# Fruit of the loom? You'll see! (2x4 contest build)



## Chaincarver Steve

As per my norm, time is running out on yet another deadline-imposed project. So I figured I'd better get my @ss in gear. Especially since this build will be comprised of 4,000 - 4,200 (depending upon how much is lost dodging knots and other imperfections) wooden parts! *(EDIT: The actual bead count ended up being over 6,400! The final project used 6,336 beads.)*

The woodworking club I'm a member of is having its 2nd annual 2x4 contest (make whatever you can from a single construction grade 8' pine 2x4. Use up to and including the entire piece of wood but NO extra wood may be added. Hardware or glass is acceptable. Painting or staining is acceptable.)

The projects have to be turned in at the next meeting, which is April 4th (2013).

I began yesterday evening by taking a trip to the Depot and picking up my 8 foot 2x4.









The title of this thread gives a clue to what the project will be. HINT: It has nothing to do with underwear. I suspect this will be much different than anything you guys would think of when you think of woodworking. I'm hoping it'll be far enough outside the conventional woodworking box to turn some heads. And maybe win daddy a prize :yes:

The first operation was to cut the lumber into shorter lengths. The lengths were chosen arbitrarily to fill two needs: 1) to make the pieces more manageable on the band saw, and 2) to optimize the yield of the warped section.

I cut all of those sections into 7 strips each.









And each of those gets cut into 3 square rods. More pictures tomorrow. 

I'm excited about this one. This is something I've wanted to make for several years now. Stay tuned, progress will be as fast paced as I can manage. The clock is ticking.


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## Rockerbox1

Ok, I am officially lost. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with


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## Chaincarver Steve

just Josh said:


> Ok, I am officially lost.


Then I have you right where I want you :laughing:

I'll all become crystal clear... eventually!


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## ironman123

*Fruit of the loom? You'll see! (2x4 contest bui*

Got my attention to. Had to quit working on mini birdhouses and pecking chicks.

I am watching this.

Ray


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## tcleve4911

Ahhhhh......once again Steve sucks us all in to his mystery woodworking vortex.
I see a bunch of little pieces joined together to create something we would never suspect a 2x4 could be made into.

Toothpicks....
Chopsticks....
Garden plant markers.....

A 1" belt sander !!!! That's it !!! Isn't it!!!?????


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## <*(((><

I figured it out....your making a bunch of faux hotdogs....I see the mustard squirter in the back of the picture!


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## MTL

OK. Based on your hint my first thought was that you are making a loom. But not with over 4000 pieces. So I am at a loss. The only other thought is that you are going to make "wooden fabric". Will just have to wait and see I guess...


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## Shop Dad

Do I smell the steam bender warming up?


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## Crusader

4,000 to 4,200 parts, good thing you didn't say 3,900 parts cause then I would have known what it was.


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## johnnie52

I'm watching, but not guessing cause I was wondering how you planned to make wooden underwear from a 2x4 without getting splinters in all the wrong places. :laughing:


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## jjboozel

Watching... Interesting to see what will become


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## MTL

Crusader said:


> 4,000 to 4,200 parts, good thing you didn't say 3,900 parts cause then I would have known what it was. http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/skype-emoticons.html


That's witty! Lovin it!


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## Dominick

I'm curious as well. Sounds dirty though!!!!! 
Laughing!!!!!!


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## Kenbo

Okay then. I'm officially subscribed. This is gonna be cool and I can't wait to see what your whacked out mind has come up with this time. Good luck.
:thumbsup:


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## Woodwart

OK, he has seven of each of three lengths of a standard 2x4 (actually about 3½ x 1½.) So, each rod is ½ x ½. Now, puttting the three different lengths together, the three lengths are a total of 96". If he cuts all the rods into ½" cubes, he has 4,032 cubes. What can he make with 4,032 cubes?


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## MTL

Woodwart said:


> OK, he has seven of each of three lengths of a standard 2x4 (actually about 3½ x 1½.) So, each rod is ½ x ½. Now, puttting the three different lengths together, the three lengths are a total of 96". If he cuts all the rods into ½" cubes, he has 4,032 cubes. What can he make with 4,032 cubes?


Did you account for the kerf?


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## Chaincarver Steve

If only a pile of square dowels was the end game here... I'd be done. But now I'm sanding and sanding and sanding and so on.



MTL said:


> OK. Based on your hint my first thought was that you are making a loom. But not with over 4000 pieces. So I am at a loss. The only other thought is that you are going to make "wooden fabric". Will just have to wait and see I guess...


A loom will be constructed, but it'll be more of a jig and not the ultimate outcome.



Shop Dad said:


> Do I smell the steam bender warming up?


No, sorry. You're smelling the ribs I had for dinner. My compliments to the chef. They were delicious.



Crusader said:


> 4,000 to 4,200 parts, good thing you didn't say 3,900 parts cause then I would have known what it was.


:laughing: That's funny.


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## Chaincarver Steve

Woodwart said:


> OK, he has seven of each of three lengths of a standard 2x4 (actually about 3½ x 1½.) So, each rod is ½ x ½. Now, puttting the three different lengths together, the three lengths are a total of 96". If he cuts all the rods into ½" cubes, he has 4,032 cubes. What can he make with 4,032 cubes?


You're definitely on the right train of thought. Each rod is 3/8".


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## MasterSplinter

Very interesting!


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## MTL

Chaincarver Steve said:


> You're definitely on the right train of thought. Each rod is 3/8".


Ah ha. Because of the kerf. I was taking a "jab in the dark" I did not actually check his math...


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## Woodwart

MTL said:


> Ah ha. Because of the kerf. I was taking a "jab in the dark" I did not actually check his math...


I didn't account for the kerf because I didn't think it was that important. Whether he has 3/8 or 1/2" cubes, he has 4,032 of them. 

He's obviously going to paint them about ten different colours, drill a hole in each one, and string them into the largest, longest bead necklace in the world! It will be 672 feet long, and will be coiled into a 100 strand, 24" necklace.

Sorry, rechecked my math, and it will be 168 feet long, and coil into a 28 strand necklace. That's a little more manageable.


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## Woodwart

Or, one of those beaded covers for a chair or car seat!


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## MTL

Woodwart said:


> I didn't account for the kerf because I didn't think it was that important. Whether he has 3/8 or 1/2" cubes, he has 4,032 of them.
> 
> He's obviously going to paint them about ten different colours, drill a hole in each one, and string them into the largest, longest bead necklace in the world! It will be 672 feet long, and will be coiled into a 100 strand, 24" necklace.


I wasn't trying to be a #@$%, my apologies if you took it that way.


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## MTL

Unfortunately quoting on the android app doesn't pick up quotes within quotes. I really thought shop dad was on the right track with steam bender. So will the whole project really be made entirely of cubes? 

Hers what sucks: we just "sprang forward" for daylight savings and I am on a businesses trip that took me from CST to EST so I am already missing two hours of sleep. Now on top of that my curiosity is going to keep me up half the night.


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## tcleve4911

MTL said:


> Unfortunately quoting on the android app doesn't pick up quotes within quotes. I really thought shop dad was on the right track with steam bender. So will the whole project really be made entirely of cubes?
> 
> Hers what sucks: we just "sprang forward" for daylight savings and I am on a businesses trip that took me from CST to EST so I am already missing two hours of sleep. Now on top of that my curiosity is going to keep me up half the night.


Go to bed....Steve won't post the solution 'til tomorrow.....


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## MTL

tcleve4911 said:


> Go to bed....Steve won't post the solution 'til tomorrow.....


Yep and that sucks. I hate waiting. Wish I didn't see this thread until tomorrow!


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## GoIrish

I'm hooked. Following others ideas maybe it could be a 3D sculpture.


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## JohnnyTooBad

2000 sets of dice?


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## captainawesome

Subscribed! Is it a series of small ladders for your wooden robots?


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## Chaincarver Steve

MTL said:


> OK. Based on your hint my first thought was that you are making a loom. But not with over 4000 pieces. So I am at a loss. The only other thought is that you are going to make "wooden fabric". Will just have to wait and see I guess...


You could call it wooden fabric. Sort of.



johnnie52 said:


> I'm watching, but not guessing cause I was wondering how you planned to make wooden underwear from a 2x4 without getting splinters in all the wrong places. :laughing:


I can hear the conversations now.

"Baby, I need your help. I have some wood causing me great discomfort."

"Where at?"

"In my pants. Where else would it be?"



Woodwart said:


> I didn't account for the kerf because I didn't think it was that important. Whether he has 3/8 or 1/2" cubes, he has 4,032 of them.
> 
> He's obviously going to paint them about ten different colours, drill a hole in each one, and string them into the largest, longest bead necklace in the world! It will be 672 feet long, and will be coiled into a 100 strand, 24" necklace.


You guys are getting so close I guess it's time to come clean. Yes, the wood will be converted entirely into beads slightly larger than standard "pony beads"

I'll construct a loom to transform the thousands of beads (the "seed") into the "fruit" of the loom. Exactly what the picture will be is tentative. For I need a final bead count so that I can calculate the largest possible size tapestry with the available beads. After deciding on a final picture (I'm open to suggestions, by the way: holiday themed, video gaming themed, general decor, woodworking themed...) I can determine the number of colors needed and the number of beads to be painted each color.

I'm going to make a loomed beadwork tapestry. I made a lot of loomed bead work in my Boy Scout days. But it was all Indian (American Indian, not "real" Indians) themed stuff. I'll post a picture of some of it when I get a chance.


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## Chaincarver Steve

You guys are cracking me up with some of your guesses :laughing:

Here's the pile of square dowel I harvested from the 2x4. I did a pretty good job in selecting a suitable 2x4. There are very few areas where beads will be lost due to knots and other imperfections. So my final bead count may be significantly higher than I anticipated. 

The beads will each be slightly narrower than they are tall. That's standard with seed beads and pony beads. Once they are loomed into a grid the lines onto which they are strung create a gap between side to side columns. The net result will be a picture with less distortion than square (cubed) beads could provide.









All of the breakdown so far has been done on the band saw. Only 4 more months or so and I'll be upgrading my band saw. Mamma is allowing daddy to buy a 14" Rikon for his 40th birthday :thumbsup:









Here's where I left off when I quit for the night. The sticks in the foreground have been sanded on all four faces and have a slight round-over on all long corners. Man, that was a hell of a lot of sanding! Look at the pile in the background though. I still have to sand all of those. 









