Monday, April 19, 2010

Tribute To The 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass




Tribute to the 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme



This artistic represents the 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme with it 350 cubic inch cylinder displacement 238 horsepower road conquering engine. They are a thing of the past now, collectors’ items. It is unrealistic for me and most people to have a car collection of original scale. But maybe we can keep things like this. Mementos and keepsakes preserve our memory of the past. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst?


What you see in this representation are the hood louvers from our families 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme mounted to a sand textured black gloss background, meant to resemble the pavement or tar of a road or racetrack. I kept the extra set of Louvers; I had on hand, when I sold the car in 1991 for $350.00. That’s $1 a horse I got, for the twenty year old car. The Yellow paint on the outer edge the lines of a road. The Louvers centered in this, abstractly remind me of wings, a further reverence to an original American era. And indeed I believe there was a war plane named Cutlass, but I’ll leave that story to those patient enough for internet research.


I have many stories regarding this car, like how I let a trainee at the service station I worked for drive it to get us lunch and he couldn’t understand how it took off so fast from the stoplight. I had made some secret modifications. As you get older your more concerned with mileage per gallon.



The 1971 Cutlass lives on.



God Bless,


Thomas Paul Murphy


Copyright 2010 Thomas Paul Murphy

More Clocks



These pictures are part of the Clock Mechanisms Four Dollars Page




Clock Mechanisms Four Dollars



















Clock Mechanisms Four Dollars




Clock mechanism kits cost about three or four dollars from American Science and Surplus. They usually take one AA battery and when you combine them with a saw blade and paint you have the start of a nice project. The mechanism attaches to the blade through the whole in the center of it with one low profile brass nut.




The blades are cleaned scuffed, prepped with vinegar, primed, painted and clear sealed.




The yellow, black, green and white one abstractly represents the hot Wheels Racing cars of our youth.




This clock has glow paint made by Rustoleum. You can find it in a hardware store.




This Iron Cross 10” diameter blade clock has glow paint in the center and blue on the edges and the time is readily seen for awhile when the lights are turned out.




This one is about 5” in diameter and the numbers were meant to be created like a Salvador Dali font. To give accolades to his shifting and melting view of time picture. What did he mean by this? Is a matter of enlightenment.




This one was made from a recycled aluminum frying pan. I drilled this one with deming bits to abstractly resemble an expensive milled alloy automotive sport wheel rim.




The first one of these I made from the bottom of a metal coffee can (not shown). I cut it with Wiss aviation metal snips to resemble a disk and scuffed the plating off so that I could oxidize it to brown in some spots. I then sealed this in with clear coat to preserve the finish for life. I then gave the thing that resembled a land mine to a neighbor; I wasn’t the fondest of, who was moving away. Later he told me one of his sons really likes it, put it in his room, and stares at it forever. It is good to give gifts that people like.







God Bless,




Thomas Paul Murphy






Copyright 2010 Thomas Paul Murphy




Brief Case Secure




Brief Case Secure



The laptop briefcase came from Geeks.com. I think I paid about 15 dollars on sale. A hard shell like this is the only thing I would use to protect my intellectual property from damage. The problem was that I had so much intellectual property that the original single latch in the center would burst open. I usually pack it more than full. The original solution was to use military strapping and place joining fittings that snap together to form a safety belt the encompassed the entirety of both “Shells” of the case and hold it together when the latch burst. I always knew that this was only a temporary measure.


So when I had time recently I went down to my treasure chest of old odds and ends parts under my workbench and rummaged and rootled through until I found these two complete sets of window latches, that I salvaged when we had replacement energy efficient windows installed on our house. I cleaned these by using the lighter oil viscosity cleaning method, in this case vegetable oil as a degreaser. And polished them up. They actually have their patent number stamped on the bottom of them. Intrigued I did a quick patent search and found out that patent number 2151219 was issued in 1939 to inventor Sern, Madsen. The current assignee for it is Curtis Companies.


Here are the scatological instructions: Align latches to where will go, mark for holes, center punch to form a tip of the drill bit holding spot, drill, #2 square recessed head bolts from McFeelys.com, inside hole larger to accommodate nut diameter without deforming dual layer gapped aluminum construction, nylon locking nuts, reapply fabric over nuts on inside with rubber cement.


The half shells of this case have a layered seam and the addition of these latches makes for a SOLID case period. Now the trouble is I don’t want to put too much in it because I don’t want it to break at the lower hinge. The solution is to freely disseminate more information from it such as thisJ



God Bless,



Thomas Paul Murphy



Copyright 2010 Thomas Paul Murphy


Variable Height Constant Level Adjustable Level Speed Bag





Variable Height Constant Level Speed Bag Platform



This speed bag platform was cut by tangent fixed center lathe method from plywood.


The hinged and counterweighted mechanism I designed allows it to be lowered and raised via a hand cranked winch without changing it horizontally level plane.


The hinging structure is made from recycled angle iron from bed frames. I found some hardwood on Craigs list that was part of a dresser and snapped this up too.


Bed frame angle iron is the dog bone for the mechanically minded and enterprising man. An inventor must have his dog bone bed frame angle iron or he isn’t happy at all.


No matter what bad things might be said of boxing as a sport, the speed bag is by the best way to achieve hand eye coordination. Hand eye coordination is the key to success in a majority of sports.


