Author Archives: Charles

Yeah… THAT Charles Collins…

Frankie and the Medallion

Frankie Flood‘s done it again. Check out this video of the making of the new UWM Chancellor‘s medallion. I’m pretty sure the last shot was from the day (morning) it was finally finished. This is really an amazing production and a great story. You can also read all of Frankie’s blog posts about the process.

Plastic Injection Molder – Part 3

I am finally getting back to work on the plastic injection molder. We recently moved offices at work and there was a fair bit of stuff headed to the trash. I grabbed a busted old VGA repeater/extender and gutted it. After a bit of cutting and drilling, and a quick shot with my trusty can

The Pirate Ship Collins

My son’s birthday has, since the 1st, been celebrated with a significant amount of effort and excitement. It happens to fall right at the end of the summer, right before school starts, and very near to Molly’s birthday. As a result we usually end up with a yard/house full of people. We have also ended

Wrecked Metals

Wrecked Metals from Josh Clason.

Pewter stool cast on the beach…

I am working on a number of other posts/projects, and I will post them soon. In the mean time, check this out… Pretty slick… Hexagonal Pewter Stool from Max Lamb.

Beats, Rhymes & Life

Thanks, Jemiah. I didn’t even know this was a thing!

Open a book

Just love this photo… Pinterest

30 Days of Creativity, Day 6: Ring Clamp

I’m posting this from the train to Chicago, from Milwaukee. I’m also posting it from my phone, so we’ll see how this goes. First, a disclaimer: if you don’t have a desire to make a ring clamp, but need one, just buy one. It took me three hours of messing around to get this one

30 Days of Creativity, Day 3: Annealing pan

Some of you know that I am slowly adding some metalworking capability to my little home workspace (Mike’s lent me his Sherline mill, Frankie dug up an old welding outfit, my dad supplied the bench grinder, etc.). As I save up for the items and services I’ll need to pay for, I’ve started to build

30 Days of Creativity, Day 2: Sweet Moleskine Cover

So, yesterday’s plan to etch some stuff didn’t really work out. The toner didn’t stick well, and so I never even got anything into the etchant. Today, however, I have. The original plan was/is to use a special paper that allows me to print my design, transfer it to the material to be etched, and