Colt SAA cased

[Damien Connolly]

 

[T.G.III]

I'll say it again, stunning

 

[Leonardo]

All the set is beautiful but I love the case most! Congrats!!
By the way, is the case made by CNC?

 

[Damien Connolly]

Thank you Leonardo, but there is zero, none, zilch, CNC involved here. This is entirely conceived, designed, and built, by hand. That goes for all of my work by the way.

 

[Matthew Evans]

I would question what level is above for royalty, cause this is it. Wow

 

[SDH]

Would love to see a photo of the revolver engraving.
The case, carving, design ect. is wonderfully executed.

 

[Leonardo]

Thank you for your reply. The work involved in making such a case by hand is huge and the result is stunning. A truly wonderful work of art!. Congratulations again!

 

[JJ Roberts]

Damien, Outstanding engraving and wood work on the case keep up the good work. J.J.

 

[SamW]

Damien, I am always amazed by your art and craftsmanship and this is just astounding! Thanks much for posting these great photos!!

 

[mitch]

Spectacular, Damien. And I don't see where there would be any advantage to using CNC on something with that many complex curves, especially if you were only going to make one. It would take longer to draw in a CAD program than to shape by hand, and you'd still end up having to do a ton of handwork fairing the curves, blending transitions, etc. I'd much rather do it with rasps, files, chisels, gouges, & sandpaper, than with a keyboard & mouse.

However, I could see 'cheating' by making a full-size model or pattern by hand, then using something like a stock duplicator to machine the final pieces out of the fancy wood. Utilizing this method would also allow molding (with Bondo) the lid to the base, or vice versa, for a perfect fit. It would also allow changes by using additive techniques (more Bondo), and if the parts have bi- or quadrilateral symmetry, you could just build one half or one quarter sections by hand, then machine additional parts and assemble an intermediate, or second generation, complete pattern.

I don't really consider the appropriate use of technology to achieve a superior end product cheating, as the art must first be created in the mind of the artist. Using whatever tools are necessary to achieve the most faithful reproduction of that vision is just part of the process.

Although I suspect you just started with a walnut tree and cut away everything that didn't look like that, Damien. ;-)

 

[Damien Connolly]

Yes Mitch, I agree with that. This case is made up of multiple small shaped and fitted planks, that are glued onto a laminated wooden core. They were a max of 1/2" thick off the bandsaw, so there was minimal allowance for shaping. To get the whole case from the material available required a no waste/no mistakes approach to planning and sawout/fitup.

The new pics show the clay model I made as a styling exercise. I took a mold off the clay, and made a full fiberglass replica, and a complete, but loose and unattached set of the panels/planks to allow planning for cutting.

The construction followed the model closely, taking profiles and templates, and using filler blocks and formwork to build the sides and roof piece by piece, using many and various gluing and clamping arrangements. Awkward shaping conditions tempt me to use coarse rifflers etc, but then comes the nightmare of finding all the bruises and scratches they inflict. Very hard to do on such a complex shape, and the cause of much delay and hairpulling.

 

[monk]

i'd say your planning phase is as much a masterpiece as the result.

 

[Leland Davis]

You are an amazing artist and artisan. I agree with monk as impressive as the finished product is your vison, planning and execution are equally impressive.

 

[JMiller]

Beautiful work!….

 

[mitch]

as someone with somewhat of an engineering background, the technical aspects of the design & construction make it that much more special than if it were just beautifully carved out of eight joined sections of solid wood. really outstanding, sir!

I love that process of staring blankly into space, figuring out how to solve a problem...

 

[papart1]

very nice stuff right here

 

[Damien Connolly]

as someone with somewhat of an engineering background, the technical aspects of the design & construction make it that much more special than if it were just beautifully carved out of eight joined sections of solid wood. really outstanding, sir!

I love that process of staring blankly into space, figuring out how to solve a problem...

Yep, that excitement when you're on the trail of an idea Mitch. Everyone else thinks we're just staring into space....

 

[mitch]

In the TV show "Mad Men", the main character is Don Draper, the creative director for a Madison Ave advertising firm, circa 1960. Then-wife & I were watching one evening and Draper is just lying on the couch is his office, staring at the ceiling. I observed that a lot of valuable work gets done in a job like that, doing what looks like daydreaming. My wife said, "I know that now, but when I saw guys doing that in the architecture firm I worked for when I was 18 it pissed me off!".