I'll do some more sanding tonight then take a break and work on a simple cutoff jig to reduce all of the square rod to the maximum length I can drill with the proper size bit. Then I'll come up with a simple jig to index and hold each short piece vertically on the drill press then commence to drilling the center hole in each.

After that I'll make another simple jig. This time to cut off each individual bead.

It's going to be a cool project. It'll definitely be much different than anyone in my club is expecting.


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## buggyman1

I'm still trying to wrap my head around what you're going to make? I know i wouldn't want to be one of the other competitors, my money is on you for the blue ribbon.


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## Chaincarver Steve

buggyman1 said:


> I'm still trying to wrap my head around what you're going to make?


Imagine something like this:










Only a LOT larger scale. Not so long and narrow. And with a picture instead of a basic geometric pattern. Or as detailed a picture as I can manage with about 60 lines (hopefully more) of resolution on the narrowest dimensional axis.

Though I _could_ make it long and narrow... or squared. I'll probably go with landscape or portrait proportions.


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## buggyman1

WOW!!! I can't wait to see this finished.


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## JohnnyTooBad

Not quite going to be an HD quality picture there, eh?

This is a total riot! You're an absolute glutton, aren't you Steve? These repetitive projects of yours would drive me completely insane. I'm almost surprised you aren't doing 2000 dice with 21 holes in each (42,000 holes!!!!!). Right up your alley.:blink:


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## Chaincarver Steve

JohnnyTooBad said:


> Not quite going to be an HD quality picture there, eh?
> 
> This is a total riot! You're an absolute glutton, aren't you Steve? These repetitive projects of yours would drive me completely insane. I'm almost surprised you aren't doing 2000 dice with 21 holes in each (42,000 holes!!!!!). Right up your alley.:blink:


Definitely not high def. But a lot can be done with that high of a pixel count.

I'll be honest, the repetition is tedious (but fun. You get in the groove). But in the end it's a non-linear productivity scale. A 'relatively small' increase in time and effort escalates into a disproportionately higher finished product. To me, more completed projects translates to a greater sense of accomplishment. Especially since I'm trying to get into the thought mode of coming up with things I can produce to sell. Not that every project is intended for sale, mind you.


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## tcleve4911

:blink:I still don't know what the heck you're making :laughing:
But it looks great so far!!!!! From a 2x4!!!!???


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## Kenbo

How about this for your picture. As you can see, it frames well. :blink::huh::no::laughing:


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## tcleve4911

Whew...that scared the crap outa me Ken !!!!!!!!:laughing::laughing::laughing:


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## Chaincarver Steve

Kenbo said:


> How about this for your picture. As you can see, it frames well. :blink::huh::no::laughing:
> View attachment 65526


I don't think that level of awesome can be accurately portrayed with so few pixels.


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## MTL

Just go ahead and call it a win make the image of a blue ribbon


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## johnnie52

You were right. I never would have guessed that. :thumbsup: Looks like your going to have a lot of fun with all the sanding. I think I'd try a round over bit at the router table before doing all that sanding.


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## Crusader

Well Steve if your'e looking for ideas, what about a portrait of one of the most recognizable faces in the last 150 years.


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## Woodwart

MTL said:


> I wasn't trying to be a #@$%, my apologies if you took it that way.


No, I was laughing when I wrote that! :thumbsup::icon_smile:


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## Chaincarver Steve

I cut a holder to help me gauge and separate the square rods into bite sized units. Each of these little "rodlettes" is destined to become 6 individual beads. *(EDIT: I ended up going with a slightly narrower bead width to squeeze 7 beads out of each rod. I need more resolution!)*. Well, a select few will only yield 5. But nearly every one represents 6 beads.









I adorned one of my little band saws with zero clearance. The holder I made was used to properly space the makeshift fence.









I gripped the rods like this in the holder. In practice, I actually stacked them 2 tall to reduce the amount of time and work.









Cutting. I waxed the bottom and side of the holder, as well and the fence. This made it travel smoother. As I passed the blade I deposited the cutoffs on the back side of the zero clearance "insert". This allowed me to run the holder back and forth like a meat slicer to make quick work of the rod reduction process. The new cutoffs simply pushed the previous ones forward and out of the way, a little at a time.









Here's where I left off last night. The rods in the background still have to undergo sanding. Ughhh.









But the main reasons I stopped when I did - other than it being 1AM - was that the blade on the small band saw I was using broke. And the shop vac really needs to be dumped and the filter unclogged. So further sanding had to be halted until I deal with the vac (this evening) and further cutting with the delicate band saw is halted until I swap the blade and reset (also this evening).

Even the tools are saying "Seriously, dude? This is boring the hell out of me." But they shall not triumph! It's MY shop. Dammit! :laughing:


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## bigben

Can't wait to see this one come together!

As for the image, if you're going to be pixelated, why not embrace it:


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## Chaincarver Steve

johnnie52 said:


> You were right. I never would have guessed that. :thumbsup: Looks like your going to have a lot of fun with all the sanding. I think I'd try a round over bit at the router table before doing all that sanding.


Sanding? You know nothing about sanding! I? I know sanding! And I know that sanding thousands of beads isn't going to be a part of this build! I'm already committed to an embarrassing gluttony of sanding just getting to the short rod stage.

Actually, my intention was to build a tumbler that I could use to tumble the beads for a day or two. That would knock down the hard, fuzzed sawed edges on each bead without the unimaginably daunting task of sanding each individual bead.

But I'm having serious doubt as to whether I'll actually have time to make a tumbler for the project. If not, then the sanding of the whole rods will be the last sanding procedure in the build. Not counting the fact that I will end up making a frame for the completed piece. But the frame won't be part of the 2x4 build. I'll probably make the frame out of walnut and maple AFTER the whole contest deal is done with.



bigben said:


> Can't wait to see this one come together!
> 
> As for the image, if you're going to be pixelated, why not embrace it:


I've actually considered going to video game screen shot route for a long time now. but I've also considered a lot of other possible images as well. I'm still unsettled. It's going to be 'quite an undertaking' as a project so I need to come up with something I can live with for many years to come so I'll want it to be on the wall. Since my wife is thinking it might be something to go in the game room, the whole gaming theme is certainly ranking up there. The Mario Bros. screen shot I wanted to do would require way too many beads (and translated to a tapestry on the order of 5 feet by 7 and require, perhaps, four 2x4s (around 16,000 beads, if I recall).

Ummm, I need to re-check that pixel count.


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## Chaincarver Steve

Man, the more I think about it, the pixel count I'm going to have is really going to limit my possible images a lot more than I had envisioned. I'm going to look through a bunch of old drawings and comics I've made to see if I can find something in there that would work. Then I'd be using original artwork in a unique way. We'll see.


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## Shop Dad

Hey, you could do any icon from a Lotus Notes database...


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## Chaincarver Steve

Shop Dad said:


> Hey, you could do any icon from a Lotus Notes database...


Meh...

If I can't find of my own drawings that would work I may try something like this picture I just nabbed, resized and added grid lines to. Though I'd lower the skull's left eye (right in the picture) so it looks right.









I'd like a little more color though. I think.


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## ironman123

CC Steve, do you have a lathe? Seems the rods could be made into beads quicker with a lathe. Just asking.

Thanks,

Ray


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## Chaincarver Steve

Well, my wife would prefer something a little less skull themed. And none of my drawings can be reproduced properly at low res. The quest continues.



ironman123 said:


> CC Steve, do you have a lathe? Seems the rods could be made into beads quicker with a lathe. Just asking.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Ray


No lathe. You're probably right though.


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## 27207

How about a classic?


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## johnnie52

This has to be finished when? I only ask because you are already planning to blow out three days this weekend between the shows.

Try looking at a few of the scroll saw patterns on the web. Some of those are really nice and would translate into tapestries fairly easily.


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## buggyman1

Dang...i get what you're doing now...Wow!!!! This is gonna be too cool. I like the skull with the eye fixed.


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## Chaincarver Steve

ironman123 said:


> CC Steve, do you have a lathe? Seems the rods could be made into beads quicker with a lathe. Just asking.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Ray


Actually, once I thought about it more I came to conclude that it would take much longer to make the beads on a lathe. But, with a lathe, the beads could be shaped much better. Oh well, I've got to work with what i have. And if they're rough around the edges then so be it. They are "hand made" after all. Maybe the rough inconsistencies will add character.



johnnie52 said:


> This has to be finished when? I only ask because you are already planning to blow out three days this weekend between the shows.
> 
> Try looking at a few of the scroll saw patterns on the web. Some of those are really nice and would translate into tapestries fairly easily.


Needs to be done the 4th of next month. And I may have to report for stinkin' jury duty Monday the first. Shoot me now.



buggyman1 said:


> Dang...i get what you're doing now...Wow!!!! This is gonna be too cool. I like the skull with the eye fixed.


Thanks. I think that picture would be cool. I'll need to find a different picture though. My wife isn't too thrilled about the skull one. I'm sure our son would love it. But I want mamma to be able to enjoy it too.


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## Chaincarver Steve

Dwillems26 said:


> How about a classic?


Yeah, I'm being heavily steered in that direction.


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## MapleMoose

How about a picture of a hand plane?


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## Chaincarver Steve

MapleMoose said:


> How about a picture of a hand plane?


Now see, great minds do think alike. Last year, when I first decided on this idea for next year (which is now this year), my idea was to make a picture of some hand tools. But I'm just not sure I can do so on such a small scale (because of resolution) and still have a recognizable picture. Too much jagged aliasing and lack of definition.


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## bigben

What about the silhouette of a tree, pay homage to from whence it came.....or something.


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## Shop Dad

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Meh...


I guess that was a bit obscure. I dabbled in developing on Notes at one job and the database icons were notoriously bad, like 16x16 and few colors, even when the rest of the world was high-def.

Space Invaders game in progress?

Maybe with just a few more 2x4s...


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## Chaincarver Steve

bigben said:


> What about the silhouette of a tree, pay homage to from whence it came.....or something.


Not a bad idea.



Shop Dad said:


> Space Invaders game in progress?
> 
> Maybe with just a few more 2x4s...


Space Invaders is another screenshot I've considered. It's still on the plate. That painting though... too easy. I need something that presents at least a little bit of a challenge. Geesh


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## Chaincarver Steve

I got a bunch more of the rods sanded last night. Still 20 to go. And I began drilling the holes through the rod-lettes. I've been having the best luck drilling half way from one end, then finishing from the other end. Otherwise the grain of the pine sometimes tends to steer the bit a little off center by the time it emerges from the bottom.

