Royal Mile flagpoles - cont.

Fabrication is finished on the flagpoles for the Royal Mile. The painters' scaffolding wasn't up on Thursday, so installation is going to have to wait until next Thursday or Friday. The gloss black powder with fizz can sprayed gold finials turned out pretty sweet....I think.

Oxy-acetylene cart

I finished up my oxy-acetylene cart today. Heavy duty - this one's built to last.

Royal Mile flagpoles

Here's some fabrication pics of four flagpoles headed for the Royal Mile on 4th St. in downtown Des Moines. Hutch wanted a ball finial on each pole, so I sacrificed a few ornamental ball caps. The actual poles themselves are simply electrical EMT. It was chosen for being light, but still relatively strong and a modest galvanized finish to reduce the onset of oxidation. A few chain links were cut in half and welded to the poles as attachment clips for the flags. Another link was welded down by the bottom that will have a safety cable fished through it and then fastened to an additional fish-eye anchor on the exterior wall.

The flanges are 6" x 8" 1/4" mild steel with 1/2" holes spaced to be on center of the bricks' mortar joints. A hole was drilled into the tube that accepts the poles. A bolt and nut will then be run through the holes to keep the poles from coming out. There's really no such thing as over-engineering when fixtures all overhead of public right-of-way areas.

The poles are being shot gloss black powder with a fizz can painted gold finial. Install should happen in the next day.

Bike frame stool

Here is another repurposed use of a bike frame...this time, into a stool. After cutting off the seatstays and chainstays, the remainder of the frame was stood up on its seat tube. A 2" was inserted in the crank housing to stabilize the frame as it now stands. A cope was put on the handlebars and welded to the front of the head tube while an upholstered seat is suspended between the bars. At the request of the client, a footrest was created using a discarded seatpost. Designed by Dan Koenig of Ichi Bike.

To check this, and all of the other bike sculpture done by Factor II Fabrication, out in person, head down to Ichi Bike in the East Village of Des Moines on October 16 for their big grand opening in the much-needed bigger space. 311 East Walnut St. right next to Subsect Skateshop.

Randomness and poor grammar

So, I received the following email today. Somehow, my spam folder didn't catch it. I ALMOST believed it had it not been for the poor grammar and misconstrued syntax....yeah, almost.

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Hellickson Residence planters w/ flowers

Floral decor by Susan Hellickson.

Ichi Bike - women's clothing rack

This is the second clothing rack for Ichi Bike's new location in Des Moines' East Village. This one was built out of two Schwinn women's cruisers. I like the fact that these are staying their original paint. The factory names and misc. stickers are just cool the way they are. I'll post pics of them once they are mounted and displaying some goods.

Ichi Bike - clothing racks

The point of view is a little skewed here. I tried taking a pic from right over the rack on ladder and this was the best vantage point I could get.
If a bike could be a Transformer, this is what it would turn into - a clothing rack. Well, at least in the mind of Ichi Bike owner Dan Koenig's. This utilized the entire framework of a men's Schwinn. The seat stays and chain stays were cut from the rest of the frame and refashioned to become gussets. The forks were turned upside-down and now rest in the crank housing to hold a spotlight. The rest of the frame will be used to hang t-shirts from. This being a men's bike, it only seems fitting that it will display men's clothing. Tomorrow, I'll finish work up on the women's display. The gals get two frames though. That one is going to be really sharp since both frames are identical Schwinns. If Dan's ready for installation tomorrow, we'll do that too.



A sprocket becomes a wall flange. I wanted to use sprockets on the top as well, but Dan insisted on galvanized plumbing flanges.

Bombay Bicycle Club - billiard chandelier installation

Earlier today, I finished the fabrication on the Bombay Bicycle Club bike chandeliers. Since the frames were going to stay their original paint jobs, it was going to be a snappy installation. I dropped the frames off with Jeremy this afternoon and came back this evening to find them fully functioning...killer!

A big thanks to everybody who donated the frames. An extra special thanks to Dan Koenig at Ichi Bike for the numerous frames and chains. I'm finishing up a job for Dan this week that will be installed in Ichi Bike's new location in Des Moines' East Village on Walnut right next to Subsect Skateshop. Last, but certainly not least, thanks Gus, Jeremy and Mike for allowing me to do something cool and original for ya'll's new tavern.

Here's to the "cherry on top."

Punk rocker

Shocker sends a photo of his album shelving his wife commissioned me to build for him for his birthday. Looks like you need to hit a record show or two there fella...

