Steam Bending Experiment 2 – Success
I write this as I sip a beer in celebration. My second steam box was a success, but only after some mid-steam additions.
I bought some flexible ducting from a reclamation yard for £10, strapped it down to a study stretcher and blanked off the ends. I steamed a few strips of 2x1 pine and maple for an hour. They had hardly become flexible at all and were not even that hot or moist to the touch. I pondered and decided the steam was condensing back into water too quickly. The heat and water was escaping from the steam box and not being forced into the wood.
So I improved the seal at the top end, shortened the hose and insulated the whole thing with multiple layers of cotton sheeting, blankets and reflective Mylar sheets. After doing this the outside surface became only warm to the touch where it was previously untouchably hot, the trickle of water reduced to a drip and the small jet of steam escaping became more furious. This all suggested that both the temperature and the pressure inside were rising. And it seemed to work because after 3 hours in the steam box I was able to bend my test piece.
All the steam-bending books recommend green wood but absolutely insist on knot-free, straight grain with no grain run-offs. This 2x1 pine is about 2 years old so it's not particularly green. It has paint on 2 sides but I chose it for it's straight grain and knot-free construction. It was steaming for 3 hours but the first hour and a half of that was without the improved insulation. I reckon it would need less to do it again. It took a fair amount of force to bend it into place and it looked, felt and sounded on the limit of breaking.
Note: It was very hot to the touch which I think is a good guide for future bends.
This experiment was a test of the steam box not the jig but it is worth noting that I did not have enough clamp points along the curve. I spaced them every 15 cms and as a result the arc is not perfect with visible flat sections and tight bends disrupting it. For proper projects I reckon I am going to have to invest in about 20 more clamps and make the jig from MDF shaped with a jigsaw.
Conclusions:
- Insulation is one of the key factors to building a functional steam box. If you have to write "Caution: Hot surface" on it then you haven't insulated it enough.
- 2x1 kiln dried pine needs about 2.5 hours of steaming if you wish to bend it to a curve with an 80 cm radius.
- You can never have enough clamp points along the curve. Buy more G-clamps.
Steam Bending Experiment 1 – Fail
I used a length of PVC soil pipe, a plumbing fitting and an electric wallpaper steamer to make a steam box with the intention of steam bending wood. For 15 minutes it worked fine, a little trickle of water flowed out the bottom end into the bucket and a small jet of steam puffed from both ends of the pipe confirming that the entire length of wood was engulfed in the hot vapour.
Then, as I sat back to admire my handiwork, I noticed the pipe was moulding to the contours of the chairs it was resting on. The PVC pipe could not take the heat and was melting. I abandoned the experiment. The wood had started to become flexible so it's clear that to make this project successful I just need to build the steam box out of metal pipe instead of PVC. I think the cheapest metal pipe is stove pipe or ducting, so I will contact some heating suppliers and scrap metal merchants tomorrow.
Can you think of a cheaper way to get a long metal container? If so, comment now.
Cover of Class Actions
Earlier today Aslan Ak posted his latest political rap piece on my Facebook wall. The anti-conservative parody is typical content for the extreme leftist act Click here to view David Cameron by Class Actions. Spouting hatred for thatcherism and set to a 90s synthpop house instrumental it was familier territory for the group.
Which lead me to thinking... your typical tory-boy is not going to listen to a thumping house beat with aggressive vocals. If Aslan's goal is to convert beliefs, then using a style established in an already lefty society is ineffective. A more subversive way to sway votes would be to present your leftist reasoning in a form that is familier to a rightist voter. Of course this is all speculation - I don't know if Aslan is wanting to sway votes - and actually digresses from the topic of this post.
I started considering how many styles one set of lyrics could be presented in. Regular open mic'ers Andy and Chris did an acoustic cover of Do You Feel Safe, the original of which is quite different.
- Click here to view Do You Feel Safe original by Class Actions
- Click here to view Do You Feel Safe cover by Andy and Chris
With the instrumental stripped down to a minimalist acoustic riff, Andy's added in his own lyrics and used his Glaswegian dontgivafuck style vocal to make the song his own. It went down very well at open mic amongst those who got the reference. Andy writes his own poems and his usual reading style has a relaxed but confident drive behind it. Click here to view Andy reading in his own style. However, on this cover he sounds a little unsettled, a result that I put down to the fact that he's mimicking Aslan's shoutrap style.