Man I have a lot of drilling to do.


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## Chaincarver Steve

I can even go with something long (or tall) and narrow, like the attached image. I can re-size and create gridwork of any picture. Depending on final bead count, I can easily increase the pixel resolution of this picture as needed. 









Whatever picture I go with I'll optimize the grid size for maximum usage of the beads. And not all beads _have_ to be incorporated into the X-Y grid. So I may be able to utilize even the 'leftover' beads that are too few to add another row or column.


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## JohnnyTooBad

I like the idea of old video game screens. Space Invaders, Mario, Pac Man and maybe Galaga.

Since these will be drilled and have something run through them, you really need to 4 separate images so that you can rotate the beads and get another image. If they are all on dowels and fit tightly or are glued, you could have the dowel stick out the end of the frame and make some way to rotate them automatically (motor and belt) all so that it constantly scrolls between the 4 images. But then, I think you aren't allowed to use anything other than the 2x4, so I guess not


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## johnnie52

One thing I have learned, when Steve is involved, the end result is going to be both unexpected and awesome!


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## MapleMoose

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Now see, great minds do think alike. Last year, when I first decided on this idea for next year (which is now this year), my idea was to make a picture of some hand tools. But I'm just not sure I can do so on such a small scale (because of resolution) and still have a recognizable picture. Too much jagged aliasing and lack of definition.


When I saw your reply, I thought "oh come on, surely it can't be that bad." So, I took a picture of a block plane, "pixelated it", and realized - no way is this going to look good unless you are standing about 100 feet away! :no::no::no:

Here is how it looked:


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## Chaincarver Steve

MapleMoose said:


> When I saw your reply, I thought "oh come on, surely it can't be that bad." So, I took a picture of a block plane, "pixelated it", and realized - no way is this going to look good unless you are standing about 100 feet away! :no::no::no:
> 
> Here is how it looked:


Exactly. Now you see what I'm up against.


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## thegrgyle

Well,Steve, I'm caught up now, and I can't believe you are undertaking this mammoth feat, and under the time constraints like you said. Thanks for sharing with us your creativity, and I am looking forward to watch you work your magic.


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## DST

A portrait, maybe your wife or son.


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## Longknife

I've been following this thread trying to figure out WTF you are making. This morning I took the time to slowly read through the whole thread, and now I've got it! Wow! .
And out of a 2x4? No doubt this will be the winner.


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## Chaincarver Steve

DST said:


> A portrait, maybe your wife or son.


I like your thinking but... Been there, pixelated that. The problem I ran into with the portraits are, again, resolution, but also too many subtle hue variations that would make a faithful reproduction a total nightmare.



Longknife said:


> I've been following this thread trying to figure out WTF you are making. This morning I took the time to slowly read through the whole thread, and now I've got it! Wow! .
> And out of a 2x4? No doubt this will be the winner.


Winner or not, it'll be probably the only 2x4 contest entry ever in the history of 2x4 contests to use the idea of reducing the entire stock to a mound of beads. Maybe I'll at least score some originality points. :laughing:

For a quick update, I'm about halfway done drilling all the little rods. But too bad for almost no so time so far this weekend. I ended up increasing the size of my little holder for the drill press to holding 21 rods at once. It's making the chore a lot less of a chore.


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## BigBull

How about a simple picture of a "handsaw"? What ever you chose I'm sure it'll be great.


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## vursenbach

johnnie52 said:


> I'm watching, but not guessing cause I was wondering how you planned to make wooden underwear from a 2x4 without getting splinters in all the wrong places. :laughing:


LOL Woody underwear? To cover a woodworker' s [email protected]?

Sent from my iPhone using Wood Forum


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## Longknife

Every year there is an Apple Festival in Kivik in south Sweden. For the festival they make a big picture consisting of apples. This is the 2010 picture. Maybe it can give you some ideas.


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## rrbrown

How about a Lite brite picture?


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## ctwiggs1

This is insane. Can't believe I've been missing this. Can't wait to see the results!


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## Chaincarver Steve

rrbrown said:


> How about a Lite brite picture?


And I bet there are tons of cool Lite Brite pictures that would look great. The beads have to be aligned in a regular XY grid to work though.


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## Chaincarver Steve

After I drilled a few of the rods one at a time I realized that was the slowest possible way to get the job done. Then I upped it to 3 at a time, as shown above. Well, that didn't last long, as I soon increased to 12... then 16. I finally decided to increase the capacity of my holder to 21. That made the chore of drilling two holes in every short rod (I drilled each from both ends) much less tedious.

We have company form out of state this week so I didn't spend as much time as I would have liked in the shop yester-eve. But I'm now almost completely done drilling all of the rods. Another 20-30 minutes ought to have that operation in the bag.

I have a few more photos but I've got to get sales taxes done and filed before 5PM today so I'll have to post pictures at another time. Tonight I hope to finish the drilling then come up with a simple jig so I can start cutting the individual beads from the short rods. Then, by weight, I can figure out approx how many beads I ended up with then settle on a picture.

From there I can paint beads and built the loom, string it and let the real fun begin. The real fun will be watching the loom develop its fruit. Then you guys will see why I wanted to make this as my project :thumbsup:



rrbrown said:


> How about a Lite brite picture?


Ever since I first read your post about Lite Brite I've been quite intrigued and have searched around for ideas. I did come across "Lite Brite Brutes" ( https://www.google.com/search?q=jet...40,d.dmg&fp=cf8c4bad36ecdcd3&biw=1173&bih=602 ), which has the proper grid arrangement and some great ideas.

So I wanted to thank you for giving me another route to go down in my quest.


----------



## Tommie Hockett

Dude ya gotta go with the avengers lol


----------



## Art Smith

Hey Steve,
How about your family crest or coat of arms?


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

I'm still plugging right along. Had a few things going on this week but I'm steadily work through it. We've had guests in from out of state since Mon. (until next Mon.), had a school play to go to, dinners out, party, and the cheapie table top band saw I'm using to cut the individual beads starting giving me problems with blade tracking and breakage. It needs a new belt/tire. So it'll have to be set aside for the remainder of the build and I may have to use the big band saw to finish up.

I had mentioned that I'd increased the number of rods I was drilling "at once". Here's what I'd graduated to: 21. The short rod is one of the cutoffs. But all must be cut into beads so here it goes.

















In place on the drill press. Each rod was drilled from both ends, meeting in the middle. Doing so didn't eliminate all issues but it sure gave me way more usable beads than I'd have gotten if I would have drilled all the way through from one end. The grain sometimes wanted to steer the bit off course.









Here's all of the rods after drilling.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Here are the beads I have cut as of last night when the little band saw stopped tracking and kept throwing the blade of the drive wheel.









Still many more to go though. I ended up going with a slightly narrower bead to allow me to squeeze 7 beads (instead of 6) out of most of the rods. This will affect the geometry of the end result but it won't be drastic enough to have much of a negative effect. The increased bead count will outweigh the down side.

















Tonight I come up with a different way to cut the remainder of the rods into another 2,000 beads or so. I'll probably switch to my bigger band saw. Scroll saw would work but, man, it would take forever.


----------



## Tommie Hockett

dude I do not envy you for the tasks that you got ahead of yourself but I will watch


----------



## Kenbo

Okay Steve. No need for you to point out how much patience I have anymore. I have patience by the bucket full, you sir, are simply insane. :laughing: This is nuts. Awesome, but nuts.


----------



## rrbell

Are you going to.......................sand.................those.........................


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

rrbell said:


> Are you going to.......................sand.................those.........................


No, I'm not THAT crazy! I was going to have YOU handle that for me. :laughing:

My original plan was to build a tumbler to toss them into for a day or so. But time isn't going to allow for a tumbler build in the mix so I'll be doing so by hand in an old sheet. I'll post pictures of that stage too.

Hand tumbling isn't going to get quite the same level of results but it will let me get a little more aggressive. The tumbling stage won't give a perfect edge but I expect it to eliminate a drastic amount of the fuzzies. Enough to do what needs to be done.


----------



## Dominick

Ok I'll admit I haven't read or posted many comments on this and had been far to busy to read and follow. 
So what are you making?


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Dominick said:


> Ok I'll admit I haven't read or posted many comments on this and had been far to busy to read and follow.
> So what are you making?


Right now I'm making thousands of wooden beads. I will then make a simple beadwork loom and use it to create a large beadwork tapestry.

I'm making great progress towards having all of the beads cut by the end of the night.


----------



## tc65

After seeing that last picture with the beads I've got to ask - are you now having nightmares about the beads floating away in a flood, fire in the shop, mutant insects devouring your beads overnight............?:laughing:

I'd imagine that when you first close your eyes at night that's all you see - mountains of beads.


----------



## rrbell

Chaincarver Steve said:


> No, I'm not THAT crazy! I was going to have YOU handle that for me. :laughing:
> 
> My original plan was to build a tumbler to toss them into for a day or so. But time isn't going to allow for a tumbler build in the mix so I'll be doing so by hand in an old sheet. I'll post pictures of that stage too.
> 
> Hand tumbling isn't going to get quite the same level of results but it will let me get a little more aggressive. The tumbling stage won't give a perfect edge but I expect it to eliminate a drastic amount of the fuzzies. Enough to do what needs to be done.


OK, I'll do the sanding but you've got to rip me up sone nice 1/2" X1/2" sheets of 120 grit! lol

Actually if you had a cloth bag you could secure real tight (and your wife didn't catch you) you could add the beads and abrasive and put it in the dryer! Nope, better forget I mentioned that, lol! I just pictured my wife finding it in the dryer.......nope....would not work!!


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

trc65 said:


> After seeing that last picture with the beads I've got to ask - are you now having nightmares about the beads floating away in a flood, fire in the shop, mutant insects devouring your beads overnight............?:laughing:
> 
> I'd imagine that when you first close your eyes at night that's all you see - mountains of beads.


It may seem unlikely but, the way I went about the process actually made it flow smoothly enough that it wasn't too tedious. The sanding of all of the longer rods seemed to take forever. But every other step had been pretty much swift and painless.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

I got all of the beads cut around 10:15. Then I poured all of the beads onto a junk sheet that was folded in half. I bunched the open edges together and tied them closed. That bundle was then kneaded somewhat aggressively for, maybe, 45 minutes, with some short breaks to rest the forearms and shoulders.

