Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Mid-Century Moto Mecca Makeover

[lilscorpion]

Well, dad passed away a few years ago and his wife gave me the hammer, along with his 1930 Model A that dad restored.

He loved that car but for some reason, that old hammer means much more to me than anything else.

Great story. It's cool how simple tools can be so personal.

My grand father was given my great grand fathers tools most of which came from Italy with him. I remember seeing many of them hanging in his little shop behind his garage when I was 7 or so. Even at that age I hoped I could have them some day and was fascinated by some of the hand drills and primitive wood working tools. Sadly they were all thrown in the trash shortly after his death because they "were just old tools". I'd love to have the hammer I remember. I'd treasure it as you do no question.

 

[stumpy-blair]

hey gregor , in your guzzi build there was that pic of the girl in the davida helmet on the guz ..... I have the same helmet in large (60 cm) ..... I have given up riding due to injuries , ... you want to trade the helmet for a pair of those nifty pants I commented on awhile ago on your post ? ...... they had different coloured knees and stuff ? ..... cmon !!!!!

 

[RaspPumpkinSeedPancakes]

Thanks. I am always looking to learn something new but every once in a while I come across something like the loft railing in the house where I do a little machining, welding and woodwork and I step back and think - wow, that's really cool.

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Then there are the days that I've had recently where I wonder what the hell I'm doing and when will it end. Suffice it to say that the length of time this has dragged on and the financial toll has stressed the home life. Of course it's a bit like saying you don't like sailing anymore once you're in the middle of the ocean. I have no choice but to keep paddling.

Some of it is my tendency to figure something out and then immediately try something harder or different. It's been a boon in my creative career and a thorn in my remodel. ... ... .

Gregor

You need some cheering up!

Sorry to be a foodie, but if you need a reboot to get you fired up to work again, there is nothing like some Blueberry Hell hot sauce (drizzled or poured) over a bowl of fine vanilla ice cream when you need a boost.


No joke.

www.hellfirehotsauce.com/

(nope, not affiliated with this company, but have some friends in Lake Geneva who got me hooked on this hot sauce)

Now, get back to work...

 

[dhubbard422]

Despite the wretched weather hundreds, nay, thousands showed up. It's an incredible show - by far the best in the country. If you're close you should really check it out. The highlight for me was meeting Ola Stenegärd who is the design director at BMW in Germany and him saying that he's had a photo of my bike in his inspirations file for the last 12 years and that he thought it was one of the most important BMW's around. High praise from the designer of the HP2 Sport (my personal favorite) and the S1000RR. My bike was placed next to Roland Sands R90 concept. Cool.

Today I'm going to swing back by the show to have my photo taken for the book and then it's back to moving - in the snow. Again. I'm hoping that we get far enough today that we can stay there tonight.

Such a long time coming.

Gregor

Inspiration? Perhaps it influenced this... "Concept Roadster"

 

[sakurama]

Inspiration? Perhaps it influenced this... "Concept Roadster"

Thanks for that link. I hadn't heard of this bike but I like it a lot. BMW is really doing some cool things right now. I may be working with them this month on a project. Fingers crossed.

Gregor

 

[sakurama]

hey gregor , in your guzzi build there was that pic of the girl in the davida helmet on the guz ..... I have the same helmet in large (60 cm) ..... I have given up riding due to injuries , ... you want to trade the helmet for a pair of those nifty pants I commented on awhile ago on your post ? ...... they had different coloured knees and stuff ? ..... cmon !!!!!

Well that's a bit large for me but I'd be happy to hook you up. Send me a PM with the details. I need to pick up another pair or two of those pants anyway.

You need some cheering up!

Now, get back to work...

It drives my wife nuts as I think all pastry chefs hate chocolate but that's my medicine. Thankfully the kids have the chocolate gene so we have it in the house.

The main thing that would cheer me up is clients paying me - which they finally did all at once. Freelance can be feast or famine and often times when you're busy is when you're most broke. But I'm back in the black and making progress again. Maybe an update tomorrow.

Gregor

 

[Hostyle]

I'm looking forward to that update! Great work on the house and the bikes (I've read the house thread and the all-wheel drive KTM thread). To say I'm jealous of your skills and talent would be a huge understatement

Do you have a thread running somewhere about the BMW build?

 

[shane71]

Beautiful house you've got there. Upload more pics.

 

[sakurama]

Well, dad passed away a few years ago and his wife gave me the hammer...
...that old hammer means much more to me than anything else.

The other night I found my boy asleep with the hammer in one hand and his little dog in the other. I think it's safe to say he likes it.

I'm looking forward to that update! Great work on the house and the bikes (I've read the house thread and the all-wheel drive KTM thread). To say I'm jealous of your skills and talent would be a huge understatement

Do you have a thread running somewhere about the BMW build?

It's about 15 years old so the whole thing is dated and I look like someone much younger and carefree than I do now but there you go.

The Team Incomplete Boxer Story

Beautiful house you've got there. Upload more pics.

Okay, I'm on it!

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So some of my absence has been work and some has been frustration. Some has also just been taking some time off to relax a bit. For instance last weekend after coming back from a week in NYC I finally got around to making a swing for the kids.



Nadia helped shellac the seat and then it was a matter of finding the right tree.





And of course taking time to do some back yard grilling.



Those are "garlic scapes" on the left and I'd never had them until I moved out to Portland. They're really delicious, sort of like a cross between garlic and scallion.

Anyway, a lot of what was slowing me up was the range hood and the cabinet doors. They just weren't turning out as nice as I wanted and I made some sloppy mistakes from being out of practice. The thick veneer is very tricky and I am wondering why I decided on it. It's tricky to sand it flush with the ply and very easy to burn through the poly and or stain or worse the paper thin walnut veneer. I am going to think hard about this for the rest of the drawers.



Yesterday I finally got the range hood up and installed. It was suffering from the same issues but I was able to pretty much fix all the problems. It's great to finally have some light over the stove. Now I can see clearly how much I need to do a back splash...

Finally I was able to start up again on the drawers for the kitchen. It's hell living without storage and everything in boxes so I'm trying to claw my way back to sanity by making the drawers.



I glue them up first and then do my through tenons with the domino after. I was looking for a way to easily batch cut my dominos but gave up and used my little japanese pull saw which turned out to be the easiest and fastest way to trim them after all.





So by tomorrow I should have all the bottom drawers done. I'll make another lumber run tomorrow or Monday and then tackle the middle drawers for next week.

Gregor

 

[Modern Jess]

It's hell living without storage and everything in boxes so I'm trying to claw my way back to sanity by making the drawers.

I feel your pain. Acutely.

 

[JTH]

so happy to see you posting more pics. You do great work on both sides of your camera lens. It makes me tired looking at all the work you do. Thanks for the BMW link bought a 83 R100RS last friday.

 

[sakurama]

so happy to see you posting more pics. You do great work on both sides of your camera lens. It makes me tired looking at all the work you do. Thanks for the BMW link bought a 83 R100RS last friday.

A true classic and the very first production bike ever designed in a wind tunnel. That fairing is still better than 90% of the bikes out there.

Gregor

 

[sakurama]

In an effort to keep my momentum going I just want to show that I did in fact make some progress this week.

I would have finished the bottom drawers but I had a vacuum bag blow out yesterday - there's only so many times you can reuse a Festool vacuum bag I guess and it didn't help that I waited until the thing was jammed so full I could barely get it out. So I took the opportunity to buy more dominos, more baltic birch and a couple of things I needed for my Guzzi project as well.

So, progress is slow to get going but I have some momentum again. Back on the horse so to speak.

