More of Vic’s Creations
This is a box that appears to be bigger on the inside than on the outside! Animated patterns of light with 144 RGB LEDs make an interesting display. Find out how to make one!
Fretboard for
Pedal Steel Guitar
This is a lighted fretboard for the neck of my pedal steel guitar. I made it using a 3D printer for the black of the neck, the white edging, the clear covering over the stars, and the black cover over the electronics at the bottom. RGB (three color) LEDs light up the stars, and the frets via side-emitting fiber-optics.
River Coffee Table
Here is a coffee table I made out of black walnut for the top, maple for the legs, and blue glass for the water. I could not find a source for “live-edge” walnut, so I carved out the channel for the river by hand and machine tools.
The Seance
A dog and a cat are in a seance to determine "Who Will Be My New Owner". It is made of brass and copper. The "crystal ball" in the center is lit by LED lights, and is constantly changing through thousands of colors by use of a microcontroller (computer chip). This was auctioned for the North Bay Humane Society.
“Rolling With Friends”
"Rolling With Friends" is a tabletop Rolling Ball Sculpture. It is operated by hand: you pick up some marbles at the bottom, and drop them at the top. They alternate on two different tracks. When the dog is activated by a marble, he wags his tail and moves his right paw up and down. The cat turns his head back and forth when a marble arrives there.
YouTube Video
This was auctioned for the North Bay Humane Society. By now you may have noticed the "dog and cat" theme for these.
Animal Automaton
Animal Automaton. I made this for the benefit auction for the North Bay Humane Society. There is a hanging counterweight that powers it. It runs for about 30-40 minutes on a winding. It is based on "Galileo's Bicycle" by Clayton Boyer. Of course, I had to change it to make it more in tune with the Humane Society, and add some changes of my own. It is meant to mount on the wall, but here it is mounted on a lumber stand to present at the Humane Society's event.
“The Chase” Windmill
"The Chase" is a windmill. As it turns in the wind, the dog and cat chase around in a circle, with the cat going faster than the dog. It is made of brass and copper, and features ball bearings that allow very easy movement in the wind.
YouTube Video
It was created for the North Bay Humane Society, where it was auctioned during a fundraiser.
Castle Doghouse
I made this to be auctioned for the North Bay Humane Society, at their benefit dinner “Barkitechture”.
Harpsichord
I built this harpsichord from scratch, using designs and techniques learned from studying books about how they were made in the 15th to the 18th centuries.
A harpsichord plucks the strings instead of striking them with hammers like a piano. It was invented about 300 years before the piano, and was a favorite with Baroque composers like J. S. Bach and Domenico Scarlatti. This one has three choirs (sets of strings), two tuned in unison, and one an octave higher. A “buff” stop gives a muted sound to one of the choirs. Knee levers underneath select the choirs: one at a time or in combinations.
Inside can be seen the tuning pins, the jacks for plucking the strings, and the bridges in the background.
Here is my jig for making a kind of firework: the double petal ball shell, with instructions on making the jig and using it to make the shell.