And let me tell you, that amount of time was enough to make a HUGE difference. It's like night and day! The fuzzy edges of the cuts are almost completely gone. And it took an amazingly short amount of time to achieve that. I could have "tumbled" them even longer for a more polished result. But that is beyond the level of refinement required here.

Now I'm glad I didn't take the time to make a motorized tumbler. It would have taken longer to make than it took to "tumble" them manually. And a motorized tumbler would have required much longer to get the same result.

Pictures when I get a chance.


----------



## DST

rrbell said:


> OK, I'll do the sanding but you've got to rip me up sone nice 1/2" X1/2" sheets of 120 grit! lol
> 
> Actually if you had a cloth bag you could secure real tight (and your wife didn't catch you) you could add the beads and abrasive and put it in the dryer! Nope, better forget I mentioned that, lol! I just pictured my wife finding it in the dryer.......nope....would not work!!


I think a pillow case in the dryer would have worked wonderfully


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

*Resolution resolved.*

The final bead count is somewhere between 6,350 and 6,450! Almost 50 percent higher than my original, conservative, estimate! The increased bead count gave me a little more leeway. 

I've settled on a picture. I've resized, cropped, color edited and prepared my pattern, which I will print tomorrow. I've decided to refrain from showing the picture so that it can reveal itself as it's made.

My goal for tomorrow (Monday) is to purchase at least most of the 15 or so paint colors AND construct the loom, now that I can calculate the required dimensions. We'll see how far I get.




DST said:


> I think a pillow case in the dryer would have worked wonderfully


I couldn't take the risk of them busting loose. Plus, I really think the way I did it worked quite a bit faster than dryer tumbling could have.


----------



## DST

Chaincarver Steve said:


> The final bead count is somewhere between 6,350 and 6,450! Almost 50 percent higher than my original, conservative, estimate! The increased bead count gave me a little more leeway.
> 
> I've settled on a picture. I've resized, cropped, color edited and prepared my pattern, which I will print tomorrow. I've decided to refrain from showing the picture so that it can reveal itself as it's made.
> 
> My goal for tomorrow (Monday) is to purchase at least most of the 15 or so paint colors AND construct the loom, now that I can calculate the required dimensions. We'll see how far I get.
> 
> I couldn't take the risk of them busting loose. Plus, I really think the way I did it worked quite a bit faster than dryer tumbling could have.


i won't argue with what worked,


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Oh, the picture I'm doing will require 6,336 beads! In theory, I could make it larger but I need to allow for bad beads and the posibility of available bead count error. The counting process had some checks and balances to decrease error. But it was not a bead by bead count so I'm compelled to err on the side of caution, as I'm limited to only the wood from the one piece of lumber.

By the way, I believe the updated count (range) is also slightly conservative. There may be as many 6,500...I won't know an exact quantity until the end.


----------



## Rockerbox1

Come on, man, count em...... I dare you. Lol.


----------



## tcleve4911

OMG :blink:

This has got us all on the edge of our seats, Steve.
An unbelievable example of mass production.
I'm still working on how to do those little bandsaw birdhouses.....geez.....


----------



## jharris2

rrbell said:


> OK, I'll do the sanding but you've got to rip me up sone nice 1/2" X1/2" sheets of 120 grit! lol


LMAO!!!

Don't forget these.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

*Proof that it really happened.*

The benchtop band saw I was using to cut the rods into separate beads starting giving me problems because the belt - which is also the drive wheel tire = lame - is a little stretched and warped, now causing the blade to have tracking issues and repeatedly jumping off the wheels. So...

I switched to the big band saw for the remainder of the cutting operation. I used the same little holder jig to feed the rods into the blade. Once the rod got too short (down to the last cut) I simply butted the next rod up to it and proceeded. That way the fingers stay clear and are allowed to, umm, 'fing' another day.









The setup works like a meat slicer. Back and forth. Producing beads at a sanity-conducive rate, a critical factor when doing potentially maddening production work.









Alas! We have actually achieved greater beadage than this weird-o right here! A task not to be underestimated; I assure you.


















My next move was to fold an old sheet in half and dump the mound.









... then fold and tie the whole mess into what can only be described as the cow's stomach from hell. The rumination chamber, if you will.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

The purpose of the mutant stomach is, as I've mentioned before, to circumvent the dreaded alternative of sanding each individual bead to remove the fuzz and tear-out. It's not that I ever look for the easy way out. Instead, I look for the smartest way out.

With the beads captured within the sheet I sat around and kneaded the whole mass somewhat aggressively for about 45 minutes. Yes, only 45 minutes (with short breaks to give my muscles a rest). What's that you say? You don't believe that such a thing could do much of anything? Especially with such a short amount of time? 

Well, ye of little faith, feast thine weary peepers upon this:

BEFORE:









After:

















I'm not even sure that the photos fully appreciate the day and night contrast the tumbling achieved. The difference is incredible. But the time saved is even more incredible.

You'll see that the only real fuzz remaining is what lines the holes. And that will have absolutely no effect on the finished product. So I decided to halt the 'tumbling' at 45 minutes. Besides, a lot of the dust in the holes is loose and will be pushed out in the construction process.

Now I need to know how many beads I have to work with. I began that process by counting out 100 beads and dropping them in the smallest disposable cup I had (still larger than I would have liked, but it worked). I marked the level, going by the mid point of the beads at the highest level. I added another 100, then another 50. As I expected, the taper of the cup makes for less accuracy as the count increases.

So I scooped and poured approx. 100 beads at a time, dumped them into another container and made a tick mark on my tally sheet. Every 5 or so scoops I dumped the beads out and counted to make sure I was retaining some degree of accuracy. In every case the actual bead count was anywhere from 3-12 beads higher than 100. So I feel sure that my final estimate is conservative.

After 'counting' all of the beads I repeated the process for a second opinion. The result was within about 75. I was happy with that.









Final estimation reveals a staggering 6,350 - 6,450 beads! I believe there is potentially 6,500, as I tried to exceed the 100 bead measuring line each scoop. I'd much rather have a few hundred extras than be screwed with too few.

Here they lie in wait for the next operation: nearly 6,500 of them! Look at them, acting all innocent. 









Tonight I start gathering paints. I'll be using 15 or 16 colors. I'll also work on constructing the loom and running all of the support lines.

FYI, if you're picturing a loom with levers that toggle the stringers up and down, you'll be surprised to see that a beading loom is nothing like that. That's a fabric loom. This loom will be much simpler and easier to wrap your head around.

Stay tuned, folks. Any lingering confusion you may still have (about what the hell I'm actually making :laughing: ) will be dissolved this week, as the project starts to come together. It'll be cool. You'll see!


----------



## 27207

Ok. I'm impressed. The tumbling worked better then I thought. And how you counted them all is just genius. I can't wait for the finished project!


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## Chaincarver Steve

Dwillems26 said:


> Ok. I'm impressed. The tumbling worked better then I thought. And how you counted them all is just genius. I can't wait for the finished project!


I was going to 'count' them by weighing in small batches. But the postal scale I tried to use was neither sensitive nor dynamic enough to get 'r done. So I went with the proverbial plan B.


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## johnnie52

Now I know exactly what you're making. Its 6,500 (approximately) pencil toppers! :laughing:


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## GROOVY

Thats a relief when you posted the other day about getting an old bedsheet and sanding, well I had a thought that you may have gone a bit bonkers I was afraid that you were going to be sanding toga style


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## tcleve4911

Hey Steve....
Is the frame of the loom separate from the one 2x4 you were allowed for the contest?


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## Chaincarver Steve

GROOVY said:


> Thats a relief when you posted the other day about getting an old bedsheet and sanding, well I had a thought that you may have gone a bit bonkers I was afraid that you were going to be sanding toga style


Hehe, toga style :laughing: You probably wouldn't want to see me in a toga. I'd prefer to rock the smock!



tcleve4911 said:


> Hey Steve....
> Is the frame of the loom separate from the one 2x4 you were allowed for the contest?


Yes, the loom is being made of different 2x4s. It's not part of the final project, only a tool, or jig, used to get the job done. The completed piece will be removed from the loom after it is done and the stringer lines secured to prevent unravel.


----------



## tcleve4911

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Yes, the loom is being made of different 2x4s. It's not part of the final project, only a tool, or jig, used to get the job done. The completed piece will be removed from the loom after it is done and the stringer lines secured to prevent unravel.


Whew....good thing.....I wouldn't want you to get disqualified at this point....:laughing:


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## Chaincarver Steve

I got my paints all gathered up. It looks like I'll be using 19 colors (which may surprise you when you see that it's actually a picture with little color).

I also built and strung the loom. My dummy self didn't count as I was running line back and fourth and ended up running the stringers too close together. So I'll be cutting the lines off and re-stringing the loom tonight. This time paying better attention to my spacing. That's what happens when you get more anxious than cautious. Oh well, at least it's only 65 lines.


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## Chaincarver Steve

Here's the palette I'll be using.









Here's my stringer lines.









But my dumb @ss didn't space them properly. They should span almost the entire width of the loom.









*sigh* So I'll be re-stringing tonight. But I will first step it off with dividers. I also will begin the painting process so that I can start the bead work.


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## TimT

I'm a bit late to the party, but really interested in the final product. Question regarding the tumbling - could you not have thrown the "stomach" into the dryer and let that do the work for you?


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## johnnie52

So now I'm saying to myself, I say Self... how the heck is Steve fixin to pass all those holy bits of 2x4 onto all that string without each string being a separate piece? Followed closely by me replying, hush up and watch dumb dumb. :thumbsup::laughing:


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## schnitz

Been watch this kinda loosely (I read pages 1 & 2, then missed a couple days, then 3 & 4, etc...), and it seems interesting to me. I use "mini-logs like these for my birdhouses. When I get bored with the birdhouses, I may have to duplicate this, since I have a ton of logs ready to slice!:laughing:


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## MapleMoose

Steve, that is some amazing production work on those beads! (I am just now getting caught up - been away on vacation).

The build is getting really exciting - that loom looks cool. Bummer about the string spacing; sounds like something I would do.


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## Chaincarver Steve

Don't you hate when short cuts cost you twice as much time? Yeah, me too. I think we're going to have to part ways, Mr. String. Sorry. It's not you; it's me.










This time I stepped off the divisions with... dividers!









