint by sanding the face to the prescribed finished angle. I knew of powered disc sanders which could tidy up my cutting but I wanted something that would: 1) be difficult for me to 'over do' the sanding operation, 2) be accurate and 3) be cheap.

This led me to think:-

The Final Design

1) a hand-powered machine with 

2) a support table at 90° to the vertical face of the sanding disc and guides attached to this table at the mitre angle of 45° and 

3) to make it myself out of recuperated materials.

Design

My first idea was to mount a disc, with the sheet of abrasive glued to it, to a wheel spindle from a bicycle front wheel. The hub in which the spindle ran was to be fixed to a support. Attaching a crank-handle to the free end of the spindle would enable it to be turned by hand.

The first idea worked up to a point but highlighted a crucial error, it was impossible to mount the sanding disc to the shaft such that there was no wobble (I call it nutation in the film but that is not correct). This was a consequence of attaching a 230mm diameter disc to the hub face of about 40mm diameter.

Developing the design further I decided on using a more robust arrangement for supporting the disc, that is, using the crank assembly of a bicycle and attaching the sanding disc to the face of the pedal crank.

Most of my projects involve the use of untreated pallet wood. Sometimes on my pallet collecting 'runs' I find a pallet with a chipboard top. Now, I do not like this material because of the toxic bonding agents used in its fabrication, nevertheless, being manmade it normally has the property of being flat and the surfaces are relatively smooth. So, provided that the pallet has not been exposed to rain, or excessive loading, a chipboard pallet-top can be used for making the sanding discs.

Fabrication

Ready for deburring

The first thing I did was cut the mechanism (with the pedals still attached) and the lower part of the frame away from the rest of the bicycle. The two horizontal arms that go to support the rear wheel I kept with the mechanism so as to furnish a means of attachment to the sander support. These two arms are at 90° to the vertical face of the chain wheel. The larger diameter downtubes of the frame were cut close to the bottom bracket. After cutting, all the exposed edges were deburred.

The crank levers connecting the pedals to the spindle were then cut, Iusing a grinding disc. 

Crank wheel with crank removed

The lever on the crank wheel side was cut close to the cotter pin, the other was cut longer, as this was to be where the turning handle was to be attached. As I had decided to mount the sander mechanism onto a small wooden pallet, the handle length had to be shorter than the height of the pallet top from its base.

From pedal to handle

At the free end of the shortened lever I attached a wooden handle to enable the crank to be turned by hand.





The mechanism was then screwed to a small wooden pallet, ensuring that the turning handle was not obstructed. Onto this pallet I also attached a worktop of chipboard with a plastic surface (again recuperated from a pallet). 

I had to have two chipboard discs on this sander. The chipboard sheet from which these discs were cut was checked for flatness by using the flat edge of a try-square, although the edge of a steel rule would work as well. 

Once cut from the sheet, both discs' edges were 'cleaned-up' using a router. 


I have received a few comments on the film regarding my use of power tools to produce a hand-powered machine. I do this because filming a project as it progresses, takes at least 4 times longer than if I was just making it and the power tools allow me to finish the projects in my own lifetime. Nevertheless, most of my projects can be undertaken solely with the use of hand tools. As a case in point instead of machine cutting a circular disc, it is possible to cut an octagon using a hand saw and having the same diameter, this would work just as well. As our plans for the future are to be completely off the grid, I intend to reduce the use of power tools but whilst I still have mains power I shall continue to use them.
 

The disc which was to be attached to the face of the crank wheel had a clearance hole cut in its centre to fit over the portion of the crank lever that remained. There already existed 3 holes in the crank wheel that I believed would be suitable for the mounting screws but, finally I drilled three more holes on the perimeter of the crank wheel to ensure the disc ran 'true'.  

The second disc was fixed to the 'crank wheel disc' with 3 screws. Prior to the second disc being fitted I used a PVA glue to adhere a sheet of sandpaper to its outer face. The size of the sandpaper sheet set the maximum diameter for the disc  i.e. 230mm. 

Depending on the thickness of the chipboard it may be necessary to provide a clearance for any portion of the crank lever that protrudes above the outside face of the crank wheel disc. In my case it merely meant cutting a 5mm-deep recess in the centre of the discs' rear-facing surface.
 




I attached two guides on the worktop set at an angle of 45° to the sanding disc face. 

  






Two guides were necessary so that the mitre face at each end of the frame piece could be sanded by the disc moving downwards. 

Thus the sanding disc would rotate clockwise to sand one end and anti-clockwise for the other. If the workpiece were sanded with the disc moving upwards it would 'chatter' and be less precise


Left: Sanding disc rotating anti-clockwise.

Does it work?

 

The results were completely satisfactory. The finished mitre made a perfect corner for the frame

The film and a run down on bicycle upcycling can be found here

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to share this article, comment and/or ask questions and if you'd like to be assured of getting the next post, then sign up to follow this blog.

Cheers Andy

© Andy Colley 2014 

RETURN TO GREEN LEVER CONTENTS PAGE FOR MORE ARTICLES 

 

Home-made tools from dead bicycles - Hand-powered Sander Part 1

The hand-powered sander, made with the chain wheel and lower frame of an upcycled bicycle.

