HamboneSlim

Wanting to step up my bowl-turning-fu, I realized I needed a better selection of bowl gouges.
So, I ordered some un-handled gouges in a useful selection of sizes and profiles, grabbed some wood scraps and metal bits:



Fired up the wood and metal lathes, then slapped 'em together...



Voila, five new gouges; one 5/8", two 1/2", and two 3/8", with brass and copper ferrules and counterweights. Suitable for heavy work. And I turned a couple of chisel handles while I was at it.

Detail:



Really looking forward to sharpening these up turning some bowls tomorrow!

-Timothy

RobbieTunes

I took in a Trek Domane for a 70-year old lady to ride across the US. Converted it from double Ultegra to triple Ultegra. Trek's cable routing is poor on that model. I think it's ready, it's tested well, and BikeFlights is taking it to California. An engineer on the test ride last week said "You know, that bike is not meant to be a triple." I only had one reply, "ignorance is bliss, and 70-year olds are not supposed to ride bikes across the United States, either." We laughed.

I then took in a Trek 7.7FX. The owner wanted me to "make it a road bike." I told him to buy a road bike. Anyway, it was worth a shot. It went from triple 105/Ultegra mix with flat bars 3x10 to drop bar 2x10 5700, FSA Energy crankset, double FD, retained the long cage RD so he can make the transition with the wide rear cassette. This is his "second step" into cycling, first the hybrid, now the "tall" roadie. Next, C&V, right?

Other than that, very slowly working on my first tourer. I've built a gravel bike for a relative, 3x7 RSX compact, but that was simply adding a rack and bigger tires. This is coming along. Yes, I know Superbe Pro was not touring stuff. Tell that to Mr. Klein, who spec'd it in 1984. Those 700x25's look small, and they'll be replaced with 700x32's once I get the fenders mounted. To come: front bag (Garneau), rear bag (Roswheel), red housing, red Cannondale wrap with black accents, other stuff.

I've never had a bike with this type of wheelbase.


Note the bolt-on FD.


SSM Regal in modern trim.

gomango

I'll take the 11-1 option.

Looks fantastic.

You do such a sweet build.

Ready to dial in the fit and add bags, electronics, cages and tires.

gomango

Looks great so far Robbie.

That should be a super stable, comfy ride with that wheelbase.

More pics please.

DQRider 

I've been wrenching on two special touring bikes this winter. Both started life as 1970's ten-speeds. One is French:



...started life as a Gitane Gypsy Sport.



The other is ummm... English-ish:



... it started life as a Raysport Turismo, Reynolds butted 531 frameset. I carefully chose each component to match a vision I had of my ultimate "grail bike". It is everything I hoped it would be.



I know I got it right because I don't feel the need to buy any more bicycles.



Is it Springtime yet?

jlax2485

Here's mine - been building up a trek 61X I picked up on fleabay as a frameset from the pro's closet. Let me just say I would not have purchased anything from them, had I known about their business practices. The frame was sitting for a long time, and I decided to make an offer. The frame was in great shape, but the paint was trashed. My original plan was to touch up the many, many flaws but the more I worked, the more surface rust I found. So I made the decision to have it media blasted & powder-coated to match the original silver as best I could. I had been collecting parts to upgrade another bike but I decided to put all those modern parts on the trek. I still have to route the cable for the FD and do a few other little things, but the powder-coat came out really nice and I cant wait to ride it. It will definitely stand out from all of the modern bikes in my club.

RobbieTunes

I hear he works for beer.

gomango

Quite true.

His bike shop is nicer than most pro shops in the Metro. Much cooler bikes there as well.

Wait till you guys see some of his projects.

I won't spill the beans, but there are some eye poppers.

Kevindale

Beautiful! I love refinishing furniture. If I ever have the space, I could see myself getting a wood lathe.

Edit: And some beautiful bikes here, too! I need to watch this thread more.

Velocivixen

@HamboneSlim - the wood is outstanding! So incredibly beautiful. I always wanted to learn about working with wood like that. I even made "houses" for my dolls out of scraps of wood when I was maybe....5 or 6!

Think I could have made a good carpenter.

RobbieTunes

Excellent sizing, by the way. Very nice balance with a tall frame. Still looks compact and tight. Good lines, etc.

markwesti

Does puttin' on Velocals count as wrenchin' ? Haha as some of you might remember my first attempt didn't go so well , I now can say with utmost confidence do not use Krylon clear coat on velocals . Sorry about my usual crappy photography .
[IMG]https://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c176/1westsail/DSCF2493_zpsalc2ok27.jpg[/IMG]

cbrstar

That headbadge looks great!

markwesti

Well thanks @cbrstar , I'm really glad you like it . Funny thing that wasn't the one I ordered . This is the one I ordered .
Nishiki Head Badge Decal (sku 841) - VeloCals

crank_addict

Robbie- neato project. Did you start this project only as acquired frameset? Curious if there's similarity to those first Cannondale's with large diameter ally tubes. Also looking at those non-window dropouts. Looks beefy.

RiddleOfSteel

That looks wicked. The way you have the saddle, stem, and bars set up makes it look fast--and here the long wheelbase (or chainstays) work 100% in your favor. Long, low, and lean. The black 5800-era 105 groupset and wheels also 'make the look.' Can't wait to see it finished!

RiddleOfSteel

Got a little more done on my Super Sport, and as I am recovering from a lingering mild cold-type-virus (which decided to kick it into gear Saturday night and most of Sunday), I will be doing more work on it. Really liking how the colors (ivory and multiple greys) are coming together, even as they are washed out in this excellent picture. I may try and slide on a larger large cog on this Uniglide 7-speed cassette, but the tubing (Champion 2) and geometry (steeper, tighter) give it a bulldog mentality, so keeping the masher gears, even in Seattle, keeps the theme consistent. The saddle will change to a Prologo Scratch Pro. Now to continue with the hack-up-a-lung phase of my illness......

jlax2485

Thanks so much...I sat on the bike to do some rough sizing and the height/reach is pretty comfortable for me. I might end up raising the saddle a hair or two once I take it for a shakedown ride. I am chomping at the bit but the USPS person delivered a cable guide that I ordered to the wrong mailbox which has delayed me a few days from finishing it

gaucho777 

FYI, those decals are mid-70s Nishiki decals and that "head badge" decal is typically placed on the seat tube in conjunction with a metal crown-shaped head badge attached with rivets.

markwesti

Good eye there @gaucho777 , there isn't anything correct on that bike . The only thing Nishiki is the Altron frame , and even it has been altered . If you would like to see pics of it please go to pedalroom.com and put in markwesti .

RiddleOfSteel

You're welcome! Sorry to hear about the postage location screw up. Gahhhhhh. It's as if, even if it was raining for the next few days, the anticipation and desire to get a bike together doesn't care about "I will not ride it in a downpour." I very patiently waited for new brakes for my Super Le Tour and it was grinding at me as once I cabled up the brakes, I could cable up the derailleurs, then bar tap/wrap, then tune. Process process process! Did the USPS give you a defined day delay--not "in a few days" or some other vagary?

HTupolev

No matter how I've adjusted my Fuji America, it always has a condition where the chain occasionally skips off the outside of the freewheel during a shift to the small cog. There's just enough of a gap on the dropout that it jams itself, rather than skipping back onto the freewheel. I've finally decided to attempt to implement a chain retention device. The skipping appears to happen near where the chain enters the freewheel, so that's where I've wanted to put something that could stop the chain from moving out toward the dropout. But it wasn't obvious that there was a convenient way to stick something there, and I wanted to keep the bike looking classic and not super weird and messy.

However.

The derailleur hanger bolt is right at the spot where I needed to stick something on the inside of the dropout. And I realized that, although the derailleur hanger bolt doesn't allow you to insert a hex key very deep, it's actually hollow all the way through, becoming a smaller cylinder after the hex section.

So I went over to the hardware store and got a 30mm-long 5mm-wide bolt with a rounded head, and a nut. Then I rode a block over to my nearest bike shop, and they let me use their sander to grind the bolt's head down to just the right thickness so that it wouldn't interfere with the chain in normal operation; there's enough of the philips head left that it still works with its intended screwdrivers. Then, we cut the bolt to the right length for aesthetic reasons.

Inside:



Outside:



Hopefully this works. If it doesn't, I'll find out within a couple hundred miles. Otherwise, I guess I'll never know.

Narhay

What about getting a freewheel with more cogs? 5 to 6, or 6 to 7 to take up the space.

HTupolev

Hmm. That makes a lot of sense.

I was intending to keep the original freewheel since it's original, should last forever, and has excellent acoustics... but if this doesn't solve the issue, I might see if going 7-speed would work.

Narhay

Alternately you could take a spacer from the drive side and put it on the non drive side of the axle, then dish the wheel accordingly.