Working with Don Potts
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- Опубликовано: 21 май 2022
- This is the story of how Ron Covell worked with the world-renowned artist Don Potts, to help create Pott's entry for the 1975 Artist's Soap Box Derby, sponsored by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
You can see a film of Don Pott's earlier sculpture here:
• Don Potts My First Car
You can see Amanda Pope's film of the 1975 Artist's Soap Box Derby here:
• The Incredible San Fan...
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/ roncovell
I have lots more RUclips videos, and here's a link to my website - which lists 20 full-length videos you can rent, stream, or download, plus the Covell line of fine-quality metalworking tools: covell.biz/
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for quite some time I've enjoyed your skill and knowledge .. "but" this don potts story is so amazing ( right place , right time ) what a thrill , what an adventure , what history
I'm so glad you enjoyed this video. As you well know, most of my videos are quite technical in nature, and this was a somewhat risky departure from what I normally do. I'm delighted that so many people have seemed to enjoy it!
WOW! Ron...... I first saw your name in the mid '80s in Street Rodder Magazine, here in the UK, I would save up my pocket money to buy the copy that was already a month late. I was amazed at your skills with metal and how you seemed to make metal easily move in exactly the way that you wanted, like you had mastered the dark art of alchemy. To hear about your experiences with art, sculpture and the "soapbox derby" brings back happy memories for me and also "joins the dots" in your life history, for me. It explains a lot. Back in the 80's, British Hot Rods and Custom Cars seemed to put function before form whereas..... the automotive art that you built was, to my eyes a thing of great beauty. Everything from the frame, steering box or headers, to the overall aesthetics seemed to be proportionally perfect! This obviously came from your artistic background. A Mechanic/Technician/Engineer bolts parts together but you seemed to make parts flow with elegant grace and beauty. Your skills in metal shaping are unsurpassed and I thank you for sharing your experiences, tips and techniques with us all, in your friendly, relaxed and easy going manner. Thank You. 👍👍👍👍✊✌
Gosh, you have followed my work for a long time! I didn't know that many people in the UK recognized my name back then. Thanks so much for the kind words!
Josey WALES, I could not have said it any better.
I love the synergy of art and engineering! As a trained mechanical engineer, I tire of the common assumption that art and engineering simply do not mix - nothing could be further from the truth!
We're on the same track, here!
That was good of him to share the proceeds with you all. It would be interesting to know your method for solving the articulation problem, the engineering side of me is always curious. This was a nice story, thanks for sharing.
I'm so sorry I don't have any good photos of the linkage system that moves the outrigger wheel. There is a shaft that slides inside the top tube for the outrigger, with tabs extending through the tubing at the inner and outer end. There is a link connecting this sliding shaft to the upright on the outrigger wheel, and another link that connects to a hard-to-see bellcrank inside the chassis.
Steering is done with a hoop surrounding the rider. It can be rotated back and forth to steer the front and rear wheels left and right. A link connects the hoop to a slider on one vertical chassis tube, and that connects to the bellcrank.
It's kind of complicated, but the goal was to minimize the visual mass of everything, yet work well to guide the car in motion. I think it was a success!
I feel honored to view a master at work. Now an inside story of History. Thank You so much!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great history lesson about a favorite artist. I can’t remember which museum I saw Don’s cars in (maybe SFMOMA?), but I sure remember the beautiful design and workmanship! This might be my favorite video of yours so far Ron, and that’s saying a lot as I really love your work. All the best, Charlie
Charlie - thank you so much! I know you have been interested and involved in work like this for a lifetime. Sorry we weren't able to connect the day of the recent race, but I was swamped with people and questions the whole day, and couldn't break away.
What functionally beautiful cars. So well designed. Being a part of the team would be a chance of a lifetime. Thank You for showing.
I can't over-emphasize how important it was to my life and career to cross paths with Don Potts. He was an artist and designer like no other!
Great story and amazing footage. Wonderful things happen when people unite through the application of both Art and Engineering. Thank you for sharing.
Couldn't agree more!
