Rustic Fence for "The Winter's Tale"

This is a fence I built for our Spring production of Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale." The texture and paint treatment were done by the scenic charge. The fence was constructed from 1x SPF and 2x4. To enhance the stressed, weathered look, I went over each edge of each piece of the fence with a pull blade.



The gate in action with Autolycus being a creep.



Close-up of the stage-right side distressing.



Detail of the gate.

oh, toys..

Here are some toys that I made for Winter's Tale.

These were actually the first swords that I built. They ended up going through several rebuilds as they found that they were too big during rehearsal. It was okay because I got to keep the original two. Easy Christmas present for my 8 year old little brother!

First the bevels on the blade of the swords were ripped down on the band saw. The tip was then cut, and then the dowel joints were prepared. Only glue was used on to construct the piece.




The big glue up before the battle..



This is the final product that I'm giving my little brother.



Detail of the hilt.




The next piece was a lot of fun. I was asked to create a large, toy top. Luckily, it didn't need to spin but just look pretty.

First we prepared a piece of rough sawed poplar, cut it up, and glued it into a 12"x12"x12" cube. We then hand planed / attacked with the band saw the areas that became uneven during the gluing. The end result was nice.


We wanted to break it open for the coins inside, but the prop master said no.



Then it was time to turn. Here is a shot from the early stages.



Finishing up with the sanding and moments before the parting cut. Collin had to help with catching it...



The almost finished piece, with my keys for scale. It was huge! For the finished product a large knob was glued to the top, and a small knob was glued to the bottom to create the "spinning" point.

Playing Geppetto

So, I've been upgraded from Props Artisan to Toy Maker for Winter's Tale. I get to make some toys for the young prince. Gonna be some neat projects, like a cool wooden sword and a large spin top. It's about time I put in a cozy day with the lathe..

Witness Stand

Photos of the witness stand for our Spring production of "The Winter's Tale." The construction was fairly simple; The frame is all 2x with a 1/2" plywood piece for the floor. The upper frame is held together entirely by biscuit joints. Staples were used to fasten the ply and the mitered base frame.

knots and checking haunt my dreams... but I guess it goes along with the distressed finish, eh?


The stand has a 3'-0" x 3'-0" footprint and is about 3'-6" high.



The witness stand in action, with a grain treatment I prepared and applied.

Round End Tables

A combination of ply and steel, these tables were made for the U's recent production of "Undiscovered Country." (The one about rich white people, not Captain Kirk and Klingons.) I made three tables in total. I also planned and executed the paint treatment off of a photo sample provided by the designer.

The tops and bottoms are circles with beveled edges, turned on a jig on a band saw. The uprights are made out of 1/2" box tube steel. The band below the top is a 1/8" strap steel bent around the uprights.

Taken without flash.



With flash.


Close-up of the graining.



Detail shot of the beveled edge on the table tops.

spark!

Welding is a skill I picked up last year, and I love it. I've gotten to do quite a bit of steelwork since then, too. I am skilled in both MIG (GMAW) and Stick (MCAW). Here are a few samples of my steel work.

These are a number of steel railings from UMN University Theatre's Spring 2010 production of Shakespeare's "Love's Labor's Lost." There were straight rails, curved rails, stair rails, and the dreaded curved stair rail. The rails were made from 1" and 2" mechanical box tube with 1"x 1/4" steel strap decoration.









The next show in the season, "Execution of Justice," called for three, giant curved walls, and it was set to a friend and me to construct them. The arc of the center wall had a chord of length of nearly 40' - 0". The entire frame was welded out of 1" box tube. Curfing the steel to make the arc would take too much time, so we started by over-bending the box tube with an arc of jig blocks until the tube would bounce back to the desired arc. This was trial and error, but eventually we found the correct sized arc for the over-bending. Then we jigged a section of the wall out and began to churn out sections. In the pictures, the sections of the big wall have been welded together and the facing is being attached.

agh!! i'm so (di)stressed!!

Fun with distressing props. I painted a shiny new watering can to look (c)rusty and a white basket to look moldy.