23 MAY 2019 (11:36 UTC-07 Tango 06) 02 Khordad 1398/18 Ramadan 1440/19 Ji-Si 4717

Photos by me (AAron B. Hutchins)

In a nearly abandoned rail car repair shop, a father and son team are trying to combine machining techniques and artistry to create almost bulletproof family photos, and maybe a local artists’ gallery next to their machine shop.

Forgotten in the rafters

The rail car shop is located at the south end of the old town area of Pocatello, Idaho.  It used to be run by Alpha Pacific Incorporated (not to be confused with the Chinese company ALPHA PACIFIC ENGINEERING & CONTRACTING, now operating out of California), now a shadow of itself called Alpha Engineers Incorporated (almost killed off by the fateful decision of city and county officials to refuse Union Pacific’s request to make Pocatello its Pacific Northwest depot).

Boiler from Illinois

There’s a lot of forgotten railroad history in the building.

Coal Bunker

This is what happens when you “Go West, young man!”

Gone skiing…no more

But that’s not what I want to write about.

Chiron FZ 08 W

The good old (relatively) German made vertical CNC (computer numerical control) machine, Chiron FZ 08 W.

Explaining how the Chiron works to a willing audience…did you catch all that?

Eric V. Erickson, and his son Andrew, are using it to replicate photos and even smart phone selfie pics onto aluminum, plexiglas, anything non-fibrous.

Some ol’ dude hicktown singer, now immortalized in aluminum

At this angle you can see the engraving better

Here’s how thick (or thin) the aluminum plate is

If you prefer, you can get cool lighting affects etching your selfie into ‘plastic’.  Unfortunately it’s not ‘bulletproof’ and can get scratched up if you’re not careful with it.

With white light behind it…

…or you can be leftist liberal hip with the rainbow lighting…oooo!

The plastic has a more interesting 3D effect

But there’s a magical thing you can do with the aluminum plate, automotive grease and a glass plate!

That’s not an old timey photo of Tesla (no, not the car, the ancient electromagnetic genius), it’s an etched aluminum plate covered in grease, then a glass plate is placed over it, sandwiching the grease between the two and turning it into an almost bulletproof photo!  There are other ways to color affect the aluminum, like anodizing (and maybe powder coating?), but it’ll drive up the price.  Oh yeah, expect to pay around $150 for a basic engraving (more for anything extra like anodizing), so it’s only for memorializing those special family moments.   I forgot to measure the examples, I think the aluminum country singer was like 5×6 inches, and the plastic selfie was maybe 9×12?

Wait, what about the art gallery?  There are a couple of areas they hope to make available for local artists to display their works, one in the small foyer….

…and a larger area up the stares.

Don’t disturb Cello Cat

For much more accurate (but you might also get more confused, because these guys speak only ‘Technical’) info call Erickson Design and Machine at (928) 299-9723, or email at [email protected].