Harley Knucklehead Bobber

Wow, I hadn't ebayed in quite some time....man do they kick your tail with fees! The first Year of the Chopper bike is sold, and the second bike is up for bidding!

Alien Robot loves Robot Dog

These pics are pretty self explanatory. Alien Robot meets Robot Dog, Alien Robot falls in love with Robot Dog.




This duo is up for adoption here:BDW Etsy store.

Alien Robot is made out of roller chain, a bearing, a sparkplug, a wingnut, a couple allen wrenches, some washers, and a couple nuts. It's about 6" tall, 4" wide, and it swivels in the middle.

Robot Dog is born from a 5/8" half inch drive socket, some bolts, a few lock washers, a ball out of a ball bearing, some nuts, and a clevise. It's 2 3/4" tall, 3" long, and 2" wide.

Alaska Mission Bicycle

My wife's cousin Jesse Boyd is a missionary who is currently biking his way to northern Alaska. To commemorate the trip, I was asked to build two sculptures of his bike.

Take a look at his website for some amazing pictures and crazy stories!

More pictures here:Jesse's Bike

The First Auction Bike!

"Number One with a Bullet" is bike # 83 overall, and the first bike in the "Year of the Chopper" collection. It's kind of an old school/new school mix, with a panhead motor on a rigid frame with a nice rake.

Check out the auction here, and bid knowing that all proceeds are going to good causes! "Number One with a Bullet" Auction

Nuts, bolts, tubing, pipes, screws, bar stock, and even a rod bearing out of a LS1 motor were used to put this bad boy together. I tig welded every part of if, then cleaned and clear coated it for corrosion protection.

For more pics of this bike, click HERE.

Photos by Matt Trombley

I'm on a boat.

The last couple of days I spent most of my time working on a commissioned piece, a Sabre 38 Express yacht. It took me a bit longer to finish that I was hoping, but I think the result was worth it! Let me know what you think. More pics are here: Sabre Flickr Set.

Look for more on the initial bike sculpture auction tomorrow!!!

Figuring out the Details

I'm working out the plans for the auction, trying to figure out the rammifications of doing a sale where 100% of the proceeds go to charity. I've heard less than glowing reviews of Ebay's charity auctions. For right now, I think I'm going to do a straight up regular Ebay auction. I'll still have documentation from the benefiting non-profits, so everyone will know it's on the up and up. I'm thinking about adding a PayPal button for donations that can be earmarked for Home Fur-Ever and Lifebuilders Detroit.

Today I built the first bike to be sold. I need to finish clear coating it, but I'm excited about how it turned out! It's panhead powered rigid chopper with a pretty decent rake. My friend and photographer Matt Trombley stopped by to get some pics today, they will be up soon!!!

The Beginning

Well, here it is. Over the next 52 weeks I'm going to build one bike per week that will be sold or auctioned off to benefit two non-profit organizations that are important to me: Lifebuilders and Home Fur-Ever.

First off, a little bit about me. My name is Josh and, along with my wife Darla and dog Woodson, I started Brown Dog Welding last year. I'm a former "Big Three" employee, having spent 6 years as a millwright and maintenance welder for Chrysler. The unprecedented economic events of the last couple of years have forced some difficult personal decisions for a lot of people, and my wife and I are no different. I officially left Chrysler in May, and I'm now putting all my energy into BDW. Attempting to build a lasting business and a brand in the worst economy since the Great Depression is a daunting task, but one that seems a little less "pipe dream" and a little more possible every day.

Now for the inspiration. While Detroit's(and the entire country's, for that matter) hardships have had an effect on us all, none have been hit harder that those that depend on the generosity of others to survive. Those in need are "needier" than ever, but the organizations that offer that support are getting less support themselves. My hope is that I can give some financial aid to Lifebuilders and Home Fur-Ever, and at the same time increase awareness for my business and what I do.

So every week for the next year I will build one bike sculpture specifically to sell or auction off for one of these two organizations, with 100% of the proceeds going to them. I'll also be posting stories, musings, pictures of the bikes(obviously!) and other things I do, links to things that I dig, and so on and so forth.

The bike sculptures I do are one-off creations, each one is numbered, named, and signed. No two bikes are ever alike, and I will NEVER mass produce my work! The very first "Year of the Chopper" bike I do will be bike number 83.

Here are some pics of previous bikes.