Gregor

 

[Baroquenstrings]

Glad to see you've slowed down a little like us mere mortals. Also gives me a chance to catch up on my own projects instead of refreshing my browser every 3 minutes for an update.
I have to say you have a beautiful family- I love the smiles on everyone's faces.

 

[sakurama]

Glad to see you've slowed down a little like us mere mortals. Also gives me a chance to catch up on my own projects instead of refreshing my browser every 3 minutes for an update.
I have to say you have a beautiful family- I love the smiles on everyone's faces.

Ha. I wish I was working faster.

I think the kids get their good looks from mixing asian and caucasian genes, or as we like to say, they're little rice crackers.

Yeah, I came up with that phrase but all our "rice cracker" friends think it's pretty funny. Mixed race children are very beautiful to my eye and obviously I think I got pretty lucky with my own. Smart too. And stubborn. Man are they stubborn. Can't imagine where they got that from...

Gregor

 

[Trucky]

I don't do much looking around at the garage threads, but holy mackarel. First off, you're pretty awesome (as well as the bike!). Second, get a good print of the picture of your kids on the swing and frame that. You'll never tire of seeing it.

As for that japanese saw... is it really not so much of a gimmick as I think it is? I always see them at Sears and blow them off, but just that one application makes them look a bit more favorable. If you don't mind me asking, has it come in handy in other applications?

and one more thing: I'm very jealous of your mill and lathe. You have a ton of nice equipment. I'd glad your work has paid off well.

 

[sakurama]

I don't do much looking around at the garage threads, but holy mackarel. First off, you're pretty awesome (as well as the bike!). Second, get a good print of the picture of your kids on the swing and frame that. You'll never tire of seeing it.

As for that japanese saw... is it really not so much of a gimmick as I think it is? I always see them at Sears and blow them off, but just that one application makes them look a bit more favorable. If you don't mind me asking, has it come in handy in other applications?

and one more thing: I'm very jealous of your mill and lathe. You have a ton of nice equipment. I'd glad your work has paid off well.

Aww, shucks! Thanks.

The saw is actually useful. It's very flexible so it's easy to bend to trim say a door jamb to a scrap of flooring or similar. It's not probably very useful for general things but the pulling action is very intuitive and it cuts crazy fast. With just a hint of upward pressure it won't dig into your base wood and gives you a very flush cut in less time than you could pull out your router much less set it up.

Yeah, the mill and lathe are the greatest tools you could own. With them you can make almost any other tool you could possibly need. Start with a lathe and then get a mill. A great introduction can be found in this free Southbend PDF "How to run a lathe". It's old but the info is a great start.

Gregor

 

[Hostyle]

It's about 15 years old so the whole thing is dated and I look like someone much younger and carefree than I do now but there you go.

The Team Incomplete Boxer Story

Thanks for the link! Got some reading to do tonight

 

[sakurama]

I got the last batch of drawers installed but I had a small issue. Really small, like 1mm small. I don't know how exactly but I was small by just 1mm on each side which seems like nothing but with the slides it was enough to bind them. Frustrating but I was able to put a washer behind the slide and get them to the right dimension.

So I was determined to not make the same mistake so I went back over my numbers. I think the error was the depth of my rabbet joint which is critical to the overall drawer width and critical to the slides position.

So today I really kicked ***. The last set of drawers helped with my sequencing so I managed to rip through all the remaining drawer parts for the whole kitchen. Everything is ripped, cut, dadoed, rabbeted and sanded.

Tomorrow I hope to get them all assembled and the rest of the week the kids have off from school so I'm going to hopefully sneak in my poly and then get them installed when I can. Still, I feel good about getting so much done for a change.

Gregor

 

[Trucky]

I think it's fair to call you a workaholic...

What kind of pencil is that? I immediately thought Pentel or Uni but I've got no idea.

 

[sakurama]

I think it's fair to call you a workaholic...

What kind of pencil is that? I immediately thought Pentel or Uni but I've got no idea.

Ha, tell my wife. I either work my *** off or put my feet up but only one gets noticed.

The pencil is Japanese and made by Ohto which makes some really pretty mechanical pencils. This one is the Super Promecha 1500P but they make a really amazing one which you can only find on eBay called the PM-1505S which is very adjustable.

I kinda like mechanical pencils.

Gregor

 

[Hostyle]

Damn it, even your pencils are awesome...

 

[Sham]

Damn, this looks gorgeous.

Even the picture of your notebook with the pen over it, I could use it as a wallpaper on my computer...

 

[Sunbimmer]

Damn it, even your pencils are awesome...

^^^^ This

 

[sakurama]

You guys are funny.

Gregor

 

[jbmccandless]

I love the house and bikes as much as everyone else but this picture gives me the warm and fuzzies...

The pencil, notebook, and a well laid out plan!

 

[Speedbeaver]

I love the house and bikes as much as everyone else but this picture gives me the warm and fuzzies...

The pencil, notebook, and a well laid out plan!

Same here, but it also makes me realize how horrible my handwriting is.

 

[chris_1001]

Same here, but it also makes me realize how horrible my handwriting is.

Me too, I write like a 3 Y/O with a crayon...

 

[MajorLeeGassole]

me too, i write like a 3 y/o with a crayon...

lmfao!!!

 

[mtm_motors]

Well, thanks for making me go to the 'Bay and purchase a new PM-1505S...

As always, thoroughly enjoying every update here. And the new Guzzi thread I'm following now as well..........

 

[Trucky]

Hey, someone else who is even aware that JP and Dave's exists! (sorry to derail )

I'm more focused on fountain pens at the moment, but I do love a good .5 mechanical. Currently using a Lamy 2000 but I'll have to give the Ohto's a look.

 

[Modern Jess]

Gregor, can you tell us about the nifty metal square seen in the background? I keep a notebook very much like yours for my various projects (though my designs aren't nearly as meticulous) and I think that triangle would be a nice addition to the rear pocket of my Moleskine.

 

[dubber]

Always love checking in on your thread, truly amazing. Just noticed in your dynamat pics that i just put in the same sink in our kitchen. Thats a great idea that i might steal as it does have a unique sound when things are bumping around in there. Mine's a Blanco from Germany.

Cheers!

 

[jpearson]

Damn it, even your pencils are awesome...

I've subscribed to this thread since the beginning and this comment pretty much sums it up.
Thanks for all the great info so far! I've learned a ton and been motivated to take on several new projects.

 

[lonestarky]

Gregor, call me naïve, but what the heck is an adjustable mechanical pencil? I'm an engineer, and a bit of a technical drawing ****, and I've never heard of that.

Never mind, I just figured it out. You can adjust the lead tube travel for different size stencils and rulers.

Apparently I'm a drafting pencil dinosaur...

Wow, I didn't even realize how irrelevant I was.

 

[schnutzy]

i have lurked for a while, admiring the garages of many of the members. I ended up finding this thread while admiring your guzzi over on ADVrider, and as reading this, i decided to join. even though the closest thing i have to a garage(for now at least) is a 4x10 storage unit across from my apartment.

Gregor, you do some amazing work

 

[Vertigo Cycles]

I hope you finish soon that garage soon. It's BBQ season. ;-P

 

[sakurama]

Me too, I write like a 3 Y/O with a crayon...

That's funny and I have a lot of reference points; on the walls, the doors, the tables... I am glad we're not finished painting yet since it's going to be a full time affair painting over my 3 y/o's mess.

Well, thanks for making me go to the 'Bay and purchase a new PM-1505S...

Ha, you'll like it for the sheer mechanical geekery of it. It's very cool.

Hey, someone else who is even aware that JP and Dave's exists! (sorry to derail )

I'm more focused on fountain pens at the moment, but I do love a good .5 mechanical. Currently using a Lamy 2000 but I'll have to give the Ohto's a look.

