[Greg Shikhman] wanted to use the school tools one more time before graduation. After hitting up some local motorcycle shops around town for parts he fashioned this crown for himself.
He didn’t pay ‘the iron price‘ as the motorcycle roller chain is waste material anyway. Chains do wear out and these were left over after being replaced with new ones. He first cleaned them up with a bit of WD-40 solvent, xylene, and soapy water to cut through the grime. There was also a layer of black oxide which normally keeps them from rusting which he peeled off with a dunk in some hydrochloric acid.
Chains are flexible and this would have made for a disheveled looking crown. The fix involved using an aluminum form the size of his head to keep the crown in round while he did his TIG welding. A double row of polished steel ball bearings take the place of jewels. As if the ten-pounder wasn’t painful enough he added four rings of bicycle chain as accents which he admits makes the thing unwearable because they dig into his noggin. We still don’t think that’s a good enough excuse to post about the project and not include an image of him wearing the thing during the junkyard coronation.
It would be fun to see a follow-up king-ring with similar LED features as that engagement ring but using this heavy-metal design style.
Sure does look comfortable, altho im not too sure this is really a “Hack” more a creative bit of fun.
Agreed, not really a hack.
I don’t know. Perhaps hackness depends on the situation. Imagine a situation where a king or a person of authority needs to ad-hoc a symbol for inherent power and dominion. Would that person have access to a junk yard and thereby fashion this needed symbol of divinely approved rule, I think this could then be considered a hack.
I have tried to weld ball bearings before. Their high carbon content explodes in a rocket fountain of sparks.
Yea there are more sparks than usual, but balls and/or races remain intact Many use the races as well as the balls for decorative purposes.
Tetanus shot m’lord?
“You’re the King? Well I didn’t vote for ya!”
I wonder if there was a farcical automotive ceremony involved.
Look, scruffy men in jumpersuits going around bodging together rusty scrap head ornaments isn’t a basis for a system of government.
He should have welded from the inside, as the inside looks far cleaner and nice than the outside.
Larger roller chain exists, a manly king would use some of that for his crown, this is a crown for the king’s queen :) For long term wear he could adapt a hard had suspension to it, or so leather pads.Now that roller chain has been brought up, I now realize some larger chain I had been saving may have been hauled to the salvage yard by the man cleaning up all the junk iron around here. I was going to use the side plates to make “dog bone rope tension adjustors,put the plate in the vise & put a kink in the middle. old worn out for it’s original use roller chain can be used a lot around the home shop
That’s right up there with steampunk.
I think HAD has “jumped the shark”.
Well, off with you then. We’ve got enough Negative Neds around here. I thought this was pretty neat, and besides, HAD posts all manner of things every day. If you don’t like something, just wait a while.
The Italians beat him to it… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Crown_of_Lombardy
http://acidcow.com/pics/20130527/acid_picdump_96.jpg
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