Shop Teacher Bob

FABTECH 2017 will be coming to Chicago in a little over a week. There will be two sculptures on display that will be a result of a collaboration between Jesse James and Albert Paley. As I understand it, each will start a sculpture and then the other will finish it. I saw a teaser by Jesse James on Facebook about this awhile back but didn't find any details anywhere. I finally came across some more info in an e-mail I received from FMA explaining what was going on. They also have a series of short videos with James and Paley with a couple more to come. Most of the videos are two minutes or under in length - definitely worth watching.

I'm sure most everyone is familiar with Jesse James but Albert Paley is not exactly a household name - he should be, though. He's a tremendous craftsman/artist. I'll be attending FABTECH so I'll get a chance to see the finished sculptures before they're auctioned off. There's supposed to be a one hour documentary on the project later on. I'm looking forward to seeing that. James himself said it'll focus on the making without any of the drama that you normally see on the television shows. That's the type of thing that there should be more of.



Got the headlight bracket thing figured out - at least for now. After I get the motorbike mobile, I'll see how well it works like it is. If I like it - done. If not, back to the drawing board. I also got going on the pedal chain tensioner. So still moving forward on that project, which is a good thing.


School house bell is out in front of the house. The Missus and I had a little miscommunication as to where this thing was going to reside, so I'll have to move it but only a few feet. Actually, that's probably better because I'm going to have to do some landscaping work to get everything like she wants it. Depending on the weather, that might have to wait until springtime.

Went to the fights Saturday night. Jimmy was out of town so my running buddy, who's also a boxing coach, and I worked the corner for a couple of fighters from the gym. One guy fought pretty well but got clobbered with about 15 seconds left in the fight and went down. He got back up and his opponent tore into him again. I was just about ready to throw in the towel but the ring doctor got up to do the same thing. Both of us and the ref were all going to stop it about the time the bell rang, so technically, he lost a decision. Five seconds longer and it would have been a referee stop contest - RSC.

The other fighter of ours just stunk the place up. I'd never seen the kid fight before. If I had, I wouldn't have gotten him a fight until he got in better shape. He could easily have won the fight if he had a little stamina. Hell, he was damn near out of gas when I was warming him up. The kid's got talent, just needs to make the commitment.

What got me started on cycling jerseys, you may ask? I just finished reading the Road to Valor about Gino Bartali on Surly's recommendation. Good read. Bicycle story but also a good look at what was going on in Italy leading up to, during, and after WWII. If you're at all interested in cycle racing, the history of the sport and the things people do when their country is involved in a war, this one is a must read.  (All photos from Pinterest, BTW)

Meanwhile back at the shack, the headlight came in for the motorbike. The included bracket won't allow the head light to clear the tubes on the springer front end, of course, so I need to come up with something else for a mount. I could use the hole in the bottom of the steerer tube if I made the bracket that came with the light an inch or so longer. It might be better if I mounted it off the pinch bolt for the handlebars on the goose neck. I've got some mounting brackets that would fit on the handlebars that I could adapt also. I'm kind of liking the pinch bolt mounting right now, though. I could make a short mount to cut down on vibration and the light would be centered. I'll give it a bit more thought and then get to gettin'.



The light is nice and bright, though. Before I mount it up on the motorbike, I'm going to take a look at what it would take to put one on the touring bike. I rode the night ride this year and was thinking I could use more light but since I rarely ride at night, I don't want to spend a ton of money on a good light. Adapting one of the clamp-on brackets I've got might be the way to go here. Make something up I could swap between the touring bike and the city bike. Now that I've got the city bike dialed in, it would be a nice one to take on the night ride if I decide to do that next year again.

I bought a couple of these the other day. TSC had them in the bargain bin. I don't normally buy anything but Vise Grip brand clamps but these were cheap enough and they might come in handy. I was thinking I had a couple more of the regular "C" type jaw clamps and I finally found those the other day. They were in the back of the shop holding the forge hood to the forge itself - been there since I put everything back after pouring the concrete. I drilled some holes and bolted things together yesterday. So now I've got four more clamps and a job done that didn't even make it to the list. I should give myself an "atta boy" for that one.