So what if the lyrics were hardly modified at all but the rhythm and reading style was altered. I visited the band's website at www.classactionsuk.com/, got hold of the lyrics and decided to have a go at doing my own interpretation in the style I would read my own poetry...
(embedded video may not be visible if reading this post via Facebook. Click here to view original post.)
I make a fair few cock ups and the recording is technically not that great but I enjoyed doing it. I found it refreshing to hear Aslan's words outside the context of a shouty rap song and it was a good opportunity to get my acting skills out. I tried to visualise the image behind each lyric and feel the emotion. It took me 6 attempts before I recorded the version that eventually made it's way to YouTube.
Comment and let me know what you think (Facebook users click "View original post" before commenting)
A good piece of art at the Brewhouse in Taunton
I popped into the Brewhouse on my way home from town today and found this wicked piece of cardboard sculpture on show in the gallery. It's free to go in so take the time to check it out next time you're passing by.
Chat roulette open mic and the events cultural foundations
Last night was a Chat Roulette themed Open Mic. Quite a simple concept I thought. Inspired by Merton's Piano Improv videos I decided to recreate the situation on a live stage.
This idea appealed to a lot of people and out of all the themed open mic nights I have done so far this one drew the most pre-event interest. I received several messages during the day checking that it was still happening. Performers like Lawrance and Paul both worked with the images on the screen to entertain our randomly selected chat partner and as they expressed delight with smiles and raised thumbs on the screen, the live audience in the venue responded. The intertwining relationships between the stage, the remote webcam connection and the punters in the room was a lot of fun and I received a lot of compliments for making it happen. But for one person in particular this was a highly offensive and inappropriate thing for me to do. And although you may now be expecting me to talk about nudity in fact it was something else entirely that angered this performer.
Before I talk specifically about him let me lay down some background. Open Mics are unplanned environments where everyone in the room can posses a different set of expectations. Therefore performers are tested on their skills to improvise more than anything else. I believe the ability to adapt and work with the crowd you get given is way more important than technical ability. At most open mic events the challenge comes from natural things, like predictable audience types (large and noisy or quiet and respectful). Then there's planned tests of creativity thrown in by the host like my addition of the Chat Roulette screen or Simon (Monday nights @ Oddfellows, Exeter) organising his poe-offs where he gets 2 previously unacquainted poets to take turns reading verses.
Whatever new things get thrown at a performer they have three choices:
- They think on their feet and adapt to the situation or challenge as best they can.
- They accept they cannot adapt and gamble by doing a pre-planned performance hoping it will be a hit.
- They get themselves all hot and bothered and attempt to change the situation to match their preconceived image of how the night should be and when they are met with failure, blame everything but themselves.
The first two options are legitimate approaches to performing, both with equal chance of success but the third is an attitude doomed to failiure and it was exhibited last night by Sideways Dave.
Above is a picture that I took showing the laptop, the camcorder and Sideways Dave just before he stormed off stage mid-song announcing "I've had enough of this". Dave's interpretation of the situation was that more people were paying attention to the screen than him. My interpretation is that Dave had completely failed to grasp the concept that he was ON that screen and had the ability to interact with it however he wished.
Ironically the final nail in the coffin was when the battery on the laptop died causing the screen to go blank. This resulted in a collective roar of disappointment from the audience similar to when England miss a penalty shot in the World Cup. Dave could have used this as an oportunity to get one back at technology, he could have made a witty remark and regained the attention. But no! He was just stuck in this miopic attempt to bash out a generic performance and as such left the stage. His rebellious protest actually earned him the biggest round of applause I have ever seen him receive which has me confused. I genuinely do not know whether the rapturous applause was in support of his protest against a noisey audience (technically not possible), whether it was in support of him leaving the stage (a bit too nasty of the audience to be so), or whether is was the product of a confused audience hearing one person clapping enthusiastically and following suit (the most likely reason).