Then I re-strung that bad boy. Now that's what it was supposed to look like the first time.









The stringers are simply wrapped a full turn around the nails then returned to opposite end of the loom - back and forth - then tied off at the ends. After stringing, I went through and applied a drop of Super Glue to each wrap/tie point. The glue won't permanently fix the string to the nails. But it will prevent them from accidentally coming loose.









Now to add some life to the beads. I painted five different colors of beads (the first five colors I'll need): White, black, and three shades of gray. But this is only a preliminary batch to get me going on the loom work. Here's a starter batch of beads ready to be painted white. There will need to be tons more whites (and more of the other colors as well). But I needed some to get me going.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

So the way I'm painting these - for sake of ease and rapid drying time - is by spraying them, giving them a little time to tack up, stir them around, re-spray, and so on. Eventually, the beads are pretty well coated all around. The method isn't perfect, but it works well enough. It takes about 6-7 cycles.









Here's the five colors I'm starting with.









Stringing the beads requires a needle. I made one out of a cotter pin. The head was flattened to make it small enough to pass through the beads.









Now, Johnnie, here's the answer you've been waiting for. Johnnie, are you awake? *Slaps Johnnie's knuckles with a ruler, for good "measure"*

The thread line is tied off to an outside stringer. The extra hang is there so that it can be 'woven' into the following row's lines at this end.









I count each row to beads to match the correct numbers and sequence of each color. Since I framed the entire picture with a black border, the first row consists completely of black. 64 of them to be exact.

I load 64 black beads into the line.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Before proceeding, I'm recounting the beads and verifying colors and sequence. Mistakes can be corrected but doing so becomes increasingly more of a hassle as the next step is underway and beyond.

Where I tied off the first beading line is actually the top, right hand corner of the picture. Then I strung the beads onto the line. Next, The enter line is passed underneath the stringers, where the magic begins.









See how I now run the string back through the same row of beads. Only this time I run on TOP of the stringers, locking each individual bead into its own little square on the grid. What you're looking at here is the lower right corner of the picture.









Here's what the first row in progress looks like.

















First three rows.


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## Chaincarver Steve

By the 7th row you can start to see that something is going on here. There's no way you'll ever know what the image will be with this little information. But it should be enough to tease you until the next update.









Since there are 99 rows of 64 and I have the first 7 rows completed, I'm 7% of the way done. With the loom work, that is. There's still a LOT more beads to paint.

This views gives perspective of how little I've completed so far.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

TimT said:


> I'm a bit late to the party, but really interested in the final product. Question regarding the tumbling - could you not have thrown the "stomach" into the dryer and let that do the work for you?


Probably so, yes. But stomachs tend to get queasy when tossed around like that. And if this one would have spewed its innards in my wife's drying it would have been a hell of a hassle getting them out.

Besides, I seriously doubt the dryer could have done this as quickly as I was able to manually.


----------



## thegrgyle

As I was reading your description, I can't believe you are stringing every bead TWICE, and then trying to keep them coordinated by color and position. This is one GIANT exercise in patience to say the least. You are really in inspiration for those of us that do not have patience.

I applaud your efforts, Steve. You are quite a unique individual, and thank you for sharing all of this with us.

WOW!  :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


----------



## Kenbo

Holy crap, this is crazy cool. Can't wait to see more.


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## buggyman1

Dang Steve, i finally get what you're doing. My heads still spinning.


----------



## johnnie52

I have been awake this whole time. I've just been gathering dust in the corner like a good bunny while keeping my big mouth shut.

It took awhile for me to finally grasp how you were going to make this work until after you demonstrated the flat cotter key needle.


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## rayking49

Holy crap and wow! I wish I had just a touch of patience and creative ability as you. Wow.


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## Chaincarver Steve

I got the first 19 rows (well, columns, if you want to be more accurate with respect to final orientation... which I don't) done.


----------



## Smith Brother

Easter bunny, or scene 

And I thought I took on involved projects, LOL. 

Enjoy, have fun, FUN IS GOOD!

Dale in Indy

P.S. I noticed you don't have any pic's in your PHOTO ALBUM?


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## ironman123

*Fruit of the loom? You'll see! (2x4 contest build*

Well Chaincarver Steve, is another hobby collecting string?

Really, I am enjoying this topic and am amazed at your patience and knowledge.

I will be watching this til completion.

Thanks,

Ray


----------



## captainawesome

Have you timed yourself on how long it takes you to finish one row? And then multiplied it by how many rows you have left to do? And then experienced shortness of breath accompanied by a minor panic attack?? 

Seriously though, project is coming along great, and I can't wait to see the final product!!


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

thegrgyle said:


> As I was reading your description, I can't believe you are stringing every bead TWICE, and then trying to keep them coordinated by color and position. This is one GIANT exercise in patience to say the least. You are really in inspiration for those of us that do not have patience.
> 
> I applaud your efforts, Steve. You are quite a unique individual, and thank you for sharing all of this with us.
> 
> WOW!  :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


I appreciate the kind words.

Yup, every bead gets threaded through twice. This is kind of an epic amount of work and repetition for sure. Not really any more work than, say, building a decent piece of furniture. Just a lot of the same operations. Ad nauseum. But I get to see the reward of progress with each step and try to not dwell on the mountain of work yet to be done.

I knew full well what I was getting myself into. I also knew that this would be so radically different than any other Tubafore (2x4) contest entry, ever, I'm sure, that it should stand a 'better than usual' chance of winning. Or, at the least, inspiring awe and making an impression on those who see it. Not that I 'expect' to win; I only hope to win. But I certainly do expect it to turn heads and be talked about for awhile.

Besides, this is something I've wanted to do for a long time. So I win either way. Odds of me doing one of these again (at least at _this_ scale): pretty damn small! :laughing:


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Smith Brother said:


> Easter bunny, or scene
> 
> And I thought I took on involved projects, LOL.
> 
> Enjoy, have fun, FUN IS GOOD!
> 
> Dale in Indy
> 
> P.S. I noticed you don't have any pic's in your PHOTO ALBUM?


Nope, not the Easter Bunny.

About my album, however: You're not the first to point out that I've neglected the album part of my profile. For the record, the observation is noted and I fully intend to rectify that within the next few months. I'm in the process of closing my business (this Sat is our last day open, then about 2 weeks of clearing the building out) then I'll be at home and in my shop a LOT more. This will translate to my having the time to actually start using the album feature of the forum. I have lots of projects to display there.

Thank you for the nudging. 



captainawesome said:


> Have you timed yourself on how long it takes you to finish one row? And then multiplied it by how many rows you have left to do? And then experienced shortness of breath accompanied by a minor panic attack??
> 
> Seriously though, project is coming along great, and I can't wait to see the final product!!


No, I haven't timed any part of this build. (Actually, that's not correct. I did time the tumbling process out of curiosity.) Like you said, panic may set in! Though some aspects of the build have flown surprisingly swiftly. The actual stringing of the beads, however, is a tedious and time consuming process. The longest part is running the line back through the beads that second time. It takes a lot of tugging, manipulation and finessing. And patience.

As long as I keep ahead of the loom work with the painting of the beads I'll be just fine. If I don't it'll cost me a lot of valuable time.


----------



## Shop Dad

Fred Flintstone? Mario? Whatever it is you are setting the bar pretty dang high for this contest. Yikes!


----------



## MapleMoose

This is *insanely* cool!

Rumor has it that for an encore you are building a 1:10,000 scale model of the Great Wall of China. Yeah, okay, I started that rumor. But, hey, what else could you possibly do for an encore after this? :laughing:


----------



## Daddy's Cool

Shop Dad said:


> Fred Flintstone?


That was my guess as well.


----------



## Tommie Hockett

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Not that I 'expect' to win; I only hope to win. But I certainly do expect it to turn heads and be talked about for awhile.


Yeah well you may not expect to win, so I'm expecting it for you. So if you don't win I may be pissed off for you as well lol.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Not Mr. Flintstone. Nor is it Mario Mario (sic). 



MapleMoose said:


> This is *insanely* cool!
> 
> Rumor has it that for an encore you are building a 1:10,000 scale model of the Great Wall of China. Yeah, okay, I started that rumor. But, hey, what else could you possibly do for an encore after this? :laughing:


Well phooey, now the cat's out of the bag.

And really, I'm not concerned with outdoing myself. All I want to do is make cool sh!t.


----------



## 27207

Popeye?


----------



## Rockerbox1

I am kinda thinking it is looking like the marshmellow man from ghost busters.


----------



## johnnie52

Its KILROY!!!!! So he's at your house now too... that guy sure does get around. :laughing:


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

No to all of those guesses.

One thing's for sure; time becomes even more ethereal when I'm working on this. It's 3AM. I'd better get myself to bed.

I'm up to row 30.


----------



## Kenbo

Chaincarver Steve said:


> No to all of those guesses.
> 
> One thing's for sure; time becomes even more ethereal when I'm working on this. It's 3AM. I'd better get myself to bed.
> 
> I'm up to row 30.


LESS TYPING!!!! MORE PICTURES!!!!! :laughing:

Love the progress.


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## Shop Dad

+1 I need my rows man!


----------



## vursenbach

johnnie52 said:


> Its KILROY!!!!! So he's at your house now too... that guy sure does get around. :laughing:


Do you know the real story of Kilroy and how his name got everywhere? Interesting.

Sent from my iPhone using Wood Forum


----------



## Rockerbox1

Ok, please educate me.... Who is kilroy?


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

I know I said there will be color. And there will be (19 in all). But there's still a little ways to go before I reach that point. For now I'm still working with only these 5 hues. But by Monday you'll see some browns and yellows kicking in.









Current progress: 30 lines completed.









Almost 1/3 of the way there!


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## MapleMoose

What, you can't see the resemblance already?


----------



## schnitz

I'll take 3 guesses: Mr. McGoo, Rocky the flying squirrel, or Bullwinkle the Moose.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

*Swing and a miss*

Good guesses though.


----------



## Daddy's Cool

Chaincarver Steve said:


> But by Monday you'll see some browns and yellows kicking in.


Barney Rubble


----------



## buggyman1

If its a cartoon character, it's gotta be Woody Woodpecker, not the right colors though. How bout Tom and Jerry.


----------



## Shop Dad

Daddy's Cool said:


> Barney Rubble


There is something "Hanna Barbera" about it isn't there?