I managed to get into the "darkroom" the other evening - actually that's the 1/2 bath off the laundry room - and printed some things. The photo above is from the roll I shot with the Franke Jr. a couple of weeks back. All eight exposures came out good. There were a couple of compositional errors on my part but no cut-off heads, nothing out of focus and all the exposures were right on the money. All the negatives were shot within an hour of each other so the lighting conditions were all the same which made it easy to guess my exposures and easier still when it came time to print.

The shot above was printed on a warmer tone paper than the rest of the shots and I toned it a bit with some black coffee. The thinking being since my running buddy was standing in front of a log house, a little brown tone would look better than stark black and white. The effect is pretty subtle but I like it. The remainder of the shots were printed on heavy weight fiber based paper unlike this one printed on resin coated paper. Those are currently drying under some weights so they'll remain flat when dry.

I printed a couple of shots from my European vacation but they could use some help. It was getting late, so I just made straight prints to see how they would look. Next time I print, I'll do a bit of experimenting and see if I can improve on them. I think I can get a real good one of the Eiffel Tower.

Next up I want to get out the 4x5 field camera and shoot a couple of sheets of film with it. I've got some film holders already loaded with film but I'm not sure what the film type is and which of the holders are loaded and which aren't, it's been so long since I've messed with the big cameras. I'll wait 'til the sun goes down one of these days and take the dark slides out, see what I've got, mark them properly and go in search of a non-moving target. I'm sure it'll take me awhile to get comfortable using a camera that you have to focus on an upside down image with a black cloth over your head.

Photo From Here

Don't know who that is in the photo or what he's riding - British twin, no doubt - but Indian has sewn up the flat track championship for this year in a big way - 1st, 2nd and 3rd place with riders Mees, Smith and Baker respectively.

I've been busy of late. Had to get the final exams graded and the grades posted but got the new class off to a flying start. It's a small group and I had most of them last semester, so the remaining seven weeks should go smoothly. I have to do some more touchy-feely training on the computer for the college in the next few weeks still but that shouldn't be too tough. I'm liking getting home during the daylight hours, by the way. I was leaving the house at seven in the morning and getting home a little after ten in the evening the last eight weeks. Getting home six hours earlier makes a big difference in my energy level.


I made this throwing knife the other day. I don't know jack about throwing knives but I've got several old mower blades that I was wondering what to do with besides tossing them in the scrap bin. Only took me about an hour to make. I tried throwing it at an old dead tree out back and never did get it to stick with an overhand delivery. I didn't do too bad with an underhand style of toss, however. I've got a few more old blades still. Need to come up with something else to make that could profit from some good carbon steel.



The weather has been fantastic around here of late - temps in the 70's with lots of sunshine. 45 years ago Wednesday I remember it snowed after a couple of similar sunny, warm days. The only reason I remember is that was when my son was born. Hard to believe he's 45 now. Time marches on, as they say.

Took the Missus back to the doctor to get the test results from last week. Good news there! She's still cancer free. That's a load off of both of us. Hard to concentrate on things while you're holding your breath.

Count your blessings people.

Getting ready to shoot another roll of 120 film. This time in an old Kodak folder that was designed for 620 film. The actual film size of 620 is the same as 120 but the reels are a little narrower and the ends are a little smaller in diameter. In the photo you can see the roll of 120 on the mandrel just prior to me machining it down to size. Actually, this is one of the first things I wrote about when I started the blog back in '08.

One more from Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions - People Get Ready. It's more of a civil rights movement song than a prepper song but the way things are going, it seems to still be relevant, regardless of how you look at it.

This seems to be the year of natural disasters. Huge fires earlier in the year in Texas and Oklahoma, then Montana, and now California. Hurricanes in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and Puerto Rico. We don't have to contend with forest fires or hurricanes here in the Mid-West but we do get tornadoes and snow storms. It's been pretty quiet as far as tornadoes this season but who knows what the winter will bring. With the way things are going, could end up raining frogs come December.

