1972 BSA Lightning

This is the 18th Year of the Chopper sculpture, it's a '72 BSA Lightning. One more day left to bid!

As a reminder, the YOTC bikes that do not sell at auction are available in the Choppers for Charity section in my online store.

The family Christmas gift post.

The last couple of years, rather than fight the crowds, I've made Christmas presents. This year was no exception, and after the rush of commissioned gifts this year, I set aside a couple of days last week to get my personal gifts done. Many thanks to my wife Darla for her help with ideas!

I come from a large family, so we draw names for gifts. This year I got my brother Seth's name. He's an extremely talented artist, and one of his recurring characters is a killer rabbit.

Check out this vid for an example of his work:


So I did this metal version of his rabbit. It's actually about 20" tall, and it has a hook on the back to hang on a wall.



My wife drew my younger brother Travis, so I made this Tattooed Metal old english D belt buckle for him:



For my mom and Darla's mom, Darla suggested some type of pendant, maybe a heart. So I came up with this simple design:



And then for my sister Amie and brother in law Kris, we came up with the idea of a "stick figure" family made from nuts and bolts...complete with Dakota the mutt!

Shovelhead bobber, Year of the Chopper #17

I guess it's actually week 18 of the Year of the Chopper project, but I've been behind when I actually blog about the bikes! So this is the motorcycle for week 17, and the auction ends tomorrow(Christmas Eve). I saw Phil Kilburn's Shovelhead in an old issue of Cycle Source that I had in the shop, and that was the inspiration...although I didn't put a springer on it and added the suicide shift.

2009 Ram R/T Sculpture Progress & Finish Shots

This is my truck:





It's a 2009 Ram R/T, one of the few built before Chrysler's bankruptcy. It's a nice compromise between the quick car that I wanted, and the utilitarian truck that I needed. I can haul my welding bottles and steel around when called upon, and it'll run mid 13s in the 1/4 mile. It's definitely a fun driver.

So I finally decided to do a sculpture of it. I took some liberties, but I'm happy with the result.

I started with the bed. The wheel wells are plasma cut with my Hypertherm Powermax30. Using the plasma is not something I'm as proficient at as I'd like to be, any advice is welcome:)



I put a little "wing" in the tonneau cover





The cab is started with the "tinted window" in place



Farther along on the cab





Front fenders cut



The bed and the cab are two separate pieces, I just push them together for the pics. The hood is starting to take shape







The Ram grill





Front bumper, headlights



Rear bumper, tailgate



The exhaust



The bed and the cab actually bolt together



And the finished Ram R/T

(I torched the metal behind the grill for contrast)

Hellcat Customs Buell Blast drag bike

This piece was commissioned as a Christmas gift, but some people are no good at keeping secrets! The gig is up, so I've been informed I can share the pics of bike #109, a sculpture of Kelly Roger's Blast.

Motorcycle Sculpture #108, YOTC Week #16

A Harley Panhead, "McMurphy" is named after the character Jack Nicholson popularized in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". Cool, slightly temperamental, and crazy like a fox.

One day left to bid, win this auction and I'll get it shipped out Friday!

Artic Cat Sabercat Snowmobile Sculpture Progression

Here is another commissioned piece, and some progress shots I got of it...as well as some final pics.