----------



## hays0369

I started working with wood to help me become more patient...but this is WAY out of my league. I am enjoying seeing it come together that is for sure.

Brad


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

There is one white bead that's been driving me crazy (9th row from the right, 18 or so down). It's placed exactly where it should be - just like in the picture I'm working from - but it looks out of place to me. I'll hold off a while longer. Maybe it'll grow on me but, I may end up coloring it black to make it look better.


----------



## johnnie52

just Josh said:


> Ok, please educate me.... Who is kilroy?


During WWII in Europe there was a cartoon graffiti that GI's put all over the place with the words "KILLROY WAS HERE". A interesting article on this famous guy can be had here... 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Chad

and another here...

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1812/whats-the-origin-of-kilroy-was-here

Some of us carried the tradition into Vietnam during the Tet Offensive when we often had to clear towns on a house by house basis.

Consider yourself educated. :laughing:

Meanwhile the full picture that Steve is trying to create alludes me but the method of reproduction is marvelous.


----------



## Black540i

To say that this is a lesson of patience would be an understatement!

It's some form of cartoon character, and from what is being shown, they are snapping their fingers. Could be a bunch of different characters though.


----------



## BigBull

Chaincarver Steve said:


> There is one white bead that's been driving me crazy (9th row from the right, 18 or so down). It's placed exactly where it should be - just like in the picture I'm working from - but it looks out of place to me. I'll hold off a while longer. Maybe it'll grow on me but, I may end up coloring it black to make it look better.


 
You pointed that out just so folks would go back and look didn't you. I looked at it three times and then gave up. LOL, Way to go.


----------



## Hunter

I see the one you are talking about, but wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't pointed it out. Unless you just can't stand it, leave it alone. No one, but you, will notice.

Hunter


----------



## thegrgyle

Chaincarver Steve said:


> There is one white bead that's been driving me crazy (9th row from the right, 18 or so down). It's placed exactly where it should be - just like in the picture I'm working from - but it looks out of place to me. I'll hold off a while longer. Maybe it'll grow on me but, I may end up coloring it black to make it look better.


Its funny you mention that, because I saw that too. When I went back to the pic, I located the one that I saw, and counted, and YEP, thats it. Ain't no big deal, though... It did grow on me after I saw the 30 rows completed. I wouldn't worry about it.

Is the pic still "game-related" like you had originally intended? (for your game room)


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

thegrgyle said:


> Is the pic still "game-related" like you had originally intended? (for your game room)


No, it is not. 

I went with this image largely because my wife loves it. I think it looks cool too. But my wife loves the character it portrays. It's something we can all enjoy seeing on the wall.


----------



## captainawesome

Betty Boop?


----------



## MapleMoose

+1 on the "Hanna Barbera" feel - Scooby Doo? Shaggy?
+1 on leaving the white block alone, at least until you get it up on the wall. If it still bothers you then, go ahead and paint.

This build, the mystery, and the hilarious guessing has just been AWESOME!


----------



## rrbell

Freewheeling Franklin


----------



## Rockerbox1

Is it elroy jetson?


----------



## bigben

huckleberry hound?


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Hehe. No to all. Some great guesses though.


----------



## Dominick

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Hehe. No to all. Some great guesses though.


165 post and still we don't know. 
When are we going to find out Steve? I can't wait!!!!


----------



## 4DThinker

So far I see a hand... Two fingers folded, one pointing, thumb to the left. What comic character has 4 fingers on its left hand?


----------



## johnnie52

Either Mickey or Minnie Mouse... and also Felix the Cat of X rated fame, not the kids cartoon.


----------



## schnitz

4DThinker said:


> So far I see a hand... Two fingers folded, one pointing, thumb to the left. What comic character has 4 fingers on its left hand?


Deputy dog?


----------



## johnnie52

4DThinker said:


> So far I see a hand... Two fingers folded, one pointing, thumb to the left. What comic character has 4 fingers on its left hand?


Pretty much all of them.


----------



## rayking49

Yeah I remember alot of em having hands like that. Reminds me of Fred Flinstone for sure, even if its not.


----------



## Tommie Hockett

we need more pics can't wait to see it. you should do another for the baliegh contest with their logo and use even smaller beads lol


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

As tempting as it is to just come out and tell you guys who the character is, I'm liking the suspenseful, gradual reveal. I figure that with all the time and effort I have in it so far it won't hurt to string you guys along a little longer. Take comfort in the knowledge that my deadline for completion is Thursday night.

I suspect that by Monday or Tuesday the truth will be known.

I sincerely appreciate that you guys are following along with me. And I hope you're enjoying watching it come to life.


----------



## 27207

4DThinker said:


> So far I see a hand... Two fingers folded, one pointing, thumb to the left. What comic character has 4 fingers on its left hand?


He's snapping his fingers too. That should give it away, but I can't remember who did that...


----------



## 27207

Dwillems26 said:


> He's snapping his fingers too. That should give it away, but I can't remember who did that...


I'm sure I figured him out! But i'm not going to give it away. This is too fun! Hopefully I'm right!


----------



## Jeff Shafer

Man you are a master of patience and process! Can't wait to see the final piece, +1 more for a Hanna Barbera theme.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Check out how I used two bulimic beads as one. I figured I'd throw in the complimentary pair of mutants to give something to have people hunt for. :laughing:









Progress as of last night (38/99 rows):









Another three or four rows will see the addition of new coloration to the mix, as one of the character's signature accessories comes into view.



Dwillems26 said:


> He's snapping his fingers too. That should give it away, but I can't remember who did that...





Dwillems26 said:


> I'm sure I figured him out! But i'm not going to give it away. This is too fun! Hopefully I'm right!


Seeing that clue as relevant convinces me that you just might have found the correct answer. I'm rooting for you :thumbsup:


----------



## jstange2

Dwillems26 said:


> I'm sure I figured him out! But i'm not going to give it away. This is too fun! Hopefully I'm right!


I think I've figured it out too. My kids will love it!


----------



## Smith Brother

BULIMIC, there isn't such a word????

Dale in Indy


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Smith Brother said:


> BULIMIC, there isn't such a word????
> 
> Dale in Indy


Sure it is. If one has bulimia (you know, the "binge and purge" condition akin to anorexia) they are said to be "bulimic". I know, it's spelled a little different than it's pronounced.


----------



## Smith Brother

Neither spelling shows up in my Webster language master, BULIMIC,,,,,,,,or BULIMIA, not here in Indy.

Dale in Indy


----------



## jkline805

foghorn leghorn


----------



## mike1950

mario


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Smith Brother said:


> Neither spelling shows up in my Webster language master, BULIMIC,,,,,,,,or BULIMIA, not here in Indy.
> 
> Dale in Indy


Sigh, Google is your friend. And mine.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Smith Brother said:


> Neither spelling shows up in my Webster language master, BULIMIC,,,,,,,,or BULIMIA, not here in Indy.
> 
> Dale in Indy


Your Language Master may be a jack of some trades but it's a master of none. Both words can be found over the internet, including Webster's own site(s).


----------



## vursenbach

Many word are real words but cannot be found in most dictionaries, even if the word is several hundreds of years old, e.g. Cockalorum, twee, hypermicrosoma, squib, etc.

Sent from my iPhone using Wood Forum


----------



## sawdustfactory

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=bulimic


----------



## Rockerbox1

So dale, by continually bringing up the anti bulimia BS, and detailing the thread, I take it you are trying to say, everyone in Indianapolis is over weight?

I live west of Indy, and I know the word.


Now, CCS, you are doing a great job, and I think I know now what character it is, keep up the great work.


----------



## Crusader

Steve, this looks amazing! I've been watching in the wings and I must say it is indeed a treat to see this project
unfold. Your family must be very proud of what you can and do accomplish.
All I can say is your club will be over wowed by your submission!


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

I'm on row 55 now. Between the insane tasks of making, then looming all of these beads, this project is feeling epic. And I'm ready to be done so I can get back to a decent sleep schedule. I am wiped out and in serious need of some good ole fashioned shuteye.

Thanks for the nice comments, guys.


----------



## SebringDon

Chaincarver Steve said:


> I'm on row 55 now. Between the insane tasks of making, then looming all of these beads, this project is feeling epic. And I'm ready to be done so I can get back to a decent sleep schedule. I am wiped out and in serious need of some good ole fashioned shuteye.
> 
> Thanks for the nice comments, guys.


Yeah, sure you're on row 55. Pic or it didn't happen. :laughing:


----------



## GoIrish

SebringDon said:


> Yeah, sure you're on row 55. Pic or it didn't happen. :laughing:


I was thinking it...


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

*When has a photo of bigfoot convinced you of anything?!*



SebringDon said:


> Yeah, sure you're on row 55. Pic or it didn't happen. :laughing:


Sorry about the lack of photographic updates. My work area at my now-closed business is disassembled so I most likely won't be able to post any new photos until tomorrow morning. It's just bad timing but a necessary inconvenience on my part. I'l be taking the day off from packing and hauling tomorrow to make more headway on this project. Time is running out!

You'll like what you see. It's looking really good. And it's about to get a while lot better when I reach the color explosion.

I only got done through row 57 yesterday. But I had to spent time getting the next colors ready: 4 shades of green, three shades of red as well as more blacks, whites and grays. So now I'm good to go for a whole longer. I still have to paint some beads various blue hues.

And my palette is up to 20 colors now. Plus the variations within the clear/natural heading.


----------



## johnnie52

Its OK Steve. I know what its like trying to get several things done at the same time, like walk and chew gum. :laughing:


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Here's more of my palette. Not all, but more of it.









Next line strung and ready to be stitched in.









Here's I was as of quitting time last night. Sorry about the poor focus. I'll be posting more - of course - so I'll make sure they are better next time. I'll also post some close-ups of a few areas. But for now I must get back to it for now. There's a lot more to be done and time is running out.









I'm sure many of you know the answer now (if you didn't already) :thumbsup:


----------



## captainawesome

Well, after a half hour of google imaging every possible description I could possibly think of... I have figured it out. And I hope this means I will finally be able to sleep at night again!

Great progress and I look forward to seeing more rows!!


----------



## 27207

Yep! Its looking great! I almost want to make one, but there's the factor of the work involved lol. I'm very impressed with your hard work and patience.

You would never of thought that came from a 2x4x8. Let alone thinking of making that with one. You'll definitely win the creativity category.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

By the way, the photo makes it look like hourglass shaped. It actually is NOT the way. The height and width are quite straight.


