Laser Printer Wind Chime

With exception to the fishing line, this wind chime was made entirely from the Brother Laser Printer taken apart in this post.  The O-ring and wire on top are from a long cable that held the front access panel while replacing the toner cartridges. The top piece is a machined piece of sheet metal that contained a bunch of rods and gears. It was the closest piece shaped like a circle so I went with it. The rods (that's wind chime talk) were, of course, rods from the printer. I have no idea what the striker was used for. It was in the bowels of the printer somewhere. It had some wires going through it, but it was made of metal. Seemed completely unnecessary to me. But what do I know about printers. Finally, the wind catcher is the largest gear from the printer. 

I wouldn't  have guessed it, but taking pictures of the wind chime was the hardest part. This was the best picture I could muster. I'm no Ansel Adams (I did take classes from a guy who took classes from him), but I like to think I'm a fair-to-Midland photographer. But for the life of me, I couldn't get a decent picture. I tried different back grounds, light, angles, flash, apertures, etc. So, you may have to use some imagination. Come to think of it, I don't recall seeing any of Ansel's wind chime work, so it could be that they are just difficult to capture. On the plus side, you get a rare view of my sparse, spring grass. 

Because of my inexplicable fear of the numbers six and eight, I selected seven rods of varying lengths. I 'spose I could've tuned them with a grinder, but really, I've got better things to do. Actually I don't. But I'm not going to be "playing" it. And honestly, that seems like an awful lot of work. And sparks.

I tied 12lb fishing line to the top of the rods, threaded it through holes in a roughly circular pattern (and when I say 'roughly' I mean like a circle drawn by a 3 year-old), then tied them off to some pins that were used to hold gears in place.

I've got four wind chimes in the back yard (one made from forks, knives, spoons, and driftwood) none of which plays Pachelbel's Canon. This one blends right in visually and acoustically. I think people will be surprised to learn I made it from spare printer parts!

There's no wind today so I had to give the catcher a tug.