Everyone knows I love doing extra credit projects. Well, I wrapped on my MG-2 sculpture project much earlier than I expected, so I couldn't help experimenting with a thought that occurred to me during its production.
Originally, I was using ceramic bearings for both the MG-1 and the MG-2. These bearings are very hard, which is what makes them such good bearings. However, this is not good for some applications and I found that they were not friendly to some of the softer metals I was using. This led me to think there was no way I could use aluminum in conjunction with this mechanical arrangement.
But during development of MG-2, I also started experimenting with Delrin bearings, which are a hard plastic. Turns out, they are just hard enough to work as a bearing, but much softer then ceramic, and to my surprise, much gentler on the races of my MG pieces.
But during development of MG-2, I also started experimenting with Delrin bearings, which are a hard plastic. Turns out, they are just hard enough to work as a bearing, but much softer then ceramic, and to my surprise, much gentler on the races of my MG pieces.
At some point during fabrication of MG-2, I realized that this might open the door to doing a completely anodized aluminum version of the piece, as the Delrin is soft enough not to damage an anodized bearing race, which is something the ceramic bearings would surely do. This would allow a much wider range of colors and all but eliminate the other weight issue I had with the MG-2.
Unfortunately the ship had sailed on MG-2 to try it, but I just couldn’t resist and so here we are with a prototype for what I am calling MG-3.
Functionally it is very close to MG-2 but with a new profile and as you might imagine, the color variations are limited only by the number of dye tanks I have. I like doing things in three’s anyway, so I am going to make this an official release and call it the last of the MG series.
So I am going to open this up to a very small and limited edition. I am going to do a “FLASH SIGN UP!!”
Sounds fancy right!
Basically, I want to limit the number of pieces I am going to make. Rather than a raffle or something like that, I want to try something new. I am going to severely limit the sign up window. I will open a pre-order sign up similar to past sign ups, but the form will only be live for exactly ten minutes. YEP…ONLY TEN MINUTES!
I will open the form at 12Noon EST this Thursday, June the 6th. I will close the form at 12:10 PM. No exceptions and only one work per person.
I am going to open up the color choice completely (something I never do) and allow you to choose any color combination you like, so long as it is a color that I already have set up. Here is the list.
- Clear (No dye or raw aluminum look)
- Bright Orange
- Champaign copper
- Deep copper (same dye as above just longer soak)
- Green
- Teal
- Violet (Purple)
- Blue (its like a royal blue)
- Red (Merlot)
- Black
Those are the colors I am working with currently, so you will be able to choose what ever you want for both the bodies and the inlays. I will work this out on the form. Examples of each of these colors can be seen by looking through my catalogues of work on my website.
OK, that’s all for now. I will email the link to my mailing list at 12Noon on Thursday and post it to this blog and Instagram as well. I will close the form AFTER ONLY TEN MINUTES. This is only for the most dedicated collectors among you, so this should be fun.
Good luck.