----------



## MapleMoose

Just incredible! :notworthy:


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

just taking a quick lunch break. Then I have to go out and take care of some business related stuff and pick up more white spray paint. I've used up three cans of white so far!

I'm currently on row 70. Only 29 to go after that. But that 29 can represent a LOT of time. I wish I'd kept track of my time on this project. It's taken a huge amount of time so far.

Alright, I'm out. I'll post an updated picture later this evening.


----------



## Shop Dad

Yup, that's enough! Very "cool" Steve.


----------



## thegrgyle

Well, Steve, that is looking FANTASTIC! You are the man!

As far as the character goes, the corncob pipe gives it away, and I was way off on my guesses.

I was noticing that hour glass shape and was wondering if that was an optical illusion, because of the sag, or if you were pulling the strings tighter. Glad to hear it is just an illusion.


That one bead that was bothering you, I don't think you should change it. I think if you did, you would lose some of the definition of that finger. If you are still thinking about it, you could cut a sticky note that size, color it in with a sharpie, and stick on that bead and see .... Maybe you could color it a shade of grey, to create a shadow effect... That could work.

Absolutely incredible work my friend!


----------



## Tommie Hockett

very awesome but tis' past the season lol


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

*So, yeah, it's Frosty The Snowman.*

If anyone is still scratching their head they may have never had a childhood. Nor a child. Nor a wife.

Row 75 is completed. Here's what I see as I'm working on it most of the time. It looks mostly like a jumbled mess. 









But it looks like it's going to shape up nicely.









Close-up of pipe.









Hat and flower, so far.









Back to it.


----------



## ctwiggs1

Chaincarver Steve said:


> If anyone is still scratching their head they may have never had a childhood. Nor a child. Nor a wife.



Winston Churchill?


----------



## MapleMoose

ctwiggs1 said:


> Winston Churchill?


:laughing::laughing::laughing:


----------



## MapleMoose

_Jimmy Durante?_


----------



## tcleve4911

Frosty the Snow Man?????


----------



## Kenbo

Happppppy Biiiiirthday. This is awesome. Nicely done. Can't wait to see it finished


----------



## greekhawk

Definately Frosty!!


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Man oh man, you guys are going to like this. Unfortunately, it's just took late for me to be dealing with the photos right now. But trust me, it is looking sweet!

I have 90 rows done. I'll get the final 9 competed tomorrow night. More bead painting. More stringing. More threading. I can't wait to get it done :thumbsup:


----------



## jkline805

here is what it would look like if you painted that one bead black...


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

jkline805 said:


> here is what it would look like if you painted that one bead black...
> 
> View attachment 67450


Thanks for doing thad. I like it better that way. By virtue of the pixellation process, there can clearly be no perfect conversion. There's a lot of summation and approximation going on. But I knew that pixel should be black.

My palette is actually up to (and capped at) 21 paint colors! Even with that many colors I still had to edit and tweak, both ahead of time on the computer and on the fly.


----------



## frankp

Ihave to say, Steve, this is incredible. Way more work than I could commit to doing, but truly inspiring. Excellent. I bet that weighs a ton too... where's it going? (Sorry if I missed that part.)


----------



## MasterSplinter

OMG amazing.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

frankp said:


> Ihave to say, Steve, this is incredible. Way more work than I could commit to doing, but truly inspiring. Excellent. I bet that weighs a ton too... where's it going? (Sorry if I missed that part.)


Thank you, Frank. It sure been a major undertaking. Very time consuming indeed. Our believe it weighs a lot less than you think. A few pounds at the most. I can give a better estimate once it's off the loom.

It's going on our wall. Either living room or foyer. Probably only seasonally though. Hopefully for a while before then (such as when I get it done) so that we can gawk at it. I'm loving it. Our son thinks it's awesome. And my wife loves it so much she almost tears up :yes:

I just know that it will be a hit with the club tomorrow night.


----------



## greekhawk

Truly awesome I wish I had the patience to do that. Anyway good luck in the contest!


----------



## Art Smith

My guess is that it weighs about what a painted two by four weighs plus some string:laughing:


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Art Smith said:


> My guess is that it weighs about what a painted two by four weighs plus some string:laughing:


Minutes a bunch of saw dust and drillings and a little scrap. I didn't make perfect, complete use of the whole 2x4. But I used most.


----------



## thegrgyle

I gotta say, Steve, that you really know how to think outside the box. 

I talk about this forum alot to my friends and family, and about all the skilled work that goes on, and all the awesome projects, from the turnings, to the built-ins, *COOL* model builds, and the *CUTE* projects like this. When I have a chance to show others some of the stuff that others show off on this forum, your projects are included in them.

I can't wait to see the final product, and I know it will be a HUGE hit tomorrow night.

Are you planning on framing this at all for when you hang it on your wall?


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

*And now: The fruit of this loom.*



thegrgyle said:


> I gotta say, Steve, that you really know how to think outside the box.
> 
> I talk about this forum alot to my friends and family, and about all the skilled work that goes on, and all the awesome projects, from the turnings, to the built-ins, *COOL* model builds, and the *CUTE* projects like this. When I have a chance to show others some of the stuff that others show off on this forum, your projects are included in them.
> 
> I can't wait to see the final product, and I know it will be a HUGE hit tomorrow night.
> 
> Are you planning on framing this at all for when you hang it on your wall?


Why, thank you for holding my work in such high esteem. It makes me proud! And t means a lot to me for you to say such a thing.

I will be building a frame of some sort for it. For now it may have to be shown and judged while still in the loom. But who knows. I may get brave and go ahead and remove it before heading to the meeting (meeting is 7-9 PM) where judging will take place.

And I see what you did there :thumbsup:

-------------------------------

Oh, by the way... It's done!

You'll notice that I blackened that one white pixel I disliked. It looks more appropriate now.









This row of blacks here? That's my victory lap. One final spin up and down the loom.









And now, the moment we've all been waiting for. May I present to you: Frosty The Snowman!









Isn't he CUTE? :laughing:









And it is now 2AM. It's time for some rest.


----------



## 27207

Wow. it's amazing how a few colors strung along many times strategically can look that good. Simply amazing work!


----------



## Phaedrus

That snowman is cuter than a wooden model of a Hummer!

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX using Woodworking Talk


----------



## rayking49

Totally cool Steve. If that doesn't win first prize there's some judges who need to be strung up- pardon the pun.


----------



## Rockerbox1

What an awesome project. The absolute last thing I would ever think of to come from a 2x4.


----------



## Kenbo

thegrgyle said:


> *COOL* model builds, and the *CUTE* projects like this.


:laughing:


----------



## Shop Dad

Fantastic work Steve! Regardless of the contest you are a winner here and it looks to me like you have a new family heirloom pulled out during the holidays every year. Well done buddy!


----------



## frankp

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Thank you, Frank. It sure been a major undertaking. Very time consuming indeed. Our believe it weighs a lot less than you think. A few pounds at the most. I can give a better estimate once it's off the loom.
> 
> It's going on our wall. Either living room or foyer. Probably only seasonally though. Hopefully for a while before then (such as when I get it done) so that we can gawk at it. I'm loving it. Our son thinks it's awesome. And my wife loves it so much she almost tears up :yes:
> 
> I just know that it will be a hit with the club tomorrow night.


Somehow I totally missed the part where this was made from a 2x4! That doesn't weigh that much at all. Now I'm even more impressed!


----------



## Dave Paine

Shop Dad said:


> Fantastic work Steve! Regardless of the contest you are a winner here and it looks to me like you have a new family heirloom pulled out during the holidays every year. Well done buddy!


You took the words right out of my keyboard. :laughing:

If the forum were judging you would have first prize. :thumbsup:

A very unusual and creative way to use a 2x4. You have a lot more patience than I would have for this project. I have done some which I considered time consuming, but they did not take as many hours as yours.

Now we just need to wait and hear the results of the competition. :icon_smile:


----------



## mengtian

You have made me want to try this! But I don't think I have the patience. I showed my wife and she said if I cut the wood she would do the rest.

Good inspirational thread on what you can do with one piece of wood.


----------



## 27207

mengtian said:


> You have made me want to try this! But I don't think I have the patience. I showed my wife and she said if I cut the wood she would do the rest.


It's a trap! My wife pulls that trick all the time.


----------



## Longknife

Shop Dad said:


> Fantastic work Steve! Regardless of the contest you are a winner here and it looks to me like you have a new family heirloom pulled out during the holidays every year. Well done buddy!


I totally agree. You have made a fantastic performance here. First coming up with the idea of transforming a 2x4 to this and then actually doing it. Absolutely amazing :thumbsup:


----------



## Smith Brother

Nice job, FOR SURE......

Such required a lot of busy work, YOU KNOW WELL, I'm sure. 

Did you find the picture you wanted, then graphed it off to the size of your cubes, and then use such for your work pattern?

Hope you do well with your club. 

Dale in Indy


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Smith Brother said:


> Nice job, FOR SURE......
> 
> Such required a lot of busy work, YOU KNOW WELL, I'm sure.
> 
> Did you find the picture you wanted, then graphed it off to the size of your cubes, and then use such for your work pattern?
> 
> Hope you do well with your club.
> 
> Dale in Indy


I ended up searching images for "snowman", since my wife is a huge fan. And she especially likes Frosty. So when I came across that image I knew it was the one. Especially since it had just enough to color to satisfy my craving for vibrancy.

I then reduced the image size to a small thumbnail of the proper pixel count. I enlarged the image 800 percent and added grid lines to isolate each individual pixel.

I made two printed copies, which I used as a checks and balances system to prevent any costly errors in the construction process.


----------



## mdntrdr

Very cool project! :santa:

Thanks for sharing. :smile:


----------



## ctwiggs1

Dwillems26 said:


> It's a trap! My wife pulls that trick all the time.


+1 :yes:


----------



## Smith Brother

Well, it looks, great. 

I have used the grid/graph method often. I just finished a Communion table for a local church, and only had side and head on pic,s to go by. 

Tonight's, the night.

Enjoy,

Dale in Indy


----------



## Tommie Hockett

Ok so where is your club located at? And if theydo not give you first I will need the individual adresses of the judges I will have to go have a chat with them :2guns:.... Just kidding.......Or am I?


----------



## sawdustfactory

That is way too cool! Love it. You, kenbo and buggyman are neck and neck for who's got the craziest amount of patience. :yes:


----------



## Hunter

It looks great. Hope you walk away with first place and all the bragging rights!

