Ok, so I thought I would update this site every week, but obviously thats not happening. Monthly posts it is! Here is what I have been up to in December 2024.
Project updates:
Lucky Number Project
I have not formally posted about this project yet, but here is the gist. I want to build a system that gives you a fortune cookie style combo of a set of lucky numbers paired with an ominous saying or fortune. So far I have been focused on the lucky number side of the project. I find that whenever I get a set of lucky numbers from a fortune cookie, I start to notice the numbers on license plates, dates, receipts, ect. These numbers that normally would mean nothing start to take on an almost prophetic meaning when you see them everywhere. I am still figuring out what this means, but I wanted to explore it by being able to generate lucky numbers on a whim. Here is the prototype board that I built almost a year ago:
As of this month, the board now looks like this:
When the software I am writing is complete, the board will play a “searching” animation as seen above, then stop and light up 3 numbers. These will be your lucky numbers. The board is a 4.5′ x 2.5′ sheet of glass I painted. Some mistakes were made in the painting process, so this piece will likely be scrapped and remade. Some doodles were added on the side just for fun.
Glass
There have been 3 major updates to my glass studio this month. First, I placed my first large order from a glass supplier. I ordered various sizes of hollow glass tubes, as well as some fun colored solid glass. All rods and tubes were 4.5ft in length, and the box I ordered weighed about 75 pounds. Having all this glass on hand enabled me to play around with bending and blowing out tubing without having to worry about running out, or spending a ton of money ordering more. Secondly, I got a new torch. Previously I had been using a national 3AB (right) hand torch, which is a great torch for small work but is mostly meant for cutting metal, not melting glass. I upgraded to a Nortel Midrange Plus (left). Here is a comparison of the torches…
Having this larger torch has made glass work about 10 times faster. The glass melts and behaves in a way that feels controllable even when working on large pieces. Overall, I am very happy with the Nortel. The only drawback is that the larger flame requires more fuel. This means I go through both propane and oxygen much faster. In my last post I noted that the 60 LB oxygen tank I was using would last between 10 and 12 working hours on the old torch. On the new torch I could only work for 2 hours before running out. Update 3….I got a bigger oxygen tank! Dont tell my landlord, but now there is a 300 LB oxygen tank located right outside my basement window :). This tank lasts about 20 hours on the new torch.
Check out the “Glass” page on this site to see some of my recent work.
Personal Update:
I got a new job! I am now a panel(HMI) repair technician for a local industrial electronics retailer in Rochester. I started in early december and so far the gig has been good! The job is part time, so I still have time to work on music , glass and whatever else I get up to. Happy holidays, next post in 2025!
What's Zach Doing 