Now I know the drill

I fired up my new tabletop drill press yesterday. I bought it primarily to make my own eyeballs. I worked on ways to measure precisely, but in the end, eyeballing it (no pun intended) proved to be just as effective. The important thing is that all of the eyeballs be as close to the same in depth and iris placement as possible.







The rough unfinished product is pictured. Every eyeball will still require some sanding and precise iris fitting. I'm not sure this is worth the effort considering I can buy those gorgeous plastic pre-made eyeballs from Puppets & Props for a reasonable price. But there is a certain amount of satisfaction I get from making my own.

I can't move my lips

He can't move his lips yet because he's just a model destined for moldmaking. He still needs lots of sanding and detail work, but now I can see who the fellow is going to be.

Today, I may fire up the tabletop drill press for the first time. I ordered and received 48 wooden balls from a supply house. I'll likely trash a few of them trying to set a correct hole depth to accommodate the plastic iris. I also plan to order silicone rubber for the moldmaking. Oh yeah, it's gettin' scary!

On a roll

Al Stevens is doing a wonderful restoration on Bill DeMar's pal Chuck Norwood. Al's latest installment on his blog includes a 1-minute video demonstrating the eye movements and mechanics. Chuck can even roll his eyes. Very cool and worth a look. CLICK HERE to see it.