Web Store Updated

Upgraded the web store and added a bunch of new items:

Belt / flask combo finished

Fish Stories

 

Went to the antique mall today looking for an old radio to play around with-  no old tube radios but one booth did have a lot of cool old fishing rods-  picked up the yellow and red/green striped one for $5!  A few of the others there were purchased at the same antique mall for about $7 each without the reels.

This one needs some repair-  but for $5 it makes a really cool piece of art to display.  there is no name on it anywhere, and by the looks of it I think it is hand made.








Just the handle alone was worth the cost!






Also picked up this tackle box FULL of tackle- a great price at $28 considering it was packed with everything you could ever need to go fishing, from sinkers to a scale to a fillet knife to vintage lures, flies, line, etc.












It also had in it this nice old Garcia Mitchell 300 reel- which completed the $5 rod!





This lure looked familiar, and when i got home, sure enough, there it was on the spine of "old Fishing Lures and Tackle"- a 2 1/2" "Jitterbug" by Arbogast



Home libraries are freaking great, aren't they?



Old fishing lures are just so cool.  Back when products were made to last, with chaacter.  This is one of my favorite fishing books.

Lovely feature on Danny's XS:

thanks a bunch to Ted at XS650Chopper.com for the monthly feature!

SEE IT HERE

Mid-project peek

Here's a pair of buckles (and belts and flasks) we're doing for SpeedMoore Racing - buckle blanks wrapped in brass sheet, dimpled, with old norton tags to be riveted on.  More to come.

Latest leather

Been busy the past week with the new bike rehab, machining parts for the XS650, cleaning up the Bultaco and Ironhead for the One show, editing and sending magazine articles, etc., but we eked out some time for leather work as well:




(FOR SALE $75)



(FOR SALE- $10 EACH)






(FOR SALE $50)

They just follow us home sometimes....

Neighbor up around the corner saw us walking the dogs, and asked if we wanted a free motorcycle.  Uh, sure?!?!?  Well, the conversation was a little more in-depth than that, but basically we are trading a little bit of work for this SUPER rad 1977 Yamaha DT400 dual sport!  Needs some work, namely crank seals, lots of cleaning and lubing, chain and sprocket, etc., but it's not often you're given a vintage, street legal, 400cc two stroke!

The clock's tickin', get those ratchets clickin'!

February 8-10th, 2013 is the One Motorycle Show in Portland, Oregon:





Very honored to have been invited to show, it means a lot!

Stand back, WAY back

In order to get a full view of the swingarm  :-)  This appears to be the most feasible shock setup-  weld tabs onto the swingarm where the c-clamps are holding the shocks.  Possibly remake the shock hoop casting there, and include a subframe for the rear section, whatever that will be.....










And this is the current mental vision of what the bike will end up looking like:

All artsy fartsy

The fun time playing with the shear left a lot of previously unusable metal strips to put to good use  :-)

CRAZY RACK: mockup swingarm

hmmmmmmmm.......  not so sure on the longer arm now.  It really kicks that wheel out the back.....
Plus, the monoshock setup won't work without drilling a massive hole in the top of the arm, which would further weaken it.  Not sure that will work.


With the Harley shocks.  That's cool, a little bit wide maybe but it would work.


Shocks moved back to give a better ride.  Doesn't look as good, and it would require some healthy beef where they mount, which means a lot of rebuilding of the original mount.


Looks good- but the right side shock would hit the chain.


NOW, we're on to something!  Let's think this one over for a bit.....


Closeup of clearance cuts made to the swingarm to fit.

Going long: CRAZY RACK returns

Just mocking this longer aluminum swingarm up to the ironhead dragster project.


It's like it was MADE to fit!  Same inside width-  some machining off one side to fit between the engine case and the frame, and BAM! 


About 4 inches longer


Same inside width!  Adjuster design will be tricky though, hmmm.....


Pivot bolts are within 6 thousandths!  No messy or time consuming spacer machining!

Christmas Ham

Our Shiba, Ichi, taking time off from working.  And sleeping.

Build Life

When people ask us how much money is invested in the CNC milling setup, they choke when we tell them that it's more than a nice used car, or two, or three.  We drive broke down vehicles that we can barely trust around town in order to buy tools capable of turning an idea into a product in a four hour span.  From the design, to the coding, to cutting the blank, to testing the code, to milling a stamp, to pressing leather in the hydraulic press, we can have a new product line in half a day.  And that is pretty much what is meant by "build life" on this latest keychain-  sacrificing normal creature comforts and devoting that time and money to a craft.   By the way, if you are need of your own custom CNC'd leather stamp, or any variety of small, one-off machined bits, contact us here.

Christmas is over-

Back to work-  new B&B belt loops, to be added to the store shortly.....