Orange beast

Finished up another knife last week. Only bummer is that it's got quite a few imperfections in it. It's got a great edge, made of O-1 tool steel, and I hardened and tempered it finishing at a Rockwell C 59. Should be a good useful blade, but not nice enough to sell. So, I'll probably just beat it up in the field. I think it'll live in the tool box on my quad. Orange G10 scales with blue liners. I'm hopping I don't have to wreck too many more knives before I get building some that are worthy of giving to people.

New tools for the garage

Well, my boy's hockey season is coming to an end. That means more time to fiddle around with other things. Knife making is one of those things. Picked up a few tools to aid in that department. Mostly to help my build the proper equipment to make knives with. A lathe and a mill. Little guys, but they'll work.

Garage Project

With spring comes the bug to get things in order. A freshening of sorts to go along with with new season. I've had an idea in my head for some time of what I wanted my garage to look like, but never quite had the gumption to get it done. Until now.

I have a lot of tools. I love tools. At work, seeing as I earn a living with my tools, and at home. At home because I hate having to get someone else to do things for me. Change my oil, fix household appliances, build a deck. The thought of me getting someone to do these things for me just doesn't seem to jive. That's just me. It's just how I'm wired. If others prefer to hire these tasks out, good for them. But me, I'm built to use my hands, and I find great satisfaction in it.

All of these tools I had have always been organized in my garage and stored on industrial racking. The problem is, you can see them. It doesn't matter how tidy it is, how lined up everything is, when it's all visible on racking, it looks like just a bunch of junk. My idea of a 'dream garage' was to hide it all from sight and give the appearance of an empty minimalist garage, but still highly functioning for all those satisfying tasks I keep busy with. Not wanting to dump a bunch of cash on pre-made cabinetry, I built my own. It took two weekends but the end result is just how I had wanted it.

XJ650: Minimalist Battery Holder

Finally we have some warmer weather (hovering just below freezing) which means I can finally get into the garage again. After an all day family outing, I have a few spare hours this evening to fab up a minimalist battery holder I've been thinking about. 

I already welded up a metal box that I was going to install, but I just wasn't feeling it. I found a leather strap that one of our tenants had left behind in the Rockyford house, and that gave me the idea for this battery holder. The perforated metal I found in a scrap bin while cleaning up my uncle's garage. I think it's going to work and it certainly feels better than what I had previously built.

A few months ago I picked up a MIG welder. It's nice to have a decent welder that isn't flux-core, but I need to do a little TLC to it. It works for now, but certainly not laying down the nicest welds I've done.

XJ 650 update

I have a lot of time off over Christmas, and without much in the way of travel plans, I thought I'd be able to get a whole lot done on my XJ 650. It's sadly been sitting idle for a long while. In the past few weeks I've finished striping it down ad grinding off all unnecessary frame bits. It's reduced as far as it needs to go, and now it's time to start mock-up and fabrication for what I'll be adding and altering. The bummer is that it's -24C (-12F) outside right now which makes for a stinking cold attached unheated garage. Combine that with getting over a nasty flu, and the garage isn't an appealing place to be right now.

So instead I'm doing what work I can inside, and started laying out a design for the emblem I'm going to put on the tank. This is based on a sticker that was on the donor tank I picked up for the bike. It was faded almost to the  point of invisible, but I took a picture of it, manipulated a little on the computer and now starting to trace it out and get it ready for a decal shop.

My goal is to have the bike done for spring, so hopefully this deep freeze will let up a bit so I can get back to welding in the garage. Until then, it's bunker down in the house with a steady stream of good coffee and lounging. 

Garage Work

This past weekend we opted out of camping, and with all the rain we had I was glad we did so.

I took the opportunity to get a project done thats been bugging me for quite some time; my garage. I made a deal with myself that I wouldn’t unpack my garage stuff (still sitting in my dad’s motorcycle trailer) until I have my garage painted. This is the only way that I can ensure I actually get to it. Once I hang one tool up on the wall, that’s it. It would forever be bare drywall. I hate that. Besides, in 10 years it’s almost un-paintable and you’d basically have to redo the whole thing. So, work late Friday and Saturday nights, and start organizing at a leisurely pace Sunday afternoon. First order of business, bicycle storage. I need more than this, but it’s a start. I’ve still got 6 bikes in the basement. Maybe I need to cull the herd a little more intensely? Na, just get a little more creative with bike storage. I was also planning on building custom shelving and work area, but when I saw the price of this hammer and bash together stuff, I’d be crazy to give up 3 more weekends just to get the garage usable. This system will work fine for what I need. Mostly just bike maintenance and the odd wood working or electronics projects. Still adding a few more shelves and organizing a bit more, but hopefully it'll be all done this week.

Next on the garage list, hook up my Sony surround sound so I can wrench in musical bliss!