Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith
ilmarinen - MODERATOR
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2004
- Messages
- 37,922
Last night a friend came over with a "Fathers Day" gift.
He is a really nice fellow who was my son's best friend. As a youth, he spent more time at my house than at his. He was nearly as saddened by my son Chris dying as I was. Andy has regularly dropped over for a beer and to chat, as well as is always invited to family events. He invites me to his get-togethers and cook-outs, too. He is really creative and can "see" something unique to make out of a pile of what most would call junk. Some of his creations could easily sell for thousands. He regularly sends me an email or text with a photo of something amazing, and the question, "Can we make one of these?" We like to sit out on the shop deck and look at old farm junk and odd parts in my boxes and come up with cool ideas.
He made two special lamps for Fathers day - one for his father, and one for me. He finished mine Monday, and brought it over last night. It is a "Steam Punk" lamp made from an old Thunderbird distributor and the associated diaphragms, gears, and shafts. The top is a cage with a retro-style lamp. It is one of the coolest gifts I ever got.
I will take some photos tonight, but wanted to share my joy. I miss my son Chris these times of the year, and Andy made that a lot better.
BTW, his dad's gift is made from an old Holly 4-BBL and the lamp part is a 25 foot roll of "light rope" coiled inside an old electric fan cage to look like an air cleaner made of lights. The On-Off switch is built into the throttle linkage. He even built his own soda blaster to clean the old carb and my distributor parts so they still looked old, but were clean and had a sort of shine to them.
Photos Added:
He is a really nice fellow who was my son's best friend. As a youth, he spent more time at my house than at his. He was nearly as saddened by my son Chris dying as I was. Andy has regularly dropped over for a beer and to chat, as well as is always invited to family events. He invites me to his get-togethers and cook-outs, too. He is really creative and can "see" something unique to make out of a pile of what most would call junk. Some of his creations could easily sell for thousands. He regularly sends me an email or text with a photo of something amazing, and the question, "Can we make one of these?" We like to sit out on the shop deck and look at old farm junk and odd parts in my boxes and come up with cool ideas.
He made two special lamps for Fathers day - one for his father, and one for me. He finished mine Monday, and brought it over last night. It is a "Steam Punk" lamp made from an old Thunderbird distributor and the associated diaphragms, gears, and shafts. The top is a cage with a retro-style lamp. It is one of the coolest gifts I ever got.
I will take some photos tonight, but wanted to share my joy. I miss my son Chris these times of the year, and Andy made that a lot better.
BTW, his dad's gift is made from an old Holly 4-BBL and the lamp part is a 25 foot roll of "light rope" coiled inside an old electric fan cage to look like an air cleaner made of lights. The On-Off switch is built into the throttle linkage. He even built his own soda blaster to clean the old carb and my distributor parts so they still looked old, but were clean and had a sort of shine to them.
Photos Added:
Attachments
Last edited:
