End of the Blog.
For anyone reading this, you’ve probably noticed a lack of posts. I started it about 6 years ago or so as a way to give back little things learned along the way from other blogs I have read. Priorities have changed and the time has come to shut down the blog. Thanks for reading!
Detroit by Bike
I had a chance to bike Detroit by bicycle. It was a great exercise as I biked in areas I probably should not have – regardless a great tour of the city. In my opinion, Detroit is a great little gem that has great promise.
*note – parts ARE dangerous as it is a city faced with high crime and economic decline. Generally the path is north-south and east west from the center of the city. When in doubt – ask a friendly local as I found most locals were helpful and friendly.
2013 is over!
I had not posted much since July. That was around the time I learned my mother in law got cancer. From then on I had to re-focus my priorities to being there for my wife. Her mother passed later that year and it was difficult to say the least. Life goes on and that it about how 2013 ended.
I am now back in college! Through circumstances and opportunities, I am pursuing my MBA in management. I am excited to learn more about this area and apply the skills to my career.
Tried and liked for 2013
Kondia Manual Mill – great accessory for building things on the fly. It took some time to restore – but works very well.
Rivendell Sam Hilborne – I finally have a “do it all” no compromise bike to go where I want.
Canon iS 10×42 binoculars – Having them has been great for trips – image stabilization is a must
Camping – Started at New Years last year, ended at New Years last year. Not too many trips – but worth it.
Shortwave radio – my father is working on a nifty little project to put a short wave radio into a car. Its been a fun project getting that working.
USGI military surplus 100% wool blanket – Who knew that this vintage item would be so useful? Keeps you warm and is versatile.
Music:
Tesla Boy!! Perhaps my favorite find of 2013. I saw them play in Orlando recently and they put on a great show.
I also saw Toad the Wet Sprocket, the reunion of UK as well as Dweezil Zappa’s Frank Zappa tribute.
That’s all! I hope you have a wonderful 2014!
Rivendell Sam Hillborne double tube
Here are photos of the complete Rivendell Sam Hillborne build. I took it out for a spin today. It’s a great ride, especially with the double top tubes. The frame is pretty much near perfect for me and much stiffer over the single tube version in a 60cm size. In the photos, you notice a unique way to mount shimano deerhead shifters to the stem. The front bag is a vintage leather camera bag that I added supports to adapter to the rack. Steel supports were welded to the nitto racks and the racks were powder coated. A bracket was fabricated for the rear light.
Drill repair
I destroyed the motor of my Milwaukee drill. To replace it, I needed special security torx bits and had to make a custom tool with an extension.
Motor fan repair
This was my first attempt at aluminum MIG welding. 4 vanes were damaged (missing) on the fan of the mill motor. The caused vibration from the imbalance. New vanes were cut from a bandsaw and welded. I thought I needed to dynamically balance it, but it ran so smoothly that I decided to skip that.
Self healing machines
The advantage of having a mill, lathe and welder is that each machine can contribute to make parts to repair themselves. Since getting the mill, I discovered some parts needed to be custom built for repairs. This is a modification of the quill lever which needed a couple dimension changes and a new circle hole pattern. Holes were filled in with a welder, turned down on the lathe and new holes drilled on the mill.
Generator Propane Conversion
Having had my fill in dead generators due to bad gas during hurricane season, I went for a propane conversion. This system allows the generator to run from BBQ propane tanks. The advantage is that the propane can be stored without expiration. The system is dual fuel, so I can switch back to gasoline with a switch if I wanted to.
Fusalong Mill
Here’s the Fusalong mill all put together. Its been quite a journey assembling and restoring it.
New edition – a new mill!
The mill rebuild project that I had been working on has taken too long. I would spend way too much time and money to build up a mill that would have less capability than a bridgeport. However, I learned exactly what I needed to get through this rebuild for the next machine. After months of shopping, I found a mill that was in the condition and price that seemed attractive enough to get. It is a Kondia/Clausing FV-1. This mill is a bridgeport copy from spain. However, the quality of this seems to be up to the level of a bridgeport. It seemed moderately used and had a powerfeed and DRO. Most importantly, it ran smooth and the ways were tight and smooth in all directions. The ways were also hardened. Its not perfect. I had to replace the quill spring and add a VFD. The power feed for the quill needed repair already. But its getting there and at the moment will not require a complete teardown. I want to start making chips, not repair machines.
!
Rust Prevention – Part 2
In my quest for a definative answer to corrosion protection in the garage, I contacted a number of corrosion test facilities in the United States. Out of 5 emails, I got one response from one facility. Because the person was so gracious to provide lots of information, I have summarize the finding in my own owrds. In no way is this an endorsement – this is a summary of what was revealed:
This laboratory tested about 28 rust preventive products from a variety of manufacturers and continues to on a regular basis. Excellent performance has been recorded from the following products in long-term exposure testing in Salt Fog, Humidity and Cyclic Accelerated Corrosion Testing (all to approved US standards) when applied to cleaned, bare, cold rolled steel test panels.