Apologies if I sound harsh and unfair. Dave is a talented player who has studied Bob Dylan intimately but he's a serial offended when it comes to moaning and it's simply pushed me to my limit. He has previous for this kind of behaviour and is always very vocal and critical of my ideas in contrast to several others who give me words of support for ingenuity. I see him as a bizarre kind of workman turning up to a job with only one screwdriver and then blaming the client for having different sized screws. He has a repertoire that ranges from slow sombre to moody melancholic and a preoccupation with this idea that all open mic events should be quiet straight-edge affairs where the entire audience sit in perfect silence watching the stage for the entire night. And when he turns up at The Perfect 5th on a Sunday to find an energetic audience, intoxicated and demanding, guess who gets an earfull... me, the host! Now I don't mind people disagreeing with me. It's perfectly natural for my ideas to be incompatible with other people's plans, but he expects me to change the unchangeable. You can't outsource an impossible task to me and then blame me for failing. Dave has been to the event on previous Sundays when it's quiet and he's had a completely attentive and sober audience hanging on his every word. He knows it's unpredictable but does he change his act at all... no!
So my words to any performer is this. If you are not prepared to have a large repertoire and adapt your style of delivery and set content in the 10 minutes before you walk on stage, get used to failing to entertain and accepting that failure.
There is of course ways that I could change my night to provide performers like Dave with what they want. I could charge a fee on the door which would discourage those there only for the drink. I could verbally tirade the audience demanding complete silence before a performer begins and ask anyone talking during songs to leave. I could pre-book acts and advertise them in advance so audiences know what to expect and can choose not to attend. But I don't want to introduce any of these because I don't think Taunton can handle that kind of specific event. The population of pro-culture punters is so small that when you divide it into subgroups you are left with unsustainable audience sizes. The only option is to combine mis-matched genres and let he who shouts the loudest win. It's a horrible situation for any venue owner or individual music lover to be in but why do you think I spend hundreds of pounds in transport costs each month taking my poetry to places like Bristol and Exeter. Because they are the locations who have enough cultured people that you can drill down to very niche groups and still be able to fill a modest venue.
Please do comment on this post:
- Is Taunton cultured enough to play host to specific sub genres like Poetry/Flamenco/Grime/Folke?
- Should I introduce measures to my open mic to discourage non-musos at the risk of killing it's popularity?
- Is Dave representative of performers and should I stop expecting acts to be creative?
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Man uses Pendulum to hypnotise provincial town
If you like music that sound like an enthusiastic elderly science teacher playing the kazoo along to a drum machine then why not check out ADHD endorsing band, Pendulum. Their vocals are that of a 90s boyband but instead of using a soppy key changing ballad for instrumental backing they use really mismatched aggressive digital drum loops and what sounds like a 99 pence plastic kazoo for the melody. The music completely lacks any subtlety and these guys must be geniuses to make money from this shit! Can there possibly be a better business model?
Yes there can! Why not drop all the expense and effort of performing live and just get paid to play CDs...
Above is the poster for tonight's big event with a few corrections made. I figured people wouldn't want to cause Mr and Mrs Pendulum any stress by asking them to perform live and would be much more inclined to purchase tickets if they knew they were only going to be playing CDs.
Of course you get much more for your £10 ticket, you get to see some people with non-grammatical spellings in their name and even more spell-check-offending diction in brackets after their names, take that establishment! They also have a Master of Ceremonies called Verse who I predict will essentially just be shouting a lot. And of course it wouldn't be a Taunton night without La Luka and Krausey.
If you haven't already got tickets for tonight then tough luck, they sold out ages ago. Your only way to get your fix of DJs with stupidly spelt names is to go to The Perfect 5th where you can see CYBIN + MC Skuph, LOCKS'EM, MC SWEET PEA (MADMANARMY) and SPLINTA. Wow! Stick that lot up your red-squiggly under-liner.
Alternatively channel 4 are showing Embarrassing Bodies followed by Facejacker followed by The Ricky Gervais Show. And if you don't like that lot why not check out Film4 who are showing feel good family film School of Rock (featuring the smoking hot Sarah Silverman) followed by Tim Burton's 2001 remake of cult classic Planet of the Apes.
Why cyclists break the law and hosepipe bans save water
Cyclists have an emotional connection to the energy needed to travel at speed. Acceleration on a bike involves sensations of heat, tension, moisture, movement and exhaustion. In contrast, a car driver's communication with the use of stored energy is muted and abstracted. It comes from this strange liquid fuel hidden from sight in a tank. In other words cyclists experience a sense of having invested a part of themselves into the process of moving and are inclined to be efficient in everything they do.