Introduction

This blog post and the following one cover one of my most viewed projects to date, currently standing at over 4.75 million views. I must confess to being rather taken aback by this, as the project shared the design and construction of a specific tool, which I made to produce quality mitred corners for picture framing. This is not exactly something I would expect to engender a great deal of interest on Youtube. However, the film has attracted a good proportion of bicycle enthusiasts, some of whom have been 'horrified' and often downright rude, in a wide variety of languages, as to why I have upcycled bike parts to create something they see as .... pointless. I thought therefore, before I published the 'blog proper', I'd just by way of this preamble, explain my choice of materials.  I have already done this on the film to various individuals but I thought setting it out here might avoid further confusion.

Apropos the comments I have received on the film

 

It has become increasing clear that we live not only in a throw-away society but one in which an ever increasing obsolescence is factored into manufactured goods. This is even more evident, when you live, as we do, in a area which has a shifting population. Tourist towns can push out a great deal of low-end and badly engineered goods, dependent on the fact they will be used for a very short period of the year. On the one occasion when we actually bought and subsequently returned one of these items, we were openly informed of the fact by the vendor. 

          After the 14th of July there will be standing room only on this beach!

The village in which Sue and I live is slap bang in the middle of a popular French holiday area. Many of the houses are second homes and the dunes and coastal areas are dotted with static caravan sites and individual holiday cabins. In the summer the population increases by at least 1500%! Many of these visitors come for all the holiday periods but it is the long Summer vacation, which gives them the time to tidy their properties and sort through their possessions. Thus from July to the end of September there is a steady stream of these folks taking car loads of 'rubbish' to the dump. This is in the main, plastic garden furniture (often left outside over the winter), 'cheap' electrical goods with built-in obsolescence, ephemeral, thus suited to one season's use and bicycles. These latter are disposed of, not only because they have ceased to function but often because they are children's bicycles and the children have now outgrown them. They are budget machines made and sold cheaply, again specifically for the use of the temporary vacationing population. These machines are often ridden along the beach or even in the water, are rusty, no longer shiny and pristine, unloved and hence unridable. Some are badly damaged and broken beyond repair. 

   Victims of neglect left (dumped) by the paper and glass recycling
   containers, now awaiting repair or upcycling.

From time to time you can be lucky and find a really good quality bike that, though damaged and/or already cannibalised for the parts, usually the gearing system, can be repaired and reused. Normally however, the majority of dumped bikes are just good for the individual parts, which can be recycled or rather upcycled into something useful. Before I took the pieces I needed for this project from the bike below, it had already been used to repair another better quality machine and had had some of its metal spokes used to repair a friend's fishing gear. I still have this particular bike's remains and have most of the bits already planned for future projects. To the people who comment on my films about the bike, know this, I would rather it ended up being of use as individual parts rather than finish as a crushed piece of amorphous scrap or worse, chucked into the earth as landfill. 

On the left is the bicycle in question, a low-end 'sports' girl's model. The brake levers and brakes have already been used by a neighbour to mend his grand-daughter's bike.

The seat, pedals, handle bars and handle bar grips are of inferior quality. However, the moving components, such as the wheels and crank set are manufactured to a high standard far above that expected from the general appearance of the bike. This is because over decades the manufacturing process has been refined to produce the components to the precision required which defies cheapening  The paradox being that wheels will always run silent and true whether on a low or high end model, in itself a feat of Engineering!

On the right is the bike Sue spotted as it was about to go in the skip (dumpster), the owner obligingly admitted he had already cannibalised the Shimano gears. However, having just taken it for a spin up and down the lane, I reckon it's a great little machine in its present state for a trip to the shops and back.

Why 'dead' bicycles can be upcycled

The success of this machine as a form of transport lies heavily on its robustness. The moving parts of the bike can function hour after hour with very little maintenance. If you ever get a chance to lift a bike's front wheel off the ground and spin it you can appreciate the smoothness of the wheel's rotation. 

I always find this amazing when you look at how small the hub (where the wheel spindle goes through) is, in relation to the rest of the machine. Even more impressive when you also factor in the increase in load that occurs when the rider is upon it. The efficiency with which bicycles are manufactured means that these beautifully smooth-running components are produced to a high standard even in the low-priced machines. Thus the bicycles that fall victim to being outgrown, out of style or discarded through redundancy very rarely are chronically knackered but have materials and components that may still be usable with a little bit of ingenuity. Mostly people just enjoy cycling without giving a thought to the superb engineering design and manufacture which goes into individual parts.

In Conclusion 

I'd like to thank everyone for taking the time to watch this film. I hope the above has explained why I regard the bicycle as such a valuable resource, not just for transport and how, that even at the eleventh hour, it can and should be snatched back from the jaws of the ignominious crushing machine. It might also be of interest for people to know that the retired but often very skilled populations who live by the sea can and do supplement their pensions by repairing dumped goods and selling them on at car boots throughout the Summer season. It is ironic that without the cynicism of built-in obsolescence and the spend-dump-spend holiday spirit of those on vacation, my neighbours would be a little poorer and I still wouldn't be able to get those pristine mitre joints for our picture frames.

Now if you'd like to, sit back and watch the film



To continue to the detailed break-down of this project follow this link

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to share this article, comment and/or ask questions and if you'd like to be assured of getting the next post, then sign up to follow this blog.

All the best, Andy

© Andy Colley 2014

RETURN TO GREEN LEVER CONTENTS PAGE FOR MORE ARTICLES