Unbroken Chain (new stone sculpture)

Next came the hard part - hollowing out the middle of the chain.

I knew the chain element was gonna look funky in the end, but I held off making it more realistic-looking, as I really needed an unbroken artwork that I could display at my upcoming show. I'd rather have a salable abstract sculpture than fragments of a masterpiece.

Once I had proof-of-concept for the central link, I could work on the top and bottom links.

I punched a "third" hole through a top link, but remain nervous about adding a fourth, fifth, and sixth. The stone is 4-6 inches wide and I'm worried about structural issues.

The weather is not co-operating. We're having below freezing temps and progress has slowed.

I've been sanding in the meantime. I start off with 80 grit and sometimes work my way up to 2500 grit. With this piece I'll probably stop at 800.

So this piece is still "in progress" with a couple weeks left  to go. But this will give you some idea of where it's going.

In the mean time, I bought this vintage belt sander from the 1940s off Craigslist.

Way before plastic and instruction manuals --- and any safety considerations. I'm actually scared of this thing and don't knw if I'll ever use it.

I'm having trouble adjusting the tension on the top roller so the belt doesn't slide off -- it keeps moving right or left on me.

Since it spins at 3500 rpm, I can only adjust it when it's off --  which is tedious. And it's so temperamental. I have not gotten it to work correctly yet.

Anyone got any old fashioned tricks to keep a belt centered and on track? 

As mentioned, I need inventory and I had this 1/2 egg shaped piece of tangerine-colored alabaster around. Probably weighs around 25 lbs.

So I quickly carved a womanly figure on the open side. (I made sure she had boobs so it didn't look like a baby in a womb.) I'm going more for the Mother Nature imagery.

Rock Goddess:

side

back

Thanks much. Both pieces look much better in person and I've made some improvements to Chain since I took those photos.  Still a ways to go. I'm still so tempted to punch another hole in it, but as mentioned, drilling/carving a tennis ball sized hole in a 5 inch piece of rock takes more time than I might have. And it's getting a little too thin for comfort already for a piece of alabaster that's been stored outdoors for 10 + years. But it would look cool....

(Please pardon the typos in the post.. seems > seams, etc.  I hate to misspell in a post.)

Thanks again! 

Jerry and whomever else: The rollers on each end of this sander are raw metal. In later versions, the rollers are coated with rubber. Do you think it would be detrimental to wrap some duct tape around the rollers to provide a little "cushion" which might help prevent belt slippage? And since these rollers are really the only mechanical thing moving (besides the motor shaft and 4" x 36" sanding belt), I'm thinking it might prevent pieces of metal from potentially flying off the roller, as I notice there are tiny chips missing from the edge of one roller. Otherwise the rollers look solid and in decent shape.

I'm also wondering if I could rig a "dimmer switch" to the unit so I could maybe regulate the voltage and slow down the motor? 

And yes, I wear double eye protection when this thing is on. And a heavy winter jacket and leather work gloves. I'm a little paranoid around this machine. 

Ok you guys inspired me to punch a second hole in the top link.... very tricky with this alabaster,,,.  still a work in progress... the color will come out when I sand and wax and polish

Jerry, thanks for the info. As soon as I get finished with Unbroken Chain I will turn my attention to the belt sander.

Here"s the finicky adjustment knobs.

I feel like it's getting to be like a DIsco Stu thread....

>where will it be?<

After about 10 years of exhibiting at regional art galleries (Mid-Atlantic) and an annual fine arts & craft show or two, for the first time I purchased a booth at the Maryland Home and Garden and Crafts show this past Fall. I purposely got a location in the "higher dollar" Home and Garden section and not the Crafts section. I was between a roofing guy and a kitchen cabinet company. Surprisingly, I sold more stone sculptures there than at most any other event. (Including selling my one and only Grateful Dead-related piece, which was purchased for an event center/ restaurant /store in Maine by a guy who is on a tv show - Maine Cabin Masters -- who is also a Phish-head/Deadhead.) I didn't figure it would be an art crowd, but people were happy spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a single piece. I promote the fact that the customer can deal directly with the artist and skip the galley markup, with is typically 30 - 50%. So I signed up for the Spring show. We''ll see.

At an art gallery, you might have 50 - 100 people at an opening, and then sporadic attendance, for one or maybe two pieces. At a crafts show you might get a couple thousand people past your set-up, which can show about 20 pieces. This local Home and Garden show gets 10,000 + people past my booth. It's a matter of numbers who will stop, and out of them, who will shop. The "high" is turning people on to unique art and having them appreciate it. Hopefully appreciate it enough for them to want to buy it and take it home (actually I offer free local delivery). If I can make what I paid for the booth I'll be happy.

[Thanks for the feedback. Where else but he Zone can you get Dark Star Orch reviews and belt sander advice?]

Mike - it's gonna look cooler pretty soon. I mainly did this piece to show off the colors in this alabaster form Utah I think, which are naturally very swirly. The idea was to carve a shape that had a lot os different surfaces, in order to accentuate the psychedelic patterns. Hand carving a real free-moving, interlocking chain is one of the most challenging shapes to produce. But I'm going to stop with an almost real interlocking chain. I don't think the fragile stone will hold up for the ideal creation. The viewer's brain will have to fill in the rest. So far so good.

Due to time constraints, I'm calling this one done.

Unbroken Chain:

much appreciated. This is a hard one to take an accurate photo of. The swirls are quite psychedelic. I'd like to say the shape reflects low end sine waves, but that would be a fib.

If this piece doesn't sell at the upcoming show I think I'm gonna get real brave and punch thru the bottom link -- two more holes -- which makes me nervous due to structural reasons. I could just make a new an improved version now that I know what I'm doing, but that will have to wait. I need a break from working in the cold. I think I'll revisit the belt sander.

Yes a Mobius is on the list ---  I wish I had the perfect piece of marble to work with. I have to drive to Vermont to obtain it. I can try it with alabaster but the unexpected fractures make it a 50/50 proposition that it can be "hollowed out."

ha funny (funny to me, at least) -- the Unbroken Chain Phil sculpture measures 11" x11" x11".  Apropos because I listened to The Eleven when making it.

It weights 25 lbs - which means I took off at least 25 -30 lbs of material.

Gunk - If I want to make some more holes I will probably use a drill with a sandpapaer-covered cylinder bit so I can slowly and gradually sand a hole through the 4 to 5 remaining inches. It's too delicate to chisel or drill through. The question is will the remaining walls support the weight of the top portion?