What I do in my spare time

[Bloodlust182]

Back story: I've always been one to work with my hands to build or create things. I played with legos as a kid so no wonder I got into working on cars. I have been acquiring many skills over the last 5 years which play into hobbies. Freshman year I took a "metals" class at my high school where I learned to weld with gas, arc, and mig, Sand cast aluminum, forge tools with an anvil, and use a brake to bend sheet metal. I absolutely loved that class and I was sad when there was not a "metals II", so I opted for woods 1 and 2 for my sophomore/junior year. We learned to use lathes, band saws, table saws, mortise cutters, planers, joiners, etc. It was a wonderful experience, and I was able to create some of the coolest projects with the best craftsmanship my teacher had ever seen (at least that's what he said).

Chess board:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll203/bloodlust182/20141004_132118_zpsvhbyw6g1.jpg (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/bloodlust182/media/20141004_132118_zpsvhbyw6g1.jpg.html)

Electric Bass:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll203/bloodlust182/20141004_132001_zpsib4kl3qj.jpg (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/bloodlust182/media/20141004_132001_zpsib4kl3qj.jpg.html)

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll203/bloodlust182/20141004_132008_zpsivsm4ezp.jpg (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/bloodlust182/media/20141004_132008_zpsivsm4ezp.jpg.html)

Fast forward to the end of Senior year, and I was looking for a new job because being a janitor was getting old. I managed to get a job at one of my mom's old client's business called "Applied Diamond Tools". We sell tools to cut, polish, and install granite, marble, or concrete anything. Here my boss gave me a lot of old equipment and pads for free to play with. I began to learn how to work with granite and marble and had some pretty good results.

After parting out 2 cars I had a plethora of old parts that were just sitting around. I initially made a lamp out of a cast crankshaft and TT flywheel which turned out amazing. Then I purchased a forged crank that supposedly needed a polish but was not the case, so I made another lamp but this time with a granite base. This is how it turned out :

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll203/bloodlust182/IMG_20140810_235923_zpsz69ghtrj.jpg (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/bloodlust182/media/IMG_20140810_235923_zpsz69ghtrj.jpg.html)

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll203/bloodlust182/20140403_211437_LLS_zpsb2sszzbh.jpg (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/bloodlust182/media/20140403_211437_LLS_zpsb2sszzbh.jpg.html)

Right now I am working on this:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll203/bloodlust182/IMG_20140922_220745_zpsjyondywz.jpg (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/bloodlust182/media/IMG_20140922_220745_zpsjyondywz.jpg.html)

[stealthify]

That's a pretty sweet idea. I remember the last time I had to go lamp shopping I was a little saddened by the options. This would definitely fit my lifestyle better. :)

Nice work!

[Bloodlust182]

Thanks! I was debating making a bunch of lamps and selling them at a car show around here. Im sure some enthusiasts would pay top dollar for stuff like this.

[Street_Chally73]

Looks good, man!

From a selling standpoint, I would try hiding the wiring through a small hole through the center & small pads on the base's corners so you can have the cord exit underneath. Then I would probably try powder-coating the crankshafts for durability..That way you could get colors like cast aluminum, black chrome, reflective chrome, etc. to brighten them up without the worry that they'll oxidize later on. ;)

[jbuhrman]

Seeing some of these threads and projects makes me wanna get into wood working alittle bit.