Whatever vehicle you are in, if you see a clear and safe route through a red light, one way system or pedestrianised area you have a choice to stop or continue. Not only do cyclists have more options of routes due to their size but also a psychological reasoning heavily weighted in favour of not stopping. It's easy to forget that every time you press the brake or take the long way in the car you are wasting fuel. But the immediate sense of loss when you squeeze the stop lever or get redirected on a bike is inescapable and being told to stop by an unnecessary red light or signpost simply feels more insulting and unfair.
Whilst washing the car yesterday, idly spraying gallons of crystal clear aqua over the soapy contours of the Toyota, I thought about hosepipe bans and realised it's the same type of emotional connection that makes them work. They reduce wasted water by simply changing the method of application. By making people transport the H2O in a bucket you force them to build a relationship with the stuff which encourages conservative usage.
I was then reminded of a phrase my friend Andrew often uses. Whenever we see a case of blatant overspending in public sector business he sums it up by saying "It's easy to spend someone else's money". I know I have been more liberal when spending a company's budget in the past. Happily paying over value for an item that I almost certainly would have shopped around for if buying with my own cash. It's the same lack of emotional connection with the enabling resource and complete absence of personal accountability for it's wastage.
I personally would like to see every moaning driver spend a day using a bike as their normal form of transport. Not a leisurely ride to the canal and back on a Sunday afternoon but an actual time critical commute to an arranged meeting. I bet these motorist would change their attitude to the numerous automatic lights once they'd spent a day being legally forced to give way to the invisible man every hundred yards. I want to make every motorist become more understanding of cyclists who break the law.
Please comment now and don't forget to say if you use car, bike or both for time-critical travel. (Facebook users click "View original post" first)
Credits: Thank you to Pip Broadribb for snapping the incriminating photograph of me above. You captured my inner public school boy well.
Krishnan Guru-Murthy’s tie supplier found! (follow-up post)
After posting this blog last night I emailed Channel 4. They replied this morning with this to say...
Dear Martin,Thank you for contacting Channel 4 Viewer Enquiries regarding CHANNEL 4 NEWS. Krishnan gets his suits and ties from Gresham Blake. Here is a link to the website: http://www.greshamblake.com/. Thank you again for taking the time to contact us here at Channel 4 and for your interest in our programming.Regards,Lorna DaneChannel 4 Viewer Enquiries
Krishnan Fashion Guru-Murthy’s Cool Pink Cherub Tie
After watching tonight's Channel 4 debate show on the political campaigns it is clear that a lot of people will be left asking one question...
Where did Krishnan Guru-Murthy get his super cool tie from?! Now this may be my imagination playing tricks on me but isn't that a cherub holding an AK-47? A funky azure blue motif on powder pink background rendered in fine silk fabric?! I want one!
I have Google'd to my best abilities and yet nothing. So I put it to the experts. If you search for "Mens Ties" the top results contain ww.swaggerandswoon.com, www.tiesplanet.com, www.moss.co.uk and www.savilerowco.com. As soon as I post this blog I am going to email each of these companies asking if they can help. The company who reply first with details of where I can purchase this tie will not only win my custom but also get linked from this post and hailed by me as the greatest tie retailer in the world.
UPDATE (24 Apr '10): Since this was blog was posted I have found the retailer! Please see this follow-up post.
Open Tales (open mic) at The Junction, Bristol
Last night I headed up to Stokes Croft in Bristol to a quirky little venue called the Junction. Still open for business through it's ongoing renovation the ex-metal bar is now under the same ownership as city centre trendy-magnet, Mr Wolfs. It's obvious the building is still in the early stages of a facelift but so far the new ownerships have brought with them box fresh air-conditioning, replacement plaster-boarding, tabletop candles, ambient down-lighting and I think the bar and furniture are new too. Work is happening daily and with plans for a pizzeria upstairs I have a feeling this will soon be a key venue for this part of Bristol. I can imagine the footfall that Invisible Circus pull down this end of the graffiti clad area of the city will do well for them too.
So on to the live performance aspect of the night. The Northern Irish folke act who host the event are Annie and Jimmy, a young duo with captivating sincerity and talent. The name of the event is open tales and every performer is made equipped with a Wolf's tale before taking to the stage. The night drew an excellent crowd of attentive listeners just perfect for a relaxed Monday evening. The acts alternated between folke music and contemporary poetry all evening with a bit of acoustic rockpop thrown in. I really enjoyed my evening and it was a pleasure to perform there. I will definitely be heading that way again on a Monday night in the future.