You can find inspiration in the simplest of everyday items if you know where to look.

Drawing, photographs and sculptures of objects that we may take for granted because of their common appearance in our daily lives are especially impressive; simply because the artist has seen beauty where we normally may not take notice.

Some artist combining real objects into miniatures, for example Tatsuya Tanaka.

Other artist combining graphic design with real objects photos, see Gilbert Legrand.

And they are artist who works with disposable elements, here is Robert Bradford.

I have always been attracted to the artist's ability to use his imagination, giving a certain life to inanimate elements and making the viewer enjoy the surprise effect, the funny, etc.

I thought of using everyday objects complementing with 3d printed pieces, to create a piece of art.

In this Instructable we will create step by step a funny couple of a gentleman and a lady using a metal hinge and a lamp holder respectively, together with a metal shaft, a threaded hollow pipe and 3D printed parts.

The gentleman looks like adjusting his suit so that someone can take a picture of them with his wife :) The lady appears posing for the photo with her hands together and fingers crossed resting on her belly :)

Let's get started!

Step 1: Supply & Tools

Supply:

Metal hinge* 1.5 mm thick, two leaves 100 mm high and 53 mm wide. Quantity=1
Threaded pipe Ø 3/8" x 30 mm**. Quantity=1
Steel rod Ø3 mm x 115 mm**. Quantity=1
Vintage-type edison threaded metal lamp holder. Quantity=1
Nails Ø2.5mm with heads Ø5 mm. Quantity=4
1.75 PLA filament (black, pastel yellow** and red)
Hard Wood 160mm x 60 mm x 30 mm

References(*)The hinge that I used in this project was available in my home. I suggest depending on your location try to buy it at hardware stores, building supply stores like Home Depot, Lowe's, carpenter's supply stores, and online stores like eBay. (**) The threaded pipe and the steel rod are indicated in their final size. You can get a longer Ø3mm steel rod and a longer Ø3/8" threaded pipe and cut them to the indicated measurements. In my case I bought them directly cut. (***) PLA color "pastel yellow" I used this color for the parts of the body of the characters that simulate skin (face, hands, legs, arms, etc.). It could be some other color as well according to your taste.

Tools:

3D printer (or access to one of them).
3D Printer Cutting Pliers.
Dremel Rotary Tool or similar (with accessory for mini cutting disc), or angle grinder.
Bench drill.
Workshop vise.
Rasp / emery cloth sandpaper.

Step 2: Design

The final dimensions of the artwork including support wood are height= 215 mm, width= 160 mm and depth= 60 mm.

In the case of the gentleman, I was inspired by the incredible work of Gilbert Legrand, with slight adaptations. I use a metal hinge with two hinge leaves 100 mm x 53mm, a steel rod Ø 3 mm and print 3d plastic parts. The final measurements of this character are height= 185 mm and width= 58 mm.

In the case of the lady, her dress need something distinctive, so I thought of tin funnels, metal jars, etc. but i decided for used a vintage-type edison threaded metal lamp holder, a Ø3/8" threaded hollow pipe and 3d print plastic parts. The final measurements of this character are height= 180 mm and width= 82 mm.

I used the Autodesk Fusion 360 to do all the design, including renderings and exploded view. Although both the gentleman and the lady are made of different objects, I chose a design of their faces, noses, necks, etc. that makes them have similar style.

The plastic parts are attached to each other mechanically. If you want to ensure complete fixation, you can use a small amount of epoxy cement applied with a toothpick to glue the plastic parts together.

Here you can access to the Fusion 360 project: https://a360.co/45BnPUp

Step 3: Preparing Metal Parts

First of all we have to remove the metal hinge pin inserted through the knuckles. Fix the hinge with a bench vice and with the help of a dremel and a cutting disc, carefully remove the riveting that is on the end of the pin.

If you can't get the 115mm long steel rod from a shop, you can get a longer rod and cut to length 115mm, using a dremel tool with a cutting disc or angle grinder.

In the same way If you can't get 3/8" threaded hollow pipe 30 mm from a shop, you can get a longer 3/8" threaded hollow pipe and cut to length 115mm, using a dremel tool with a cutting disc or angle grinder.

Drill a hole with a Ø 6.5 mm bit perpendicular to the axis of the 3/8" threaded hollow pipe at a distance from the top of 5 mm. To facilitate the execution of the Ø6.5 mm hole, previously make a Ø4mm hole. In this way you will prevent the Ø6.5 wick from slipping in the threaded pipe. Once the hole is done, try to clean up any iron shavings with a rasp or emery paper. Note that to avoid damaging the pipe thread, I placed some pieces of wood on both sides of the press. I use a Bench Drill machine, holding the threaded pipe at its base with a vise. if you didn't have this machine you'd have to use a shop vise and hand drill, doing the job very carefully to get it right.

Cut the heads of four nails using dremel or angle grinder to use in assembling the gentleman and lady as glasses.

Step 4: Print 3d Parts

The print was made with PLA filament on a 3d printer.

We are going to print 16 pieces:

Gentleman:

Hat (black)= 1
Head (pastel yellow)= 1
Neck (black)= 1
Left Hand (pastel yellow)= 1
Right Hand (pastel yellow)= 1
Pants (black)= 1
Legs (pastel yellow)= 1
Shoes (black)= 1

Lady:

Hair (red)= 1
Head (pastel yellow)= 1
Neck (black)= 1
Left arm (pastel yellow)= 1
Right arm (pastel yellow)= 1
Hands (pastel yellow)= 1
Legs (pastel yellow)= 1
Shoes (black)= 1

With the attached STL files you can export to the program you use to define the printing parameters (CURA, etc.) and export to GCODE:

The main parameters that I used were:

Layer Height = 0.12 mm.
Fill = 20%-30%
Enable ironing=yes.
Bed temperature = 60 degrees.
Nozzle temperature = 200 degrees.
Printing speed = 30 mm / min.
Generate support = yes.

Once the parts are printed, use fine sandpaper or tweezers to remove any damage or printing failure on the plastic parts.

Step 5: Montage of the Gentleman Character

Mechanically join together the pieces of the upper end that is: neck, head and hat.

Made the glasses with the head of zinc-coated nails, glued using a tweezers to holes provided for this purpose in the head.

Mechanically join together the pieces of the lower end pieces, that is: pants, legs and shoes.

Pass the Ø3 mm steel rod through the knuckles of the two disassembled parts of the hinge.

Mount the upper plastic assembly (hat+head+neck) on top of the shaft and do the same for the lower plastic assembly (pants+legs+shoes).

Apply epoxy cement to the plastic hands, on either side of the hinge.

If you want to ensure complete fixation, you can use a small amount of epoxy cement applied with a toothpick to glue the plastic parts together.

Step 6: Montage of the Lady Character

Mechanically join together the pieces of the upper end: neck, head and hair.

Made the glasses with the head of zinc-coated nails (step 3), glued using a tweezers to holes provided for this purpose in the head.

Mechanically join together of the lower plastic pieces: shoes and legs.

Attach the 3/8" threaded hollow pipe to the upper part of the lamp holder.

Place the left and right arms, placing their upper end first, through the Ø7 mm hole made in the Ø3/8" threaded pipe. Then glue the hands with epoxy cement.

Paste with epoxy cement the lower plastic pieces (shoes+legs) with the lamp holder at the bottom.

Screw the upper plastic assembly (neck+head+hair) onto the threaded pipe.