I remember his wooden frame car from the Documenta art show in Kassel my hometown. I must have been 16 or so and was very impressed how tidy his wood joints were. I think there were two cars in that exhibition, but I remember that amazing wooden frame work the most . Thanks for refreshing that cool memory. I like your story telling.
Yes, the sculpture with the wooden frame is one of my favorites, too. I wish I had some better pictures of that one, but I showed the best ones I could find.
What an amazing project to be a part of! It would be awesome if an even like this was still held
Brandon - the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has had three Artist's Soapbox Derbys - in 1975, 1978, and 2022. I was fortunate to be involved in all of them. There is some chance they may do it again, but no date has been set.
Red Bull, among others, have some pretty wild Soapbox Derby races around the world, like this one:
ruclips.net/video/PoKwxqKzigI/видео.html
Ron, this is among your best offerings to date. Thanks for bring us along on this marvelous adventure!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Ron - great story. Working with a master of their craft is always rewarding. After watching so many of your videos, starting in the VHS days, getting to spend two days working with you last year is a memory I will always cherish.
John,
Yes, the VHS days were great - and that was a long time ago. I hope you are continuing to make good progress on your speedster project!
Thank you so much for your fine effort in revealing more art works of Don Potts and the history behind the pieces.
We now find out who did the nice bead work on the welding .... Great video presentation.
The photos remind me of what I looked like as an undergrad art major 50 years ago.
Thanks for the nice compliment! If you could have seen the welding on the other Potts sculptures, it was very well done.
Thank you so much for your humble spirit and love of fabrication. That was so freaking cool! The pony tail was awesome! Bring it back.
I'm so glad you enjoyed this video. Yes, I did wear a ponytail in that period of my life, but I don't think I'll be growing one again anytime soon.
The beauty and elegance of those art pieces extends beyond the physical object. it includes the fast elegant ride, the excited crowd, the art students Don graciously included in the making, and how they were allowed to make real design contributions to the final product which were integrated cleanly into the final result, and they were given real credit for the final result. That's what really makes Don Potts a great artist.
Very well put, and I totally agree!
Thank you for sharing this video, you are such a humble Guy, this its absolute art ! God i miss those days that everything was less difficult with less rules😃love your video's keep it going please ! Greetings from the Netherlands ❤️
My pleasure, and I promise there will be more to come!
Great story! Living in western Pennsylvania, I often feel like I am working in a vacuum. How cool it must be to be surrounded by like minded artists!
I have been delighted to find creative people wherever I travel!
What lovely memories...
Yes - and I'm glad you think so too!
@@RonCovell Sometimes memories are all we have and having lots of good ones is great. Your project also shows the ultimate resting place of the f-bomb!
Great story Ron - happy days
Those were good times, indeed - almost 50 years ago! I'm glad you enjoyed this trip down memory lane.
I attended one of Don's shows at the time. I was AMAZED- and still have photos that I took of all the vehicles he had on display. He was an inspiration to me building Human powered vehicles that I have ridden across the country in RAGBRAI. I had no idea of your involvement, yet am THRILLED to see that your creativity --in fact shared his inspiration as well. I live by my creativity- as do you. We made it! ( Think "Wind assistance! " my current quest.)
That's very cool! I was quite interested in human powered vehicles around that time, and got to know Gardiner Martin, who built the fastest human-powered bicycle at the time (ridden by Freddy Markham).
My brother is an avid cyclist, and he has participated in RAGBRAI. It is quite an event!
One the best channels on the entire internet! Let that sink in...Absolutely love these videos.
Wow, thanks so much!
It's neet seeing you as a young guy Ron. Great vid!
Yes, I was young - once!
This is super nostalgic for me. Being an avid cyclist, fabricator, welder and machinist, I built four "crazy" bikes for our town's Bicentennial Parade in '76, and your wonderful photos send me right back there. (The bikes were a double-high on 20" wheels, a double-long recumbent using a hacked-up tandem frame, an eccentric wheel bike that was almost impossible to ride faster than walking speed and, you know what, I don't even remember the fourth one!)
It sounds like you and I enjoy the same things! I'd enjoy seeing pictures of the bikes you built. Eccentric wheels sound extremely interesting - must be like riding a bucking bronco!
