My Ongoing Metamorphosis

Transformation is defined as a radical change or alteration in appearance, form, character or nature.  Everything I do is transformation.  I make things by altering the form of materials.  So, I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that I am also undergoing transformation.  Physical transformation is easy.  Well except for maybe weight loss.  But for me changing the form of things is second nature.  Changing thoughts, and ideas and approaches is work beyond my natural ability.  You know how I just said physical transformation is easy?  I lied.  By now I’m sure you are thinking “what the hell are you talking about and why?”  

Possibly the most frustrating thing about being human, besides other humans, is that just about the time we start to master our craft our bodies betray us.  Ask any athlete.  Just about the time they have mastered all the aspects of the game -- DING – times up.  

I think what this means for those of us lucky enough not to be athletes, is that after suffering through months of torturous physical therapy that followed some dang surgery, we get to figure out better ways to work that take less of a toll on our not so youngish bodies.  Jig time … or time to jig.  Or jig better.  Or jig more.  Or more better.  And in case you don’t know what a jig is, it’s either an Irish dance of some sort or a tool to do a specific task.  I made those definitions up.  Now for the official dictionary definition: and for this I decided to use the Oxford online dictionary http://oxforddictionaries.com/  instead of http://dictionary.reference.com/  Holy smokes…there is a third definition.   I am so very excited.  This is what it looks like….

Definition of jig

noun

• 1a lively dance with leaping movements.
• a piece of music for a jig, typically in compound time.

• 2a device that holds a piece of work and guides the tool operating on it.

• 3 Fishing a type of artificial bait that is jerked up and down through the water.

verb (jigs, jigging, jigged)

• 1 [no object] dance a jig: he stood up and jigged in the cockpit
• [with adverbial] move up and down with a quick jerky motion:we were jigging about in our seats

• 2 [with object] equip (a factory or workshop) with a jig or jigs: the floor space was jigged and tooled to produce six fuselages a month

• 3 [no object] fish with a jig:a man jigged for squid

Can you believe it?  A man jigged for squid.  I am so distracted from my pain now that I am ready to move up and down with a quick jerky motion.  I also like the bullet points.  And also…he stood up and jigged in the cockpit?  Who does that?  Never mind.  I need to get back to the point.  That is assuming I have one.  

Ok, so the transition to the abundant use of jigs or from pupa to butterfly, and here I have to say that my aversion to jigs ( not to mention pupa ) is probably due to the fact that I don’t do that many repeated operations plus jigs need to be stored and labeled.  That labeling thing will get me in trouble every time.  You have no idea how many times I have limped over to my storage heap and pulled out a jig and wondered what the heck it was for.  Only a couple times actually because, as I said, I don’t have that many jigs.  (Sadly, I keep typing jugs which really changes the meaning of these sentences.  Go ahead. Go back and reread inserting jugs where I typed jigs.  I’ll wait.)  

Ooookay, I hope you are able to better control yourself for the rest of this.  

I think in order to make this transition I need to stop thinking of jigs (there’s that jugs again) as needing to be perfect.  I think I need to start to accept their limitations while trying to overcome my own.  One of the operations that I do repeatedly and often is bending rings.  I think I need to find a way to give myself a mechanical advantage while doing this.  Up to now I usually just bend the rod around an arbor.  I do know that there are commercial ring benders out there.  I also know that since they are supposed to be universal ring benders, they don’t work well for thousands of rings.  They jam, break, and get bent when someone uses a pipe for extra leverage.  They mostly really stink.  And, oh, did I mention they cost too much for a small shop especially when they end up on the heap. 

So I go back to bending by hand which is totally jacking up my hands, elbows, shoulders and psyche. Plus some other stuff I'm sure. 

Now I need to find a better way and I am going to share that process with you.  I know…you are thrilled. 

Yeah, I have never been able to get these to work. 

This looks fantastic.

I really need to study this.

Yeah, I own this and I could bend 1000 rings in about 100 days.

These aren't my  pictures and that will undoubtedly get me in trouble but they are the starting point.  Lets see where we end up. If I end up with the perfect ring bending jig you can steal the idea and make one for yourself.  After all, you bend thousands of rings too right? 

Now to work.

Fish Tales and Pigtails

One of the hazards of working in a freelance format is that periodically, actually more often than I want to admit, I get sucked into a situation that requires tremendous amounts of time, effort and resources and ends up yielding nothing.  I willingly enter these productivity cul de sacs because I believe in dreams.  The dream is not the problem.  The problem always turns out to be the dreamer.  So, as you might have guessed, I was recently taken in by a dreamer who traffics in fish tales.  I haven’t developed the ability to recognize that I am standing on the tracks.  I consider this a personal failing but I doubt I will ever change.  As I said, I believe in dreams.  

Among the many things that define producers of anything, is an overwhelming desire to produce.  I know.  Once again I sound like a crank, but I know that I don’t care as much about what I am making as that I am making.  I am driven by the need to make.  I am told that this is not universal but that’s just another thing I find hard to believe.  Anyway, my problem with Mr. Fish Tale wasn’t that he spent all of his time vastly exaggerating everything.  I can deal with that.  I mean, really, all I do is automatically scale down his details during the listening process.  So his fantasy audience of 10,000 becomes the actual audience of 700 or so.  My problem with Sir Fish is that he doesn’t understand how to make.  He clearly confuses manipulating with making.  

Aaaahhh.  What was I thinking?  

The process of making anything is the same.  Yeah, don’t argue with me.  This is my theory and I’m sticking with it.  Whether you are making a cake or a space ship or a movie or a country, the process is the same.  Part A is the plan.  Don’t confuse this with the dream.  In cake world the dream is one of those seven tiered fondanty things with ears.   Or whatever.  The plan is the recipes and the schematic.  So far we have dream…plan…okay I should have recognized the problem.  I really need to work on paying better attention.  Sir Fish had a dream.  No plan. 

Aaaaaahhhhh.  What was I thinking?

Okay, back to the process.  Dream…plan...this is where it gets a little foggy, but I will call it resources.  But along with resources you need the will to complete.  ……which is different than the will to compete.  The resources in the seven tiered cake are the ingredients, the baker, the tools and the time.  The baker brings expertise.  This is huge.  Sir Fish Tale?  Let’s just say he lacked….resources….and will…did I mention expertise………….

Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh.  What was I thinking?

Dream…plan…resources…will…then hard work and presto …….. you got something.  

I snapped.  Not pretty.  Graceless actually and messy.  

And then …cue harps…I got an order for ……..

Fishtails

and.............

Pigtails

 So it was time to actually make some stuff.  Hardware all the way to the end.  Dream, plan, resources and it's time to have some fun.  The order was for a house full of drapery hardware made from square tube.  Poles, brackets, rings and wands.  The fishtails are the decoration on the brackets.  The pigtails are the handles for the wands.

bar in the forge

Fishtails are easy to make.  Basic.  Pigtails take a little more effort.

bar on the anvil

It takes a few steps to make the brackets.                       

several bends later

ready for the final blows

Cooling down

drawing the bar

For the pigtails the bar needs to be drawn first.

bent around mandrel

 And then the project was finished.

Brown finish on rings and brackets.

 Now back to work...........