Post by JBzen on 11/10/26 at 13:21:46
Ever since laying eyes on Decware's site back in the late 90s I was drawn deeper into Steve's work. His site pictorial design kept drawing me back. He seemed to have a knack of turning my eyes over to my time, ears, and eventually wallet. He also offered a free set of plans for the Wicked One at the time. And so it began...
I built a lot of his designs over the last 25+ years with information that is available on his site. Also I purchased kits and plans that are offered by him. I even waited 3 years for the SE84UFO25! Don't get me wrong, finding Decware helped fulfill a life long interest in our surroundings and workings of such. I don't have any regrets and started another project that was inspired by yet another visual of Steve's.
The chimes in his listening room always stood out to me. It seemed odd to have a set of chimes in an audio listening room. The leather wraps made sense to stop unwanted resonance when playin music. I thought it was a just another pleasing visual of the artist in Steve.
A couple of weeks ago I attended the Decfest in Oregon Illinois at the Stronghold Castle where the chimes were on display hanging from the spiral staircase going up one of the towers in the castle. There was a nylon tipped hammer provided to strike the chimes. It was a great experience just striking the long tube at the base of the steps then climb the steps listing to the resonance play out.
This experience stuck out as one of the highlights for me during the fest. Still fresh in my mind after arriving home I remembered reading a blip in this forum of his journey with the chimes. A search began with finding the following:
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I built chimes in the past with success. I was always attracted to chimes and the pleasant random tones created. My first set of chimes was inspired by a visit to the Gay Dolphin in Myrtle Beach SC. GD is a multi story store of patched together novelty items. It has a section of wind chimes from very large to small. Swept into imagination and just finishing a new workshop, I shorty build a set of four for each of my family members. The picture below is one on my back deck after 7 years of being beat by Pennsylvania's weather.
The search began for pipe to build a set of Chakra and Solfeggio based chimes. It did not take long to find some brass tube from an old tavern's bar rail. This acquisition took some wild turns that turned out just prefect for my intended use of the chimes.
I usually spend some time in the mornings to check out new offerings on Facebook Marketplace. If something gets my attention and is in good condition I'll save it and let it brew in the old noggin. If the item becomes more center in my vision, I'll send an inquiry and eventually make an offer. If the offer is rejected, 99% of the time I'll let it go. That is how I roll.
The brass pipe offering showed scant pictures of it leaning in the corner of a stuffed storage room. He wanted $500 for it. I asked what size and lengths of the longer pieces. He replied it was 3" and the longer ones were 18' and 15'. Right away I'm thinking heavy .125 wall pipe used most likely for foot rest in the bar. At that price, I ran to meet up with him!
Turns out that the bar was in the valley of my old tromping grounds as a kid. We precariously dug out the pipe. His dimensions were a bit off. It was 2" pipe. The longest was 15' and had a joint about halfway. Hesitating with the sale we worked out a lower price. After, we had a good conversation and reminisced finding common ground with mutual friends shared in the past. I loaded and cut some of the pipe to fit the 8' trailer.
There is one more twist to this purchase that will surface later!
It took a couple of hours to disassemble the pipe from couplings and fittings. Ended up being 114 pounds of brass with 57' of 2" tube and a bucket full of fittings. Just a small percentage over todays scrap price. A good fair deal. 60' of new tube today is $2250!
What I did not shell out in money will be made up with labor. Two cleanings are done at this point. One cleaning with Dawn to remove dirt and oils and another with brass cleaner to remove tarnish. A third and final will remove light scratching after the tubes are cut and drilled.
Pipes are drying after a good rinse. Years of use are evident with scratches and spotting from cleaning. The tavern owner said he took down the pipe after his cleaning crew retired. The spotting was cause by not properly removing cleaner after cleaning. Maybe the new crew did not meet his expectations!
Time to take a break and play with the cats :)