@@RonCovell Alas, I would love to see those pictures, too! Maybe the local paper published some, I'll have to dig through their archives.
I think we ended up calling that eccentric wheel bike "Whiplash" or something like that, it sure would crack your neck when the wheels got out of sync. I recall having to fix the spokes after almost every ride, the forces they self-generated were terrible.
Sometimes you have to suffer a little for great art!
I loved the photos of the young Ron Covell!
Yeah - those were different days, indeed!
Very imaginative. I always enjoy your offerings and feel honored to have been able to have taken instruction from you in Michigan.
I hope we will meet again - somewhere, sometime!
@@RonCovell Thank you.. as do I !
Sometimes art can be hard to understand ... or hard to get in and out. Awesome cars there!
That's a great way to put it!
Thanks Don
Thanks for watching, and commenting!
What a fun project and success. Thank you Ron for sharing the project.
Thanks for watching, Randy!
Ron, your story telling is at Hitchcock level, @8:09 I hold my breath 👍👍👍👍👍👍
and big Thank You for all
I'm so glad you liked it!
Nice to see the early days.
Jere
Thanks so much, Jere!
Great story, thanks!
My pleasure - more to come!
Great story Ron, I really enjoyed this 👍👍
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
What a lovely tribute. Thank you for sharing this story with us.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for sharing this. I’ve seen some of Don’s work, and love it. It’s a proud moment to see everyone’s labor come together in such a beautiful mechanical piece of art!
I totally agree!
What a amazing story! Thank you for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for making this video.
My pleasure!
incredible story ron, thanks for sharing
Glad you enjoyed it!
Wow, that's such a compelling design! I wonder if something similar could be used for kite landboarding. Normal landboarding is done standing up, but lying in this position could take it to the next level in drag reduction.
I hope you develop this idea, and I hope you will send pictures if you do!
Great video, lots of fun to hear the tale. Cheers!
Thanks for listening, and watching!
Great story. Thanks for sharing instances from your learning journey.
My pleasure, and I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Fascinating story Ron . Thanks for sharing.
You bet!
Hi Ron,
I really enjoyed this video and would love to hear more stories from you!
I'm glad you enjoyed this, and I'm working on my 'AUTO' Biography!
Amazing story! Ioved the video, many many thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Wow! I saw the four cars as a teen boy. It was very creative! Where did this come from! Amazing. Just fabulous to see!
I'm so glad you enjoyed this!
@@RonCovell oh. Man I have to find time to see more of this. . . You! . . It! Thx. Amazing memory! Amazing people
Thanks for sharing….awesome
I'm so glad you liked it!
Nice video, great job always Mr Covell
I appreciate that!
What a cool story. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Amazing! Thank You for the wonderful story!
I'm very glad you enjoyed the story!
@@RonCovell, I enjoyed Don's and Your incredible creations not a bit less than Your stories! Thanks again, Ron!
What a great story, thank you for telling it!
Glad you enjoyed it!
SO INTERESTING! Thanks for sharing the story.
You bet!
Very interesting to watch and hear the story. Thank you for sharing, much appreciated as always. Greetings from the Netherlands, Mark
Mark - I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Great stuff!!!!
Glad you enjoyed it
Wow. That looked great. And a good solution to help with the handling issue.
Thanks 👍
Good story! Thank you.
Thanks - I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Great story, thanks for sharing. You've had a very interesting life. Kudos , SIr !
Thank you kindly!
Thank You Master Covell, always greatly appreciate insight in a renowned master's project.
Much appreciated!
Awesome story!!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
hi RON, i got to state three years after the derby but helped Sal P. build his car at de anze college. great video about Don and your involvement, this helps fill in a few gaps in my awareness. thanks so much for all your videos. dave s.
Dave - I didn't know you helped Sal Pecoraro build his car. I remember that 3-wheeler, with Italian colors - as I recall!
@@RonCovell he named it the "Italian Fly"...lol...dave
Great title, and typical of Sal. It had a swoopy fiberglass seat from a chair, as I recall!
That's just so cool!
Thanks so much!
I like it a lot Ron...
Ben - thank you so much!