My wife can never see this or I will be making one too.

Hunter


----------



## johnnie52

Few projects leave me totally speechless, but this one does. If we ever decide to have a "Hall of Fame" on here... I vote for this as one of the first members!

Now about that bunch of Judges. If you don't bring home 1st place, I'll be attending your next club meeting, with my scooter.... and well you can guess what just might happen....


----------



## tcleve4911

Hello????
Excuse me......
You had a brief contest for guessing what the picture was....

I believe Frosty was my vote.....jus' sayin'

And my other vote is for you to win the contest 'cause you won over everyone here.
Great job, Steve...........again:thumbsup:


----------



## Burb

Phaedrus said:


> That snowman is cuter than a wooden model of a Hummer!


Bazinga....

Mark


----------



## buggyman1

Steve, thats just incredible. I truly am speechless. WOW!!! Talk about raising the bar! We now know who created the bar. Great job my friend, you truly are an inspiration.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Wow, there's some hard-to-live-up-to words there. I'm touched that you'd say that. Thank you very much.


----------



## buggyman1

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Wow, there's some hard-to-live-up-to words there. I'm touched that you'd say that. Thank you very much.


And you're worth it. Make sure you post a pic of that blue ribbon.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Aright, it was a great night! I won the second place prize package: a Home Depot bucket filled with $50 worth of toils and stuff :thumbsup: Not too shabby.

Let me tell you guys - and this is no exaggeration - Frosty absolutely floored the crowd and the judges. My project generated more interest, more conversation, more questions, more intrigue, more praise... more awe, than every other project combined: by a full order of magnitude. The project absolutely killed. They were enthralled. About that I am very proud and humbled.

The response and effect it had on the entire scene is uncanny.

First place was awarded to s man who made a really cool salesman sample-like hutch with doors and drawers at the bottom and open shelf area up top. You know, the judges had a tough job. If the contest was all about popularity I would have won, hands down. I have little doubt of that.

I but really respect and admire that the judges were able to consider more than just the pizzazz and wow factor and also see the skill, technique and craftsmanship. The judges didn't just go with the crowd's momentum and assume that my piece was "the best". We aren't taking about experienced judges. These were the department heads and store manager. But their decision was thoughtful and, probably, perfectly executed.

Thank you Home Depot, southside Lakeland. Your guys did a fine job. :thumbsup:


----------



## thegrgyle

Well, Steve, that is an awesome attitude to have, and you have a nice piece of decorative artwork that your family will enjoy for many years to come. You really are a true woodworker, doing it for the love of the hobby, and not for accolades. I am glad that I get to be a spectator in it.

You know you won first place here.

So $50 in HD stuff... What does that work out to? about 10 cents per hour worked on this project?:blink::thumbdown::yes::laughing:


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Umm, "uncanny" was the wrong word. "Surreal", maybe.


----------



## Dave Paine

We were all wanting you to get first prize Steve, so now we are sharing your disappointment. We all wanted to read that you won first prize.:sad:

Happy to read the peer reaction, which was the same mix of very positive comments and praise as the readers on the forum.

The only consolation, is that you have a terrific result to display proudly for each winter season.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Dave Paine said:


> We were all wanting you to get first prize Steve, so now we are sharing your disappointment. We all wanted to read that you won first prize.:sad:
> 
> Happy to read the peer reaction, which was the same mix of very positive comments and praise as the readers on the forum.
> 
> The only consolation, is that you have a terrific result to display proudly for each winter season.


I'm not disappointed at all. With all of the adoration and love my project received, I am more than happy with the outcome. Being the crowd favorite outweighed judgement placement.


----------



## Smith Brother

Certainly is WONDERFUL being "PEOPLE'S CHOICE"......

I would love to see pic's of the other entries.

Dale in Indy


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Smith Brother said:


> Certainly is WONDERFUL being "PEOPLE'S CHOICE"......
> 
> I would love to see pic's of the other entries.
> 
> Dale in Indy


I did take some pictures so i'll post a few.


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## Shop Dad

Congrats Steve! Sounds like a very successful night! It's nice to have your work recognized (...and by real people in the flesh, not just the peanut gallery here. :laughing: )


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## rrbell

Great job Steve. Out of the box thinking on this one, for sure!


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## johnnie52

Well now Steve, I am both happy and saddened by your report. Its always nice when a group of your peers are stunned by your efforts. However after reading the description of what the winner made, I can understand why his was awarded 1st place.

Great job on 2nd place! I also await the pictures of the other projects.


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## MapleMoose

Congratulations Steve! Thank you for sharing this build with us and for your candid review of the judging process. Frosty is AWESOME!

Here is my suggestion for a frame: make it big enough to hold pictures all around (or at least along the bottom). In those picture spots, put key pic's from the build.


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## TimT

How many 2x4's can you buy with $50?


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## tcleve4911

Just so you know, we still have snow on the ground here in Maine...?.
Frosty is alive and well....


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## Capwood

*Adding My Congrats*

While we've never met, Steve, I have to say it would be fun to sit and have a brewski with you after seeing the project. Your patience, your creativity, your ability to tell the story--it all added up to a brilliant thread.

Like others, I thought your attitude throughout was of a higher caliber than most of the people we ever meet. You are one in million--and so was the project. Great testimony. Thank you!


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## vursenbach

You started a great thread, made something wonderful, and kept everyone entertained. You did a great job. Thanks for the ride. Your frosty was an A+ in my book. I think this year has been great for different projects on WWT.


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## Dominick

Very cool Steve. Lots of detail, but if its frosty, why the fruit of the loom topic? 
Sorry if I missed something. Lol
Very nice work though as usual.


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## Chaincarver Steve

TimT said:


> How many 2x4's can you buy with $50?


Not enough to make me want to do this again :laughing:


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## Chaincarver Steve

Dominick said:


> Very cool Steve. Lots of detail, but if its frosty, why the fruit of the loom topic?
> Sorry if I missed something. Lol
> Very nice work though as usual.


The thread title is simply word play on the fact that the final product is, in effect, the "fruit" of the loom I constructed. And to make people wonder what the hell I'm actually making!


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## Dominick

Thanks Steve. Lol. I kinda thought that, and you most certainly did. Very cool!!! 
How did you come up with that idea? And why?


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## Chaincarver Steve

I somehow managed not to get any photos of the first of the three tables. But I did capture the three winners.

First place went to the small hutch to the immediate right of the clock. The man standing behind it is not the maker. I believe he's the one who made the clock.









Closer view of the lower section.









The treasure chest was the third place winner. The box, clasp and hinges are all wooden. And there is a working padlock and key for it sitting inside the chest. The fuel tank and rocket boosters on the shuttle are made of cardboard tubes. There's pillow stuffing smoke and LED flashlights in the rockets to illuminate the smoke.









"Homer D. Poe" is a character Home Depot had trademarked in the 80's or 90's (I believe).









And, of course, there's mine. Second place.











Dominick said:


> Thanks Steve. Lol. I kinda thought that, and you most certainly did. Very cool!!!
> How did you come up with that idea? And why?


I did some Indian seed bead (loom beading) when I was in the Boy Scouts, way back when. I always thought it would be cool to do something like that on a larger scale. Not the same 'ole geometric kinds of patterns but, an actual. I thought the whole pixelated look would make for an interesting and unique piece that would make it worth the effort.

I kind of wanted to make it last year for the contest but really didn't feel that I could pull it off in time. So I made a red-painted chair that used every bit of the 2x4, minus a short cut off at each end to remove the rough, ragged end grain.


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## Dominick

2nd place!!!! That's awesome man!!!!! Good for you, but I think yours is better than that small hutch. JMO


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## Chaincarver Steve

This is the left over beads. It looks like my estimating method worked out pretty darned well. I hoped to have a buffer right around 200 extras to prevent danger of running out due to margin of error in my method or the weeding out of bad beads. And this is about 225 extra beads.









Here's my prize package. I estimated it to be around $50. They didn't explicitly state a dollar value (this year. They did last year.)


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## Tommie Hockett

Well bud I am happy if you are happy but I still think you should have gotten first.


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## Kenbo

Tommie Hockett said:


> Well bud I am happy if you are happy but I still think you should have gotten first.




+1 on that. This was an awesome project for sure and I have to say you impressed the heck out of me. Nicely done. I really enjoyed this thread.


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## tcleve4911

Honestly, they all look great!!!
A hutch ?
A musical instrument box!?
The intarsia crane?

Are you kidding??
You are in very good company Steve....congrats!!!!


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## J Thomas

Damn Steve!! I haven't been on for awhile & had to read thru all 6 pages.. I was thinking Casper the friendly ghost but the corncob pipe shot that down!!
I kinda wish you had kept track of the time involved.. I know it was a LOT!
Great job, Great detail and congrats on the win..
..Jon..


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## Smith Brother

Seems so STRANGE to see this thread so idle.

What's next Chaincarver Steve? Maybe a model of the, "Bridge to nowhere".

Dale in Indy


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## Tommie Hockett

so you know how your computer knows what you look at and shows ads appropriate in the sidebar? Well I have looked at this thread so much that I got fruit of the loom ads now lmao


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## Chaincarver Steve

Tommie, now that's funny!

There was some other details about the beading process I've considered adding but I don't want to milk the thread too much with trivial details.

I removed the tapestry from the loom this weekend and disassembled the loom. I'm trying to clear room to start in the Baileigh contest. I wish this wasn't going on at the same time I'm clearing out my electronics business. I've been having to use the shop as temporary holding quarters for some of that stuff and it's creating a cramped working environment. But nothing will hold me back from participating in the contest. I will be starting within a few days.


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## rrbrown

Congrats Steve, I've been busy with other stuff and haven't posted much lately. I would say that's some good company to be in and still get 2nd place. The fact that this stuff was all made with a 2x4 is amazing to say the least.:thumbsup:


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## GROOVY

I just hope Frosty comes back for Christmas.................Thumpetty thump thump


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## Raselei

Steve, I've been away from WWT for quite some time, so I just got around to reading this build from start to finish. It got me thinking (never a good thing for my already seriously stretched time budget) that something like this would be an excellent way to get some break time from my kayak build but still get to play in the shop. Now to pick an image and decide just how insane I am.

Thanks for the excellent build report, was an absolute pleasure to read through and I'm with the rest that you 1, are a bit insane and 2, should have won!


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