Or we could be hit by an EMP attack. I read the other day once again about just such an item. Now that North Korea has their ICBMs functional, those supposedly in the know say that up to 90% of the US population could perish if the grid goes down. That's scary. 100 years ago there was still a large percentage of the population living in the country, growing their own food and being mostly self-sufficient. It's not like that now. Hardly anyone is self-sufficient, and even if they are, will they be able to maintain that lifestyle when the grid goes down? If you were going to take the grid down, now would be an excellent time, what with FEMA and other emergency services already dealing with all the other natural disasters and with winter approaching. My garden is about done for the season and the fruit trees are likewise about finished for the season. The earliest I could expect new crops of any sort would be about eight months from now. No way I could go for eight months without resupply. Makes you wonder how the pioneers made it through their first winter. Lots of them didn't, I suppose.

There was an article about the mess in Puerto Rico in the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal. Those people are in really sad shape due to a combination of factors. The island was in sad shape financially before the hurricane, the devastation was horrible and because it's an island, it's not easy getting supplies and equipment to them. No Cajun Navy to help those poor souls. If we here on the mainland had our power go down for a month, what would we do. People in a high rise apartment or the "rough" parts of the cities will be in a very, very bad way after only a few days, let alone a few weeks. After a couple of weeks I'm guessing it'll be like Lord of the Flies and they'll be looking at carving up the fat kids.

It looks like the government has done a fairly good job dealing with the disasters so far this year but I don't know if I want to count on them coming to the rescue if things go really sideways. I'm going to revisit my emergency plan and see what I can do to fill in a few of the blanks. You might be wise to do the same.

Spent the majority of the day yesterday chauffeuring the Missus around. First stop was the scan, then a stop to get her something to eat, then to the hospital for blood work. We get the results when we see the doctor next week. Hopefully see's still cancer free. I feel bad for the old girl - not easy waiting to see if the other shoe is going to drop.

I've got a list of things to do today - like most days - but I should be able to get back on the motorbike project for a bit since I'm stalled out on the school house bell. I need to finish the motor chainguard and then work on the pedal drive chain and another chainguard. There won't be too much more to do after that. 


Finished up my last night-school class the other night. That feels good. Sixteen more days and then I'm done teaching. That should feel even better. I was talking to my cousin the other day at the reunion and I asked him how much longer he's planning on working. He said that ever since he was six years old, he's had to get up and go somewhere. I hadn't thought much of the school years, just my working years, but if you look at it like that, then 12 + 50 = 62. Holy Horseshit, Batman! I've had to get up and go someplace for almost 93% of my life. If I ever have second thoughts about retiring, (as if), I'll just remind myself of that percentage.

Keep on pushing y'all and I'll just imagine myself in that red Jaguar while you do.

I've been both giving some serious thought as well as actually preparing for what I'm going to do when I'm fully retired. Obviously, the first things I should concentrate on are the projects that I've already started like the 900 and the VW. However, I definitely want to get back to some film photography, both black & white and maybe some alternative process stuff. I also want to get my little smithy up and running.

I've got the forge in place and I've got some coal. I've got most of the hand tools required - might need a few more pairs of tongs. Those could be one of the first projects, I suppose. I'll have to move a few things around to make sure everything is safe from flying sparks but most of those things are on wheels, so no real problem with that. Other than where to put them, that is.

Looking at the photos above, I don't need a door anywhere but I love the Art Nouveau style in general and the beautiful mix of ironwork and wood in particular. I've got a couple of books on the Art Nouveau style. Maybe take a look at those over the winter and start getting some ideas for some ironwork that would get me started on the path back to doing some blacksmithing again.

I painted the pieces I had primed for the school bell project. The Missus is still not sure about the color of the bell itself. I bought some paint thinking I'd be done in a couple of days but now I'm on hold. I told her just take the can of paint back to the hardware store and find one you like. Eastwood has some paint that I think would work well and would look good but this is her bell. Whatever Momma wants, Momma gets.

Painted the little bracket I made for the transportation room and got it installed. Managed to do a little thinning of the piles while I was up there. I've still got a ways to go on that, however. I've got a bunch of stuff left over from my teaching days and from workshops I've attended, plus a bunch of other crap from trade shows or just interesting things I've picked up over the years. I'll head back in there on another rainy day, garbage bag in hand, and toss some more of it out.

Milestone today, though. My last night class tonight! Just a morning class for the next eight weeks and that'll be it. I did sign up for the 5 axis machining class the other day. It meets only one day per week in the lab where I work now. I can keep my lab tech job open and that'll give me access to the tools in the building, at least until May. I'll decide then what comes next.