When making new things strive to make them strong and durable. Focus on strength of design and materials. Balance also played a more central role in this design.



God Bless,



Thomas Paul Murphy



Copyright 2010 Thomas Paul Murphy


Garage Propeller Ceiling Fan





Garage Propeller Ceiling Fan


This ceiling fan was made from disparate pieces up. The motor was indeed a surplus ceiling fan motor purchased from Surplus.com for about 5 dollars.


The fan blades were cut from ¼” plywood and painted to look like the propeller of a Tiger Shark fighter plane. I used to like to build model planes when I was a boy.


The tips of the propeller glow in the dark. And when it spins it has a “Spencer’s” effect, they glow in the dark.


The fan blade holders were purchased at Menards and the motor housing carefully drilled and tapped with threads to accommodate the fan bladed holders.


It helps circulate the air in the garage on hot summer days and dry painted things quicker. As it is located above the workbench is disperses dust and fumes away from the head, to help make work go safer.



God Bless,



Thomas Paul Murphy



Copyright 2010 Thomas Paul Murphy



Watch Clock Fan





Watch Clock Fan



This old fan was refitted with a new motor of the appropriate RPM’s from SurplusCenter.com. It was around Halloween and the blades were painted black and orange. This also helps to judge its RPM’s to see how it is “doing”.


The top is a brake drum that gives it ballast making it look abstractly like a pocket watch. That is the effect I was going for pocket watch look and ballast.


They do not make these the same today with the strong metal fan blade and the protective metal cage, if they did they would be very expensive.



God Bless,



Thomas Paul Murphy



Copyright 2010 Thomas Paul Murphy


A PICTURE WINDOW PICTURE








Window Frames as Pictures Frames 04 18 2010



“A PICTURE WINDOW PICTURE”



If you upgrade to energy efficient windows you can take the old aluminum framed screens and windows and recycle them for the aluminum. You won’t get as much as a can because they have some lead content, maybe a third of the price per pound of a can. I didn’t know of the lead content when I made these, but am always careful when working with materials.



Or you can make picture frames like I did. A PICTURE WINDOW PICTURE? When you look at these it is as if you are looking out a window to your favorite place.



Here are the rough instructions how these are made.



1. Clean the surface of aluminum to remove aluminum oxide. Use cleaner, emery cloth, sandpapers, dish soap in an iterative process and wipe with vinegar to prep for painting.



2. Determine rough dimensions of frame. Remember that the part of the triangle that forms the corner on the end of a 45 degree miter must be added to the perimeter piece length so that the frame is not too small. Miter cut the ends if you want to you can prime and paint now. You can always touch up later.



3. Find some ¼” flat corner brackets made of metal or ask your local Ace Hardware store guy that repairs screens if he has any of the internal corner fasteners. I didn’t do this but it would make the process easier if you had a dedicating fitting. If you use the flat brackets the fitting isn’t easy, but nothing worth doing will ever be. Key holes can be drilled and thread tapped to fit set screws on the backsides of the corners. You may need to do some filing and metalworking to fit this together strongly, and once in tight dimensional form solidify the joints with glue, I use Eco Glue.



4. Sometimes you need to put the glass in first. Some hardware stores will cut it for you. Lowes cut my used old glass for me. I don’t know what they charged but I was also buying other pieces of new glass from them and having them cut to approximately 18” x 24” plus at least 3/16” or more on two perpendicular sides to allow so it doesn’t fall through the center of the frame. This is very tricky to fit right when making own frames. Sometimes with wood you just take a router with bearing bit to make the opening bigger sometimes you use a razor sharp chisel, etc. Tool choice is a matter of craftsmanship and sometimes it is fun to use the tool that is harder to work with.



5. Prime and paint.



6. Insert glass. Set in place with some nontoxic clear silicone sealant. I prefer “Brand” because it has the least smell.



7. Put your favorite picture in it and back by cardboard etc.



8. Telling you the fittings you need to make to hang this flush with the wall will be omitted. The part of securing this will be left up to you. As it will allow you to develop your own judgment as to what is strong and weak.





And there you have it, “A PICTURE WINDOW PICTURE”, the concept ought to provide much food for thought in terms of symbolism. Can we make our urban settings more natural, more relaxing and suitable for us as human beings? Okay you think of it the way you want.





A PICTURE WINDOW PICTURE by,



Thomas Paul Murphy









Copyright 2010 Thomas Paul Murphy

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Welcome to my Blogs. My name is Thomas Murphy and I love the forest and wildlife areas of Wisconsin and would like to share my thoughts and the pictures I have taken of the natural areas of Wisconsin. Come share in my collection of what I feel to some of the finest scenes and images of the forests, lakes, rivers and marshes that Wisconsin has to offer. I like to go to pristine and secluded areas where nature resides quietly and I feel the resulting “lost” images are profoundly unique. I am usually “in the moment” when I take these pictures. When I say in the moment I mean a sense of excitement often precedes what my eye captures through the camera. I never stage these shots but seem to be in the right place and time when I shoot them. And when I transfer them from my camera and view them on my computer screen I realize a sense of surrealism that resonates with me yet again to the time they were taken and exemplify the beauty of nature. Please peruse my sites and experience the beauty of being there as I did. WWW.ThomasMurphy.lifepics.com