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

KGB Pilot125 · Oct 26, 2013

in the photo at the top page 14 (didnt want to quote the photo, not sure if its ok per the rules) where the fireplace is the center of attention could you give some details on the super moto bike right outside the door? Looks like an aluminium swing arm and steel frame... Maybe a street legal 2 stroke? perhaps a CR500 street legal super moto bike?

I have one waiting in our old shifter kart trailer to be re-fitted with some lights and DOT tires for next summer.

sakurama · Oct 26, 2013

KGB Pilot125 said:
...could you give some details on the super moto bike right outside the door? Looks like an aluminium swing arm and steel frame... Maybe a street legal 2 stroke? perhaps a CR500 street legal super moto bike?

Ha! That's the first time someone mistook my XR100 for a CR500 but to my little bikes credit it does punch above it's weight. Not CR500 of course.

When we were roadracing we took a bunch of flat track schools to help with "backing it in", two wheeled drifts and general sliding which can be unnerving on a bike. All of us had XR's and it was a small arms race to pimp out our pit bikes and race them in parking lots on off weekends.

This was just after I finished it. I have both supermoto and dirt wheels for it. I also ice raced it as it's about the best training bike you can get to build skills for which you're not quite ready to exploit at full race speeds.

Sadly I took that bike to Bonneville a few times and despite many washings the salt really took a toll on it. For the few years it's sat neglected but I have a custom made flat track frame from my friend Scott Kolb that is sitting in my garage waiting for the parts to migrate and it to assume it's next incarnation. Project number five? Yeah, something like that. I need to finish that shop...

Gregor

smschriefer · Oct 27, 2013

sakurama said:
... Project number five? Yeah, something like that. I need to finish that shop...

Gregor

Ha! You need to finish that gorgeous KTM! Darned mission creep... :eyecrazy:

Don't worry, we have all been there. :dunno:

KGB Pilot125 · Oct 27, 2013

Thats awesome. I just saw the newer looking swingarm and tube frame and took a guess that you might have something like a CR500 supermoto.

boatmark · Oct 28, 2013

Damn! 2:38-AM and I just finished reading 15 pages. It's addicting.
I'm afraid to check out your photography page - it might be dawn before I'm done.

All kidding aside, this is an incredible project. It's great to see that you are maintaining your level of craftsmanship as the mission creep extends move-in date after move-in date. When it is done, it will be more satisfying that you know it's right, than meeting an arbitrary deadline.

The most important thing that comes to mind is that Jorge needs a bonus. The mere thought of sanding all that whitewash off everything would send me screaming into the sunset . . . . the fact that it was finally done, and he didn't do bodily harm to the architect when he suggested doing the outside next, is a true sign of character. :lol:

(but a great visual idea)

Glad to see your Dad is joining in. I have been though some of this myself, and can only pass on that you go one day at a time. Make the most of the good days, and do your best on the bad days. And remember its twice as frustrating to him as it is to you - even when it doesn't seem so.

Mark

sakurama · Oct 29, 2013

boatmark said:
The most important thing that comes to mind is that Jorge needs a bonus.

You make some great points and I've gotten a lot of good advice from people who've gone through similar things with their own parents. It can be frustrating but you're completely right - my frustrations are that of inconvenience and his are "real" for lack of a better term. We took him hiking with the kids this weekend and he surprised me by going the entire mile (hey, it's kids - they probably did three with all the back and forth). He's also lost almost 40lbs. since he's been here and that's making his health much better. All good stuff.

Anyway, you're absolutely right - Jorgé needs a bonus and I plan to take care of him when we're done. I'm also lining up jobs for him when we're done so he's got some transitional work as well. He's practically family at this point.

Anyway, today was one of those loose ends days. I had to pick up stair nosing downtown and run a few errands. We got the floor entirely done save for the step that the nosing was for. I'm working on that now.

The other thing we did was attempt to finish the floor in the garage but the big machines and the welding table made for some trouble. We ended up using the engine hoist to pick up a leg at a time and then tiled under it. Slow but it worked.

Same for the lathe which you can see in the background there. Tomorrow we'll pick up the mill and that should be the end of the floor. Since I'm still waiting on invoices I'm going to start building some more garage cabinets again to kill off the sheets of ply sitting outside and to be able to have a place for stuff.

Gregor

sakurama · Oct 30, 2013

Just plugging away, a little at a time.

