In the past year, the Transportation Security Administration has confiscated over 8 million items, including guns, knives, narcotics, cuticle scissors, mousse, pudding, and bottled water. I have obtained some of the TSA-confiscated scissors, and they inspired me.
The TSA officially allows scissors with blades less than four inches. But the individual officers have the authority to disallow anything they think poses a potential threat. These scissors all belong in that grey area between what should be allowed on the plane, and what wasn’t allowed.
I’ve cut the scissors up, bent them, and welded them back together into spiders.
The rest of this page documents the process of creating the spider, with visual aids.
This is how I receive the scissors. In bulk, used, and mostly unsorted.
I sort them based on shape and size, and take out all the ones that are cheap filler metal. My welder doesn’t like those. This picture shows some that I’ve set aside because I like the shapes of the handles.
These 8 barber scissors will make a mighty fine spider.
First, I have to break them apart. Sometimes I can just twist them until they come loose. Other times, I have to grind off part of the screw/rivet that holds them together. Then I clamp part in the vice and twist them apart with pliers.
I use a torch to heat the handles up. This way, when I bend them, they don’t break.
A pair of legs, all bent up and nowhere to go.
Here’s 4 pairs of legs assembled and ready for the body.
You can see the other half of the 8 pairs of scissors, waiting to be bent and welded together.
After the body has been attatched. Top view.
This is the same spider, as seen from the side. It might get a little wire brush treatment to shine it up, but this is pretty much what it will look like. This is the 4th in the series.
The following spiders are the first two in the series.
The first one is actually made from cuticle scissors.
Alternate view.
The second one. Made from barber scissors (like the one shown in the step-by-step)
Alternate view.
The first two together, showing the difference in size between the cuticle scissor spider and the barber scissor spider.
Thanks for looking. For more (related and unrelated) work, or if you would like to purchase a spider, please point your browser to http://heartlessmachine.com
Very cool, menacing looking pieces. I bet they would not let you fly with one of these things now.
Your scissor work is awesome. Is any of it going to be for sale?
Gorgeous ! Now i might go and find some scissors too 😛
Nice to see some of these confiscated items put to good use.
are these for sale? they’re beautiful!
cheers,
laura
hey,
these are freakin’ amazing. please let me know if they will be up for purchase because you seem to have combined two of my likes (scissors & spiders) into one fantastic thing. now if you could somehow make them into a skull…
Wow. Beautiful stuff. Very nice.
beautiful
I’d be interested in purchasing as well.
Let me add my voice to the approving chorus. Your spiders are wonderful, and I need one RIGHT NOW! I’ve bookmarked your site, and will check periodically to see if you’re offering these for sale.
Beautiful work!
I would be interested in buying one, if you felt like selling….
“Weaving spiders, come not here;
Hence, you longlegged spinners, hence!
Beetles black approach not near;
Worm nor snail, do no offence.” – William Shakespeare
See if you can get them on an airplane now
would be nice IF you decided to sell them you could donate the proceeds to 911 victims families. Just a thought.
I am madly in love with this.
Amazing.
you should seell them back to the TSA, for posting in the security area as sculptures. They woudl remind people to make sure they put their stuff in their carry on bags.
Can you carry the spiders on a plane?
I know that everything that the TSA confiscates at the Portland airport (PDX) is sold online by the State of Oregon. Check out the ebay user OregonTrail2000. You can get large lots of knives, scissors, etc. Other states may do similar things.
cool.
They’re beautiful. I want a breeding pair. As a colossal nerd, I always carry things like screwdrivers, string & pocketknives about. I’ve had to do some very fast talking after being searched on sus (wrong place, wrong time), to keep my favourite penknife. I’ve lost a few too, that way, over the years (rules in Englishland about such things are becoming exponentially absurd). I feel the pain of every confiscated utensil.
The big one is incredible! Really well done.
I’m using Firefox and for some reason am unable to navigate your site. I would have loved to see what else you can do.
Can I ask, how the heck do you find out where you can buy the scissors from TSA?? I mean, I know they have auctions but, how do I find the one in my area??
Awesome work. What kind of welder are you using? I would think a small wirefeed would do the task.
Muthafricken scissor spiders on a plane!!
Awesome!
They’re beautiful to keep my favourite pen. Let me add my voice to the approving chorus. Your spiders are wonderful, I’ve bookmarked your site. Magnificent art work. What kind of design-God are you using? I wish good luck!
Very cool looking! And ingenious of you to think of such a thing.
Fantastic. I recommend reading China Miéville’s Perdido Street Station; I think you would appreciate the character of the Weaver.
The irony is they will be pulled/confiscated from one persons luggage one day and be shipped to someone else the next day. I’ve had more luggage opened and taped with cool TSA tape than not the last couple years. They’ve broken a dvd player, the glass faceplate on a clock I had since I was a kid and even unrolled my socks. I wouldn’t dare put anything of value in there.
Very inventive though, treat them with respect every time you fire up, I’m sure some people didn’t really want to give them up.
You’re totally amazing, fantastic work.
Very cool!
carry on, your doing very well!
Wow amazing work…
cool!
awesome!
I wanna see a scorpion
Hi-
Please add a “Like” button… so I can facebook “like” your site.
Oh, forget it… I’ll just post it.
Very cool.
– Christina
great!!!
any of them for sale?