Thin, “oil-like” products: WD-40, Corrosion-X, Corrosion-X Aviation, Eezox, Boeshield T9, G96 Gun Treatment
Slightly thicker products with an “apple butter” or “yogurt” consistency, yet much thinner in viscosity than “grease:” Cortec “Bullfrog” Spray, LPS-3
The above recommendations assume that the product will be applied such that a noticeable film of the product remains on the surface of the item to be protected. Some products performed better than others. In strictly a Humidity test, WD-40 was about as good as it gets — some panels exceeded 1000 hrs of exposure without red rust on the panel face. In Salt Fog tests, rust appeared about ten times faster than in humidity. Between one and two weeks, nearly all panels exposed in salt fog were seriously covered in rust, but WD-40, Bullfrog, Corrosion-X/Corrosion-X Aviation, and Eezox were less engulfed than panels coated with the other products.
Personally, I employ WD-40 and Corrosion-X Aviation at home for the “home and garage” uses which you describe in your e-mail, with application of the product(s) to the tool following each use. I use Corrosion-X Aviation exclusively to protect blued carbon steel firearms.
WD-40 contains a proprietary mineral oil cut with a proprietary solvent blend. It’s water-displacing action is what provides rust protection, IMO. Over time, as the solvent flashes off WD-40 will become a gummy, varnish-like residue, somewhat orange in color, and also IMO it is this orange residue that is sometimes confused with rust.
The issue I have with WD-40 is that it is somwhat thin in viscosity and tends to run off vertical surfaces, or be slung off from rotating machinery components due to centrifugal force. A more viscous product tends to provide more protection.
Products with molecular-thin oxygen blockers like Corrosion-X and Eezox tend to do well also. If oxygen can’t get to the metal surface, it can’t oxidize the metal. I have a particular semiauto pistol finished with a manganese phosphate that tended to develop rust in the same areas every three to four months, even using a “gun oil.” I solvent cleaned the gun oil using acetone, then applied Corrosion-X Aviation (same as Corrosion-X, except with a viscosity-building additive) every evening over the course of a week. That was 7 yrs ago, and the rust has yet to reappear.
Again, a big THANK YOU to “Scientist X” for proividing this information!
Munich, Germany
I had a chance to travel to Munich, Germany on business recently. I would say the highlight outside of work was diving into the river in the jeans and then drinking beer on the riverside with the locals. The other was getting invite to a real German soccer game at the Alianz arena with 56,000 fans.
update on sticky
He’s the cat we adopted. I thought I would give an update. He’s awesome. That’s all.
LIghts in the house
I added some lights to the living room. It consists of a new chandelier (foudn a a great find from the habitat for humanity charity) and recessed lights. I’ve started to learn that “full blast” with lights is not necessary. So I have focused on dimmers and hope to evolve to smart lighting controls using “mi case verde” and z-wave.
Teledyne Titan Restoration Completed
I finally finished my most ambitious bike restoration to date, the Teledyne Titan.
A little bit about it:
– Full Titanium Campagnolo Super Record Group
– Modified Super Record brakes to nut mount instead of recessed
– Machined Super Record hub to convert to 5 speed
– Custom 5 speed Regina hub
– Tubular tires with Mavic GP4 rims
– San Marco saddle with matching leather handlebar tape
– Cinelli handlebar
– Braided Steel Cable Housings
There was to be no compromise for its build. I wanted it to look like what a dream build would have looked like in the final days of its production run. I kept with the blue, grey and white theme throughout the whole build. Little details like the stainless braided cable housings paid tribute to Teledyne’s aerospace heritage. The only thing missing would be the super record headset, the titanium axle and maybe some custom fluting on the stem. But those additions were something I could live without.
The Teledyne Titan is the world’s first production titanium bicycle. Despite implementing mass production techniques such as cast titanium components, it was still a very expensive bike back then. I don’t think you will every see it built like this again in the near future, especially the titanium fork. That being said, I present photos of the completed build.
Minuteman III Rare Footage
I found some rare footage about a program where we launch some dummy warheads out into the pacific ocean. Its amazing to see these bright glowing stars re-entering the atmosphere at 16,000 mph and impacting the ground within a few 100 feet. All of this after travelling 6000 miles to their destination.
Iphone Lenses
I bought these lenses the magnetically attach to your smartphone camera. I found a candy tin holds them perfectly. Here are some shots with it.
Of course, you already know I am a fan of the Canon IS 10×42 binoculars. Here are some shots through them with the camera.
New Orleans
I had some time to kill one day in New Orleans. A co-worker and I rented some bikes and toured some spots hit by Katrina. 
Parts back from powdercoater
Got the bike rack parts back from the powdercoater. Install will hopefully be this week.
Bicycle Wheel Truing
I used a dial indicator on the side of my cheap truing stand. With this, really accurate results could be obtained. 
Shipping Crate Machine Shop
I had this idea that a machine shop could be put into a shipping container and made modular with each container containing various machinery. That way, you could move it easily if you wanted to go to live somewhere else. I was on a turbine rebuild job and saw exactly what I was thinking of. It even has air conditioning and a TV. 
Below is a shot from a typical day out in the field that day.
Generator Refurbishment
Hurricane season has started in Florida and I need to update my generator. I purchased a new tank as the previous one has leaks. I plan on converting it to accept gas or propane and will also install an OEM motorcycle muffler to quiet it down a bit.
Powder Coating
The bike racks are finished for both bikes. Here they are before being sent to the powder coating shop.
To Travel is Better Than to Arrive 