Got the last few tiles in around the mill. Trying to tile around machines inevitably means you end up with a few tiles that don't fit and have to be trimmed. It's a bummer but then again, since we're not doing a pattern, it's not even noticeable.

This morning when I showed up Jorgé had installed all the base moulding around the walls and it looks great. Very pleased and looking forward to trying to make this place home.

I sold a tool chest and immediately turned around and used the cash to buy a Paint Shaver Pro. I came across this in Fine Homebuilding and after watching some videos I was convinced. I found a fellow who was selling one locally and he actually brought it to the house so I could test it on the eaves. It's essentially a handheld milling machine using three triangular carbide cutters and it just rips through paint. It leaves a rougher surface but this is fine outside and we just follow it with 120 grit and it's more than fine.

Then I spent some time just trying to organize the mess in the garage so that I could move the wood tools in from the house and start on the cabinets. It's so hard to work in a mess and it's hard to clean the mess when you haven't built the place for the mess to go. Hopefully I'll make some progress on that tomorrow.

Gregor

sakurama · Oct 30, 2013

Oh, one more thing. We finally got my two wheel drive KTM up and running. It's apropos of nothing but it's been a very long time coming and I'm very thrilled. Check the last page of the link below to see a video.

smschriefer · Nov 1, 2013

Great news on the KTM! Those paint shavers look cool. I remember seeing them test one on This Old House.

The garage floor looks great! Jorge must live off of Motrin... I know I do when I work on stuff like that! Kudos to you both!

Thumperthekid · Nov 1, 2013

A quick question about your floor tiles. Will you be welding in your garage and if so will the tiles hold up tu the hot sparks? I'm wondering cause I was thinking of doing the same in my garage but was scared that the welding sparks would burn holes in the tiles!

P.s. Love the house and all the hard work you are putting in to it. You are an inspiration :thumbup:

sakurama · Nov 1, 2013

Thumperthekid said:
A quick question about your floor tiles. Will you be welding in your garage and if so will the tiles hold up tu the hot sparks?

I've heard this before but I can only imagine it's in relation to Mig or stick welding. I only Tig weld and I've never seen a spark or had anything hit the floor so that was one reason I didn't think it's a problem. I don't weld on the floor either so I don't anticipate a problem. I'm not sure how the tile would react but I can say, having accidently installed a tile cross ways, that they come up and can be replaced fairly easily. I consider that a real plus.

I've got more photos to post but our internet seems to have slowed from 50Mbps to .07Mbps so I think I'm just going to have a glass of wine...

Gregor

sakurama · Nov 1, 2013

Jorgé has had it easy for a while but now that we're back to the overhead sanding he's tired. For sure. I certainly feel for him because I'm sure he thought we were done with that and now we're doing the whole outside.

Well, Ben, you were right, right, right. It's going to look amazing.

As an aside I sold an old medical cabinet to an antique dealer who lived in the area and actually had been in our house in the late 90's and confirmed that the original owners were the ones that painted the place and did most of the remodels that I've been undoing. It's a curious thing as I've heard that the husband was a fan of the design and the wife hated it. Hmm, curious.

Anyway, onto the garage!

I've spent my week building garage cabinets and it's been a good exercise so far in trying to replicate parts perfectly eight times in a row. It's also been an effort just to keep track of how many of this or that rips I need. I also want to just say that the Festool stuff is really amazing.

Here I am (under supervision) ripping 8 sheets to 384mm so that's 3 cuts each.

And that is all the dust that's left after 24 rips. The Dust Deputy on the vacuum also is a great invention as I no longer need to keep replacing bags.

From there I have two Festool tables (I am good at scoring deals on used stuff) and I bolted the tables together and then turned some brass "bench dogs" that I could use to make repeatable cross cuts using the CNC hole pattern.

They are, for the most part, identical.

From there the various parts (top/bottom, sides, doors) are put into their own stacks so I don't get confused in my process. Then each part gets it's operations which today was the Domino - the Festool take on biscuits but more like a small handheld mortiser. I am using an aftermarket plate which perfectly centers the Domino in the 3/4 ply.

And that's where today ended. Monday is pocket screw drilling and then routing a dado into the carcass for the 1/2" backs. I'm upgrading the cabinets from the 1/4" back of the first one to 1/2" just because I want the strength. And because I bought a bunch of 1/2" plywood that I'm not sure what I was thinking I was going to do with it. I do have some ideas though so it won't go to waste.

