Cornhash and Plato

Just a few shots of these guys that I put together yesterday.

Cornhash was made with a socket, some nuts and bolts and washers, and a piece of roller chain.





Plato is built from nuts, bolts, roller chain, and a steel ball out of a bearing.





They will both be in my Etsy store soon!

Hot New Shots

My good friend and photographer Matt Trombley came over and got some dope pictures of my last few projects this weekend. You can click on the pics to go to where they are hosted on my Flickr gallery, and there you can enlarge them to their original high resolution.

The second Year of the Chopper bike:



The '73 Honda Cafe Racer:



And Alien Robot with Robot Dog:

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

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.