Yeah, when I'm interested in something I pretty much research the hell out of it. I have a Lamy 2000 FP right now actually but I never use it enough. Love the design though. If you're into rollerballs (my favorite pen) then you might like the Lamy Dialog 2 which retracts the clip when the pen extends. That's a neat one. I'm actually, it may come as no surprise, working on designing a pen as a Kickstarter project with a friend. It's taking forever but when it's close I'll show it here. It should be pretty cool as we're doing some interesting things.

Oh, and the one pencil I want very much but haven't found (cheap enough) is the Faber-Castell alpha-matic or tk-matic which is sort of the holy grail pencil. Dave does a review of it and I'm convinced I want one but I'm never ready to pay for it when they (infrequently) show up. Supposedly there's a titanium version but it's beyond rare and insanely pricey.

Gregor, can you tell us about the nifty metal square seen in the background? I keep a notebook very much like yours for my various projects (though my designs aren't nearly as meticulous) and I think that triangle would be a nice addition to the rear pocket of my Moleskine.

You know I saw a friend who had one and I loved the look of it and the fact that it had holes in it which can be nice. I generally prefer metal to plastic and since he was local I searched and found it in a local art supply. I also found it here on the interwebs.

Gregor, call me naïve, but what the heck is an adjustable mechanical pencil? I'm an engineer, and a bit of a technical drawing ****, and I've never heard of that.

Never mind, I just figured it out. You can adjust the lead tube travel for different size stencils and rulers.

Apparently I'm a drafting pencil dinosaur...

Wow, I didn't even realize how irrelevant I was.

I'm sure actual draftspersons use Alvins or Rotrings. Yeah, you can adjust the length of the led tube (nice to retract it for travel) and then the amount of lead fed with each click - nice if you're a control freak I guess.

I hope you finish soon that garage soon. It's BBQ season. ;-P

Yeah, I'm getting closer but done or not I'm having a BBQ but I'm guessing it will be closer to the end of the summer. Don't worry, I won't miss a chance for a party. Speaking of, I'm going to be bringing the 990 out in mid July and will be meeting friends in Denver, swapping dirt wheels and taking back roads to Portland if you're interested in meeting up partway. If not I'll be up for some 990 rides this fall.

Gregor

 

[sakurama]

Okay, believe it or not I had another productive day. I finished building all of the middle drawers and most of the top ones. I had to slow down to research drawer dividers which I want to include in the top drawers.

And I was pushing my straight cut 1/4" bit too hard apparently and it snapped so I had to take time to go get a new bit - this time carbide and an up-spiral which worked much better. Doing the dados on the MFT table with the router and rail was very quick and simple.

I used the tallest spice jar as a guide for one of my drawers near the stove. One of the nice things about living in an unfinished house is that we've already established patterns and so I can now make the drawers fit the patterns. We always cut/chop to the left of the sink so I'll build a knife caddy into that drawer. Utensils tend to be to the right of the stove so I'm sizing that side for them.

Once I've cut the dado there's a small amount of tear out on the edges which I can quickly knock down with the sander before glue up. For the sanding and the routing I'm using the Festool speed clamps to hold the boards. They do a nice job.

Which is another thing I found when I went to get my router bit - a "GluBot". I'd seen them around and heard people say how great they were but I just kept buying the small bottles of Titebond II over and over. Today I decided to buy the gallon and got the Glubot too. I gotta say, it's pretty darn nice to not have to wait for the glue to drip down to the spout. I probably saved multiple seconds with this and perhaps knocked down the final kitchen completion date by... a minute? It's still nice and much less messy.

Gregor

 

[Modern Jess]

You know I saw a friend who had one and I loved the look of it and the fact that it had holes in it which can be nice. I generally prefer metal to plastic and since he was local I searched and found it in a local art supply. I also found it here on the interwebs.

Excellent! Thanks much.