The things you will need to make your kinetic sculpture will depend
on what you are going to use to make it. Which means...how are you
going to connect your parts together? Weld. Solder. Glue. Brazing. etc.
No matter what, you'll probably need most of these basic tools.
Needle nose pliers. Get a couple pair for holding the wire to make bends.
Get pliers that are heavy duty, the wire can be very hard to bend, depending
on the size. Then get a few more smaller pairs for the more delicate work.
Alligator clips, and assorted clamps. Keeping everything in place and for
holding onto a wire that is being welded, so you can keep your fingers
away from the heat. I use lots of alligator clips. Since I mostly work with
wire they are the perfect size. You will find that clamping and jigs are the
most important part of getting all of your parts looking the same.
Bolt cutters. If you are using any kind of wire 3/16" or bigger, then you will
need something bigger than a small hand tool. I use several sizes of cutters.
At one point I used my metal chop saw to cut my 1/4" rod. But it made a lot of
noise, was very hot after cutting, and the slag had to be ground off. A lot more
work than needed if you ask me. Bolt cutters take the work out of cutting, saving
your hands from a lot of repetitive work as well.
Drill press. Hand drill. All the drill bits that go with them. A Square for framing.
Acetone for cleaning metal. Good lighting - being able to see what you
are doing seems like an easy one, but it is very impotant. Channel Locks to
squeeze the track spacing (in) and grip anything your basic pliers can't handle.
Several of the parts I use in my rolling ball sculptures have pieces that are
machined. They are made with a Mill and a Lathe. To get a nice clean part
that is easily duplicated, then a quality machinist is needed. All of the pivot
points are made with a lathe. I cut each one roughly, and then trim them using
a lathe to make each one exactly the same length. Then drill a hole,
chamfer each end, and press in the 1" oil impregnated bronze bearing.
The mill is used in making the aluminum pads that my motors are mounted into.
Metal cutting chop saw. Use one of these to cut square tubing or anything
that will not fit into the jaws of your biggest bolt cutters. Useful for making 90 cuts
for square framing. If you want you could also use copper tubing and purchase the
90 joints. Copper tubing can be cut with a tubing cutter, you wont need a chop saw.
It is also ideal to solder into if you want to solder your sculpture.
Work table. As level as you can get it. Preferably steel for welding. Wood for
everything else.
If you are going to solder you sculpture then you are going to need a torch to heat the
metal, flux so the solder sticks, and solder (preferably silver solder). You could use brass
brazing rod, or copper wire. 1" glass marbles are a good size for soldering. Anything
larger can have too much weight for the solder to hold the metal together for a long time.
Imagination. A lot of parts must be visualized, or drawn before building. You are
making something from just piece of straight wire, without instructions. Knowing
where to begin when making an element, track switch, or track will
just take practice.