This is huge overkill for a garage cabinet but these are my test beds for the kitchen and my chance to better my cabinet skills before I move into all of the cabinets that will be required in the house. The ones that "count".

Gregor

GRS DESIGN · Nov 2, 2013

I think this would have to be one of the best threads on GJ I have enjoyed your journey so much and have been back and re-read it several times....Love you bikes as well a big congratulations are in order....Regards Glenn (GRS Design) NSW Australia..

JeffZ · Nov 4, 2013

I have been lurking here for a while but not a frequent visitor, got linked to this from the FOG.

A most excellent thread and an awesome project, great work on the house and a good start on the garage.

It is pretty neat that you can manage kids, what sounds like a bi-coastal career and also take on a project like this where you are actually doing a lot of the work. I suspect it is simultaneously exciting, frustrating, maybe a bit scary and of course sleep-depriving.

Great work, looking forward to the rest of the story.

Jeff

katotter · Nov 4, 2013

Amazing work, in for updates.

YoungMedic · Nov 4, 2013

sakurama said:
And once again I spent a little time to do something that did not at all further my cause but did make me feel better by showing me a window to the future. Ben and I decided to add black painted quarter round to the various wall/ceiling junctions as a way to tie together the beams and further the details of black sandwiched cedar posts. By keeping it very small we consider these to be like "brush strokes" of black in a drawing. The heavy lines that give weight.

It's a very small yet perfect detail and one that makes me smile.

Gregor

Great touch! Subtle and really sharp

mrgm · Nov 4, 2013

this is a great thread. I love the house

BlackSheepSpeedShop · Nov 4, 2013

Great! I don't know what to say!

ct71rr · Nov 4, 2013

Wow, more Festool ****!! I love it!!! How do you like the Domino cutter?

KGB Pilot125 · Nov 4, 2013

Gregor,

Make sure you send festool an email and let them know because of you i bought my beginning set of festool stuff over the weekend.

Got a TS55REQ, CT26, and a MFT/3 all are really awesome and if it wasnt for you and your picture and conversation about the drill/driver I would still have no idea about festool stuff.

Damn you Gregor what have you started!

sakurama · Nov 5, 2013

JeffZ said:
It is pretty neat that you can manage kids, what sounds like a bi-coastal career and also take on a project like this where you are actually doing a lot of the work. I suspect it is simultaneously exciting, frustrating, maybe a bit scary and of course sleep-depriving.

My photo work is only about 1-2 weeks a month on average and the cost of living is low in OR so that helps. The house does seem to drain me of whatever I have though. I get my work done because of daycare. My wife drops the kids and I start early and then pick them up. The tired is more of a satisfied physical tired, not the zombie-getting-milk-at-1am-3am-5am sort. They now sleep through the night and that single thing makes a world of difference.

ct71rr said:
Wow, more Festool ****!! I love it!!! How do you like the Domino cutter?

I really like it so far. I had a biscuit joiner but I like the significance of the domino - it's also very precise which is nice. I got the Seneca Woodworking plate which centers on 3/4 and 1/2 which is not needed but it helps if you want to make unhanded panels/sides/boxes. I'm still learning it but I really like it.

KGB Pilot125 said:
Gregor,

Make sure you send festool an email and let them know because of you i bought my beginning set of festool stuff over the weekend.

Damn you Gregor what have you started!

Ha ha. Umm, sorry about that. I think you'll end up really happy. The track saw is like the crack of the system. Once you use it you wonder how you lived without it. My friend Ben was asked what he uses his table saw for now that he had a track saw, "Assembly table..." I've done everything in this house with it and never once used a table saw. Pretty cool.

If you do find yourself farther down the rabbit hole and buying a drill make sure you get the C drill kit with the extra chucks. You won't use them too often but when you do you'll be amazed at house nice they are to have. I use the right angle about once a week. More when I was drilling through studs.

Gregor

sakurama · Nov 5, 2013

Small progress on the cabinets today. I used the Festool LR32 jig to drill the shelf pin holes and the hinge plate holes in the cabinet sides today. One of the tricks I learned from the FOG forum was to use it in conjunctions with the Parallel Guides which makes it super easy to just slide in a new panel and drill and then slide it out for the next one.

Also, from advice I got on the FOG forum, I'm considering forgoing glue and not using the pocket screws. It seems the general opinion is that glue isn't really going to add any extra strength and just makes for more work and I bought some of the new style auger type screws to just screw through the sides for assembly.

As "digital" as I am I still love to draw and sketch out ideas. It's a bit like a dry run for me to just see the stuff and write out the numbers and it also gives me something to refer back to.

What stopped up progress today was getting the wrong dado bit for the router. I got a 15/32nds which is supposed to be for undersized plywood but it was a bit too small. Tomorrow I'll try to pick up a 31/64ths and work out a way to make a jig so that I can route the dados quickly and repeatedly. If I put calipers to the 1/2" ply I get 12.15-12.35 and 31/64 is 12.30mm so it might work. I want to avoid doing them in two passes if I can but hopefully I will get them done tomorrow.

Gregor

Cseger1 · Nov 5, 2013

Gregor,

I've been an admirer of your work for 7 or 8 years now but I didn't have a clue who you were. The TI Boxer was my PC's desktop wallpaper for a long time. The shot of her on the brick pavement at sunset. And the build thread was the first build thread I ever read and started an incorrigible internet addiction in me. I also have a copy of Motorclycle Dream Garage on my Heywood-Wakefield coffee table. See where I am going with this? To say the boxer inspired thousands of cafe bikes is an understatement. I'd call it the most influential bike in the cafe revival. Where was the build thread? ADV rider?

The house is fantastic. Me and the wife have been buying MCM furniture for a couple of years now and returning our 1964 ranch to the style. It's not as modern as I'd like but I think it could be tweaked.

Here's a furniture buying tip: Hit the antique auctions in the country. The market is totally fucked out there and you can find great MCM for pennies on the dollar. We got a 60" long credenza in perfect shape for $75, Lane Acclaim coffee table for $45, two end tables by American of Martinsville for $45 each. And we've passed up on plenty more deals. My sister lives on the Upper West Side and she's been seriously thinking of trucking furniture up there from the auctions we hit.

Here's the credenza and a speaker cab I got:

sakurama · Nov 6, 2013

Cseger1,

Thanks! That bike was and is quite a special special. It's funny to me sometimes to see it in the garage now (of my mother in law) with strollers around it, kids bikes leaning against it and the general disarray of a suburban garage. It's sad. When I lived in NYC and my studio was in Soho I made a pedestal against the wall of the studio and the bike lived on display during the winters. It was so cool to have that bike there. I toy with the idea of bringing a bike into the new house although I don't think there's the room. The Triumph would be the perfect bike - when I finish that...

The original story is still on www.teamincomplete.com in all it's faded and out of date glory. I look like a kid in those shots now. Wow how time flies. The internet was just getting up to speed then so it was probably one of the first real time build threads.

Anyway, that's very cool that you've kept crossing paths. I believe that with motorcycles there's only 2 degrees of separation. I'm always amazed at how small and tight the community is and it's something I cherish when I ride and meet people on the road.

Nice credenza by the way. Thanks for the tips.

Gregor

sakurama · Nov 16, 2013

It's been a strange couple of weeks. About two weeks ago I came to the house in the morning and Jorgé wasn't around. He's the model of reliability so I was a bit concerned. Now, two weeks later there's still no sign of him. His truck is gone but all of his belongings are still at the house and arranged like he'd just stepped out for a minute - his DVD player was paused mid Harry Potter, his bible was open and his reading glasses marked his page. I still owe him a few weeks pay so I know he didn't just skip town.

When I got home from my week in NYC I discovered that the cat had also gone missing. I don't believe the two are related. I hope Jorgé's okay but the cat is a two timing cheat that I could sort of take or leave at this point.

:dunno:

So, in the few days I had before I left for NYC I did more cabinet work. I made a jig to cut the rabbits for the back and did that...

Then began edge banding, and edge banding and then some more edge banding. I had been using a special trimmer to cut the excess band but I found that it often tore and left an inconsistent edge so a while back I'd scored a good deal on a small Festool trim router and decided to try it out.

200 ft plus of edge banding later I can say it's a much better way to go. In fact, it's so small and light that I also used it for some of the dados and it worked very well.

Finally, in an effort to perfect the very small errors I was finding in my cabinet parts I decided to buy an extra long one peice rail for ripping sheet goods. While I was picking that up I took a look at the new MFT/3 tables and decided that they were, in fact, a much better design and could give me much more accurate cross cuts. On a whim I decided to sell my two older style tables to fund a new one and I was surprised that it took all of about 4 hours for them to be snapped up. I'm hoping that the new tools will correct the 1-2mm errors that I was getting.

