The Dangerous Kitchen – Infernal Device ArtPrize Grand Rapids

(above: Myke Amend stands amidst a tight gathering of machines, hanging tools, sorted wood, and machine parts)

One of several things we aim to fix along the way – we each have our own individual work spaces (some more cramped than others), and will definitely need one nice sized workspace near our venue for the final build (or sooner).

Workshop 1 — A close gathering of tools and equipment, surrounded by hanging tools, stretcher bars, clamps, and bits of wood down to the tiniest scraps - alphabatized by wood type.

This, my workspace was mostly inherited. This is where Bethalynne’s grandfather worked away through the night. I believe the lady in the picture frame (below) kept him in good company. My company is “Jeeves”, the wooden guy who likes to stare and say “finish me”. He also hates being called “Jeeves”.

Scroll Saw and Band Saw — The band saw is broken. I learn (often) that things can be "too tight" - in this case the metal tensioner assembly.

Though it *is* majorly cramped, everything is set up in a way where there is *just* enough room in any direction, as long as all surfaces are clean.

When making frames or stretchers for canvas, the table saw allows me just enough room to put a 6 foot strip out and across the table where the vices are, and just enough room to make that angled cut.

I can run a wood beam *just* behind the drill press is I need to use the routing table on it (though I have to stop and turn half way through the beam).

The Lathe has just enough stretching room for me to make baseball bats, table legs, and the like. All the vices/clamps swivel, so there hasn’t been a job so far they aren’t good for.

The garage…. well, there *was* a garage in here. After last year’s artPrize, it became storage for the 30-foot long mural Bethalynne and I did (in three pieces), buckets upon buckets of leftover paint, the cabaret-fortune-teller styled shadowboxes I built, some antique wood doors, stacks of plywood, and the other table-saw… that new-fangled one with all the pesky safety stuff on it.

Well, there you have it. This is where I make the magic happen… and by “magic” I mean chanting and screaming words not for mortal ears and especially not for those of children; Also this where I’ll likely be working on my part of the scale model. I suppose it is a good thing that a lot of the more intricate work will be in the hands of people like this guy (Mr. Todd Cahill):

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