I haven't made it in to my workspace in nearly two weeks.

I've been focusing on trying to figure out how to use a video editing program for my cargo bike project on Kickstarter, working to get up some money for my rent, and finally creating some artwork again.

I'd meant to be back in today, but it didn't happen this morning.

The next thing I'm going to be working on is a set of frame welding jigs for the next run of prototype cargo bikes.

Drawings for this design Do exist, and will be posted as soon as I can get a scanner that actually works.

The design uses wooden blocks drilled with hole saws to the tubing diameter desired, then cut into halves, with the bottom halves laid out in the shape we want on a reinforced sheet of plywood, with the top halves screwed down to hold the tubes in place.

This is the roughest outline, but the rest just builds on and refines that basic idea.

I chose wood for welding jigs for its ease of use and ready availability.

The danger of fire is minimized with two different coatings. The first is a paint with actual aluminum flakes suspended in its matrix, brushed thickly onto the whole thing.

The second coating will be spray-on high-temperature grill or engine paint.

These measures coupled with designing the jigs so that the actual joints to be welded maintain distance from the surfaces of the jig itself.

Construction has already begun, but will resume this week.