Photo From Here

Ain't that the truth. One thing about it, however, if you are willing to work hard, follow directions and show up every day, it's not hard to stand out from the crowd. I should probably add pull your pants up and put your phone away as well.

I didn't do much in the way of hard work over the weekend. I went to the gym and a wedding later in the day on Saturday, and a small scale family reunion on Sunday. Both the wedding and the reception were nice as was the reunion. Got a chance to see some people I rarely see, at least what's left of them now. Lot's of good memories flowing yesterday. That in itself is pretty amazing, seeing as how most of us can't remember what we had for breakfast at this stage of the game.



I did manage to get some primer on a couple more pieces for the school house bell project. Should be able to finish that project up this week as long as I can find some muscle to move things around.

I made another little corner bracket to hang a lantern in my "transportation room", library, man cave or whatever you want to call it. I need to get some brown paint and then I can hang it up. Be one more off the list. Of course, one of these days I'm going to run out of the easy ones and I'll have to get back on the big projects. I just needed to see the list shrink a bit - and should by week's end.

I was discussing something with the lab tech at the college the other day and my response to his statement was I just need to make it to December and immediately thought of Merle Haggard's classic:


Looks like that's going to be my new theme song. I'm down to under twenty working days left in my teaching career. I've got a great part-time job at the college but I'm ready to call it quits. Come December I can throw away the alarm clock and all my shirts with collars. Live in sweat pants and bib overalls, come and go as I please. Pick up the last four states on my quest to have been in all 50. Travel the Avenue of the Giants, see the Golden Gate bridge, sprint car races in Knoxville, Iowa, Museum of American Speed  in Lincoln, Nebraska and who knows where else.

In the meantime, however, knocking the hell out of the project list.

I got the base for the school house bell all welded up and ground down. I've got the cradles for the trunnions bolted on in the photo to check the hole placement and the spacing to make sure everything will work as designed before painting. I got it primed right after the photo. I'll get it painted black in the next couple of days. The Missus still hasn't decided on the color for the bell itself. I told her to come up with the color scheme in the next couple of days and I'll have this one wrapped up.



I saw both of these at the Daily Timewaster. I'm really starting to lust after a Jeep truck - especially those old ones. And as a man with way more tools than the average Joe, I don't need another screwdriver at the moment, but that's a spiffy set right there, by golly! I've got a couple of 3/8" drive bits like that now. One of them is for big clutch head screws that I needed for working on one of my old Chevys years ago. I'd be nice to have a wooden handle like that and then maybe get a couple more various types of drive bits for it. I doubt that Snap-On sells a set like that anymore. But if they did - I'd put it on my Christmas list.

I made a little progress on the motorbike again. I've got the chainguard pert near done. I made it out of two pieces to accommodate the frame tube. I've got a bit of welding to do on the guard itself and then make a couple of tabs to weld onto the frame to bolt it on. Should be able to get that taken care in the next few days along with a couple of other little jobs I've got going.

All in all, making good progress lately. I'm almost due for an "Atta Boy".

Tubing for the schoolhouse bell project all loaded up for transport to school. I'll weld everything together and grind it down there. We've got a big layout table to work on - that'll make it a bit easier.

If you look under the pile of tubing, you'll see an aluminum sheet. That's one of the pieces I picked up from my sister in law the other day. Just right for making a chainguard for a motorbike. We've got a 4' shear in the shop that'll give me a nice square cut. I can bend it in my brake at home. I would have sheared it here at the shack but as long as I was going to drive the truck to work, figured I might as well take it along. I've got another little job in the cab to make up also. It's a little bracket for hanging a railroad lantern in the corner of the room where I've got my train board. It's nothing fancy - but I took one down to use a pattern so they'll all match.

Shot a roll of black and white film Saturday morning using the old Franka Rolfix Jr. Jimmy's dad gave me an old folding camera a couple of weeks ago so I thought I might clean it up and try it out. As it ended up, however, it looks like the camera has been dropped while it was open and from a pretty good height. One of the rivets for the folding mechanism is gone and the lens is sitting askew when you fold it out. Since I had gotten a roll of film out, however, I loaded it up in the old Rolfix Jr.