The Violet Ray Machine

This is the Violet ray Machine. It was originally made in the 1920's and this one comes with two probe. A standard mushroom probe, and a probe to comb through your hair. 

I have no idea if this works, right now it definitely doesn't because the wires going in and out of the box are badly frayed. However one that has been corrected, and I'm brave enough to connect it to the mains current; it still may not work. Insulation may have broken down, internal cables may have corroded, capacitors which are made with waxed paper may have shorted. Or of course, the probes may have leaked.

The thing is basically a high voltage generator - like a car ignition - with a spark gap to excite it. In this case the spark gap works (I assume) at mains frequency. The probes are probably just partial vacuums - but there may be some gas like argon or neon in there to glow.

Overall I would expect the effect to be similar to a plasma ball, and despite the huge medical and spirital claims made for these things over the years, just as about useless.

But pretty.

A German Typewriter

Found this in a rubbish bin. It works perfectly, has all manuals and tools, and is very heavily built. Unusually, it has a figure one and a zero on the keyboard - instead of using the lower case "L" and capital "O" like the Imperial would force you to. You can also half space, so that if you need to correct something you can either squeeze in another letter or cover up an extra one. The white space on the ink selector is for a correction ribbon.

Here's the test sheet giving the whole font:

The Little Imperial Typewriter

This is the Imperial Good Companion Typewriter that I got a few weeks ago. It's a bit grubby, but it all works. Currently it's having it's metal bits soaked in WD40 to remove the grime of ages.

The ribbon is missing, I have it; but I'm looking out for a new one and I've got the spools in my bag so I can check against stock. If worst comes, I'll simply re-spool another size.

When I've got it working as well as I can, I'll use it to do the typesetting on my website.

Whilst surfing the web looking for more information on the typewriter, I found this blog: http://preciouslittlebirdy.blogspot.com/ 

The writer Angela had also got hold of one of these and very kindly scanned the manual for me. Thank you.

Making paper look old

I sort of like grunge. But only sort of. Actually I like old, worn, rusty, but not too old or worn or rusty. There's a 'used' feel for something where either mine or other people's hands and time have softened the edges and made it lived in and then there's the rust and decay of neglect. Don't like that at all.

But this is about paper and making paper look and feel old. But not in the sense of making a forgery.

The first thing is to select your paper carefully. You need a mildly absorbent paper, cheap, thick paper seems to work the best, although I have had starling results with quite expensive rag water-colour paper. Paper that doesn't absorb colour evenly is good. Coated papers are poor generally and if you need to size the paper, then doing that afterwards is a very good idea although the results maybe unpredictable.

Secondly your staining medium. Most people will say cold tea at this point and they would be right. I have tried all sorts of paint, stains, inks, dyes and so on, but at the end cold PG Tips seems to come out the best. I do however use Winsor and Newton burst seinna and raw umber as well.

To apply, first soak the paper and let let dry to a heavy dampness. Then using a tea bag as hot as possible, wipe it all over. Finally tear the teabag open and sprinkle the tea leaves all over the paper. Sprinkling with salt will give a grainy feel to the paper and make crusty little bits. Leave to dry, and then brush off tea leaves and salt if you've used it.

If you want a deckle edge, buy paper with a deckle edge. Tearing doesn't look the same.

Here's a picture I drew of a beetle on our wedding anniversary that illustrates the paper.

Here's some close ups of the paper surfaces:

This is a general view of the surface.

Here you can see the effect of a tea leaf stain. This one diffused.

The beetle's foot, drawn with water soluble pencils, contrasts nicely and feels the same as the paper itself.

Here's a salt stain. The paper is crusty at this point, which makes it tactile.

Mrs. Spicer

A quickish sketch of my genius, gorgeous, generous, garrulous, girl. (Girl gotta google garrulous, methinks...)

Some more creatures from the past.

Here's another drawing from the recent excavations. In this one you can see more clearly the internal structures and organs. Although both the use and mechanisms are speculative, it is beginning to look like that these creatures operated collectively, and intelligence was a result of group interactions rather than the individual.

Wireless Electromagnetic Louse.

Found around natural fossil reactors in Africa and Brazil. These louse-like creatures are based on metals and silicon as well as carbon. They appear to feed and breed on the radiation produced by these billion old year natural reactors and died out when the uranium decayed to a stable state. Noticeable is the coil and capacitor formations inside the animal although these have decayed and much research is required to determine the method of function. No known examples are now alive, although curiously complete specimens often twitch when exposed to strong electromagnetic fields

Some recent drawings

A couple of recent drawings. The one below is inspired by a visit to Portsmouth's submarine museum. More tube, pipes, dials, and less space than I have ever seen (or not seen) in any movie about submarines. Admittedly I haven't seen them all, but the lack of space in a real submarine was intense. There were twenty people in our tour. Seventy people lived in the sub. I'm impressed, although I couldn't stand the claustrophobia.

The last diploma course...

Slightly excited as I just found the last vacancy - possibly ever - for mental health training this year. The diploma course is being discontinued, but some reason I was scanning UCAS and noticed that the University of Surrey has one space left. I have no real idea what to do next, so I've emailed them. Maybe I'll call in the morning. It wold mean moving pretty soon, but it would be good.

Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor

After a few days of hard work I have now re-certified as an ACE (InDesign) and have just certified as ACI, that is Adobe Certified Instructor. Feel a bit pleased with myself.