Finally this week I placed the order for our range and refrigerator which is a relief. I still need to order my sinks and this week I'll have to address finishing the garage cabinets. I know I should be spraying them with an HVLP system but I don't have a booth or the room to make one and I'm inclined to just brush them to get it done even though that won't be teaching me much in the long run.

Gregor

OHSCrifle · Nov 16, 2013

The cat you can take or leave LOL..

Great idea with the router for edge banding.

I hope Jorge is ok.

TahitianGreen · Nov 16, 2013

Welp, hope all is well with Jorge. For his sake and yours.

Jtcrep · Nov 16, 2013

Great thread - subscribed!

Keep up the good work. Hope Jorge returns to help keep you on schedule?

RKA · Nov 17, 2013

Gregor,
Be careful putting those dominos so close to an edge (that dado). With plywood, the layers tend to delaminate when pressure is applied perpendicular to those panels pictured, so if they need to hold a lot of weight you probably want 25-50mms between the domino and an edge. Can't wait to see the finished cabinets! And I don't believe for a second you're going to brush those cabinets.

. Better start trapping off an area for when the HVLP arrives.

Hopefully Jorge is okay, maybe some kind of family emergency, but the scene you describe is cause for concern.

ct71rr · Nov 17, 2013

Yes, cats are evil! I hope Jorge is OK.

KGB Pilot125 · Nov 17, 2013

Is there any chance of reporting him as a missing persons?(I assume he is a legal citizen, not that I care either way) Do you have contact with any of his family?

I really hope he is ok, you just dont leave for a long period of time with out your glasses and just leave your dvd on pause.

YoungMedic · Nov 17, 2013

Might have gone to the hospital

andyaus · Nov 18, 2013

Epically Awesome

you may like my favourite bike site "Do The Ton"

scoutkid · Nov 18, 2013

I'm in love! great work!

moonpool145 · Nov 18, 2013

Gregor

Don't know how I missed this but my hats off to you. That bike is awesome. Good carpentry skills to by the way. I will watch this.

magnumleigh · Nov 18, 2013

The envy is strong with this one! I love the house, I love the garage (the potential is there), I love the job. Your attention to detail is really doing this house justice, it's a good job you found it - sometimes things are just meant to be.

Garage Journal or not, I'm gonna be a bit disappointed when you stop giving updates on the house the closer you get to completion!

Also, hope Jorgé is ok. And the cat

sakurama · Nov 19, 2013

First of all I finally found Jorgé... in jail on an immigration charge. So he's safe but most likely going to end up being deported. I'm not sure actually. I've reached out to his lawyer to see if I can be of any assistance or act as a character witness but I've not heard back. Since this is a forum where we share our love of all things mechanical I'm not going to comment on it other than to say I wish more things were legal and taxed - drugs, prostitution, immigrants - whatever. Our current system seems to not work very well.

:dunno:

RKA said:
And I don't believe for a second you're going to brush those cabinets. . Better start trapping off an area for when the HVLP arrives.

Okay, RKA, you ****. You're the reason I went on a shopping spree today at Harbor Freight. I was going to brush the cabinets but nooooooooooooooooooooo, you had to shame me. More when I can finally post some photos but I'm still trying to get my groove back at house. Doing it all on my own is slower.

And, because we like gasoline and the wanton waste of it (but I feel guilt if that means anything) I finally finished my KTM AWD bike and I made a little video to, you know, to lighten the mood.

You can't embed in this forum so you'll have to just click through but if you like burnouts you'll enjoy this foolishness. We did the first two wheeled motorcycle burnout.

Gregor

YoungMedic · Nov 20, 2013

Glad to hear the man is ok, relatively speaking. Hope things turn out ok

smschriefer · Nov 20, 2013

Hip-hip-Jorgé! Glad to hear he is okay and sad to hear that he faces deportation. Also, congratulations on the KTM and your Harbor Freight shopping spree. The cabinets will look much better sprayed. :thumbup:

polexican23 · Nov 20, 2013

BAD A$$ burnout man. Looks like fun. Sorry to hear about Jorge, wish we could keep around the hard working immigrants and depot a lot of welfare mommas instead.

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

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