Love it Ron. Some great kinetic art 🧡The thumbnail for the video reminds me of Joan Miro 🧡
Thank you so much, Deena!
Awsome !!!!! Mr Covell now i know how and why you are a true artist !!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much when i look at those old photos it makes me feel the hunger that i and we had for life ! We need that now are gen has to find that hunger for life the arts to bring us back so we can care about each other ? Art is powerful ! Straight Ahead ! Ps foregive for not being articulate !
You said it all!
sweet
Thank you very much!
LOL hope I'm still spry enough when I'm your age to pull off that maneuver you did at the end of the video, dragging yourself out of the car!
Yeah - it gets harder each year!
6:44 fire hazzard.
HAH!
Ron that was really impressive the shapes and all of the formed tubing , being that you did this project 51 Years ago what type of Tig machine did you use back then ??? and do you still have it ??? Pete
I used an 'ARC' brand welder, which I believe was made by Chemtron - often branded as P&H. It was state-of-the-art when I bought it new around 1964. Since technology is always evolving, I upgraded to a Miller Inverter machine around 15 years ago, and my newest TIG machine has a host of features that I have come to appreciate, such as pulse and waveform adjustments. Even though the newer welders are great, I got years of solid service from that old, transformer-technology 'dinosaur' machine!
👍
There must have been a considerable amount of pharmaceutical inspiration to those early race entries!
Mum's the word!
👍😀👍
I'd like to make something like this but laying in skeleton position so it's lower to the ground and more aerodynamic.... Maybe laying mounted between the two wheels w/ one in the back between your feet and that shield over top of your back, that would be epic.
I REALLY like your ideas! Send me a picture when you build your vehicle!
Ron Covell I'd love to see a drawing of sorts. You pull a name and help make small projects subscribers have.
I like your idea, but I don't know how to set up a drawing like you describe. Maybe people could just suggest their small projects in comments to my videos, or they could send me an email at:
covell@cruzio.com
@@RonCovell I'm avid fly fisherman. I'd love to do off set round to square with a hindged lid on the square. This could be fit to a 2" pvc pipe for the length of the rod. Just lift lid slid rod in and shut lid. Maybe a simple lock could be put on.
Hey - that's a heck of an idea. I'll be thinking about it!
Ron I was a steel working in the Navy. USN Seabees 93-97 I had these classes back in the day. It's so enjoyable to watch you bring the technique back to life. Thanks for your videos really enjoy watching them and your calm daminer.
Are you from the Santa Cruz mountains?
I have lived in Mount Hermon and Scotts Valley. I was living in San Jose when I worked with Don Potts, and my studio is now in Freedom (Watsonville).
@@RonCovell I grew up in Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek. I am doing a show on what happened there! Amazing what I have found involving Stanford's Operation Paperclip Nazi's. It would be great to talk if you have the time.
You can reach me at covell@cruzio.com
FAR OUT!!!
Glad you liked it!
इस साइकिल को चलाते हुए सो सकते है
मज़ेदार!
While those cars are great sculptures - I don't see any brakes!
There was a rule saying all the entries had to roll, steer, and brake! The brake for Pott's car is on the front wheel. A lever pushes a cup-shaped metal piece against the tire. It's partially hidden on the bottom portion of the fork.
I wouldn't say it's some amazing great work of art, it looks funny and the fact it works is amazing, but it looks like a bondage fetish cage more than an art exhibit. Unless you consider those meat-hook-hanging naked people to be 'art' ...
Well that's a unique perspective!
@@RonCovell I mean, can you compare it to other such bicycles and point out why specifically this one is more special?
If you don't like it based on what you see, probably nothing I can say will make a difference. Of course not everyone likes everything - that's the way of the world!
@@RonCovell That would imply I have to have a religious response to just seeing a shape or symbol and immediately be inspired by it. Surely, if you have been "enlightened" by the construct you can explain what makes it great instead of just shrugging?..
OK, fair enough - I'll give it a try. I like this sculpture because I find it completely unique, elegant, and unexpected in design and function. Naturally, these are subjective judgements, and I fully understand that not everyone will resonate with this work in the same way.