Bombay Bicycle Club - light fixtures for the chandeliers

Hellickson Residence - planters installation

I'm quite pleased with how the planters turned out for Jason and Susan. The biggest challenge with this project was building the boxes in halves while making them seem as seamless as possible. (See previous posts for details.) J.J. at Miller's Custom Powder Coating did a terrific job laying down the "statuary" color. Planters were constructed out of 11 ga. mild steel, 1" sq. tubing and 1.5" sq. tubing - 30" x 30" x 15" tall.

There's a few more projects coming up for the Hellickson Residence...stay tuned.

Bombay Bicycle Club - billiard chandelier completed fabrication

The pile of booty before fabrication...

This was the second frame composed mainly of women's cruisers...



This is the last of three frames to be fabricated. A couple of men's mountain bikes, a 10-speed and a woman's mountain bike. Some ghastly ugly ones.




What a terrible name for a bicycle. I have a hunch about the history of this bike. Judging by the color scheme, I'm guessing this was sold at a Wal-Mart store in the early '90s. The kid that rode it sported a Detroit Lions Starter jacket during the cold months and Hypercolor t-shirts and stone-washed jeans when it warmed up. Oh, and those jeans? They were tight-rolled. He was one of the last to let go of that fad. His mix-tape was a soundtrack of who's who of early '90s Top 40. "Whoop, There It Is" definitely made the list. As did the Proclaimers, EMF and Jesus Jones. Did I hear some Bel Biv Devoe in there? Damn skippy, I did.
You know, for all the shit the '80s gets for its over-indulgence and hideous fashion, the hangover that was the early '90s trumps it. Silk shirts. 4 Non Blondes. Polos. Garth Brooks. Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I don't miss the mediocrity that was the '90s at all. And the "Fugitive" here, well, it represents all that was lame about that decade. I pray there's no nostalgic reprise of any of this.

Bombay Bicycle Club - billiard chandeliers

Here's a fun little project I need to finish this week. I'm a little behind on this time-wise, but I have a legitimate reason - see the previous post. The newly opened Bombay Bicycle Club, 8410 Hickman Rd., is where these billiard lights will be heading. Co-owners Gus Ramirez and Jeremy Mahler asked me to fabricate frames and forks only into a square fixture suspended over the tables by the bikes' chains. I'm still looking for some shades to direct some of the light, but may end up fabricating those with some 22 ga. steel myself.

This is the first of three chandeliers to be built. Crusiers, BMX, mountain, 10-speed - there's a little bit of everything going into these. I thought I had enough bikes, but was one short of the required dozen. So, today I headed over to my folks' place and grabbed my childhood two-wheeler - the chrome Murray. It was the perfect size in relation to the rest of these smaller frames, so I made the sacrifice. At least I'll know where it'll always be.

*BTW*...Lest you think there's no "cool" place in West Des Moines - where people have their cake AND eat it too - I ask you to visit BBC. With Gus involved, the place definitely has a vibe and subtle look to it reminiscent of Hairy Marys...

Thanks to all those who answered the call for bikes on Facebook. A big thanks to Ichi Bike's owner, Dan Koenig for the numerous donations to the cause.

Strummer Douglas Boone - 9.13.10

Last week, my wife and I welcomed our first child into our lives. Strummer Douglas Boone was born 9.13.10 at 10:23 am weighing in at 7 lbs. 7 oz. and 20" long. He is, without a doubt, our greatest creation.

Hellickson Residence planters - part II

Here's the progression of the Hellickson's planters. They're all finished and awaiting powder on Monday. They're gonna be shot a color by the name of "statuary" by Miller's Custom Powder Coating. Installation pics by mid-week.

Hellickson Residence planters

Here's a couple of planters I'm in the process of fabricating for the Hellickson Residence here in Des Moines. The obstacle in this job was the column right in the middle of planters. Thus, they have to be built in halves and assembled after powder coating. Initially, I was going to build the planters and saw them in half through the center and then build some kind of fasteners to reattach them. I never really liked that notion and then the idea of attaching in the corners hit me.

I'll drill a couple of holes in the angle iron for some 1/4" x 20 bolts to fit through and fasten to the 11 ga. 1" sq. tubing that has been tapped. The top edging of each planter will have 1" sq. tubing around the perimeter to match an existing piece on their patio. Each planter will sit 1 1/2" off of the ground with an expanded steel bottom to allow for water dispersement.

Overall dimensions: 30" x 30" x 14 3/4"...11 ga. mild steel.

Happy Birthday, Shocker

This table was commissioned by Lindsey Schacherer for her husband's birthday.

1" sq. tubing, 5/4 reclaimed barn wood and gloss black powder coat finish on the steel. We estimate the 5' shelving unit is large enough to accommodate almost 600 pieces of vinyl. Get to work, Rob Gordon.