Lock-down projects

[Mart]

I’ve had some time for my stone carving. I’m trying to take traditional designs
Started with some Celtic knots

Example here https://flic.kr/p/2iV61tj

[sean_iow]

I’ve had some time for my stone carving. I’m trying to take traditional designs
Started with some Celtic knots

Example here https://flic.kr/p/2iV61tj

I like them Mart Do you have a powered carving device like a dremel? Or is it done just by hand?

Proper craft skills, carving, painting etc. always impress me. It takes a level of dedication to master I'm not sure I could manage. My late father used to make wooden bowls on a pole lathe, just for the pleasure of making them really as he had no use for them.

[Mart]

Hi Sean,
I’m always on the look out for designs that will work. More often it’s the simple ones that work the best
I draw freehand in pencil on the stone then yes i use a dremel over several sessions
Can take a long time depending on the hardness and consistency of the stone
Just takes a bit of patience and a steady hand

[benp1]

Sean, that tarp set up is excellent, good job. Really made me smile

So what's his bike like?

[redefined_cycles]

Sean, that tarp set up is excellent, good job. Really made me smile

So what's his bike like?

Sean... don't tell us you've not got young monkey a bike??

[sean_iow]

Hi legs are a bit short in relation to his body so not sure he'd be able to ride a bike

Plus, I'm not making him a bike, I've got jobs to do on Jane's and my own bikes before I spend any more time on kit for him, but making the tarp did amuse me for an evening

[belugabob]

I've returned to a project to build an open source cycle route map editor. It should run on any platform (Mac/Linux/PC) and will support a lot of different map types. This screenshot shows it working with vector maps.

I've got the loading/saving/editing of GPX files working well, including Alan G's 10,000 point HT550 route which was a decent challenge. Now I'm integrating height data (hard) then moving on to some challenging bits like auto-route calculation.

Not really got an end goal in mind other than seeing what is possible with my limited C++ skills ..oh and actually getting something finished for once.

Dave, I just saw this, and thought it might be of interest...

https://www.thunderforest.com/maps/spinal-map/

[Dave Barter]

Well if you want to plan a route off a spinal map ..it will be possible. Horrible, but possible.

[Mike]

Sean, those 1kg pegs are brilliant! Ive used them with my comp loads ( when i use the comp ). On one trip i did around west coast few yrs ago i pitched in a right stinking sea breeze (more like a tornado ) near the lighthouse at ardnamurchan point and the tent was shrink wrapping me at times but they never once came out, stick them at acute angles in solid ground they work mate. saying this i didnt get much sleep that night as i thought i was going to be blown of the hillside into the sea

[sean_iow]

Cheers Mike, I'll give them a go. They just don't look like they should work.

In the Deschutes on Dartmoor the wind was blowing the rear right in against me. I did hang on to the rings on the inside seams that hold the doors when they're rolled up, in case it tried to take off, but after 2 minutes my arms were tired so I just went back to sleep

[benconnolli]

Sean, those 1kg pegs are brilliant!

Weighting that much I'd hope so too

[sean_iow]

I'm still coming up with things to use up my time, plus writing them up here uses up a bit more, so at least the days are still passing. It's still hard to get over the thought that I should be out riding instead, but as well as the dilemma as to the social responsibility of riding all over the Island I'm also lacking motivation

So, next on the list was to move the vice on the bench. I got the bench from a friend who was throwing it out. He'd had a vice mounted in the centre so I just drilled and mounted mine in the same location. The friend I got it from had it free standing with space around so he could work from the other side when he needed the worktop without a vice in the way. Mine would only get occasional use as if I have a bigger job to do I'd go to my lock-up where all the tools are and also a selection of benches so I didn't think the vice being in the way would be much of an issue. That's not currently an option so I thought I'd move the vice over to make the bench more usable. Here it is in the middle



If I just moved it across there would be lots of holes in the section I would be working on, so I came up with the cunning plan to rotate the bench 90 degrees, mount the vice to one side and the old holes would be in the section behind the vice so out of the way. I moved all the stuff to get access, carried the bench outside, re-drilled the top for the vice in the new location and put it back in the shed. As I was putting to toolbox back under it I realised that the legs are rectangular, and now I've rotated the bench 90 degrees the wide face of the leg was facing out so my toolbox wouldn't fit between them. doh! My friend is a bit OCD when it comes to making stuff so I knew before measuring that he'd have made the top exactly square. So the solution is just to rotate the base back to where it was, unscrew the top and screw it back on rotated. The top is 2 layers of ply glued together. Having removed the screws...... the top didn't come off. It turns out that he'd screwed the bottom layer in a few places before gluing the top layer on and screwing through both. I managed to slide a hacksaw blade between the base and top and cut through the screws. Eventually I manged to finish what I had assumed would be a 10 minute job.



With that out of the way I decided I should take on something simpler. First was a gopro mount for vented helmets.



This actually went to plan. I could have bought one but as I already had all the materials this didn't cost me anything With a length of webbing as an extension I can also use it to mount the camera on fence posts and trees etc. for self filming.

Last project for the weekend was a fleece lined bag to protect my coffee grinder when carrying it about.





The main compartment has a drawstring closure for the grinder and there's a sleeve on the outside to slide the handle in and a strap around to keep it secure. I wanted the handle to be separate so it didn't rattle against the grinder when riding,

I see that the NHS tracking App is to be trialed on the Isle of Wight starting this week and that might also mean a slight relaxing of lock-down for us, after all what's the point of tracking people if they don't go anywhere. So with any luck I might be able to get out more which will save me having to dream up more things to make and also save you lot from having to read about them

[RIP]

You've got nowt better to do than write 'em and some of us got nowt better to do than read 'em so that sounds like a win/win .

Saw that about your IoW tracker stuff. Be interesting hear how that pans out. Bluetooth between random phones, location services always on, hmm .

[sean_iow]

Saw that about your IoW tracker stuff. Be interesting hear how that pans out. Bluetooth between random phones, location services always on, hmm .

Also, the NHS (govt) have decided to develop their own software, anyone who's old enough to remember the Wessex computer system from the 90s (me and Reg for a start) will have great confidence in it's flawless introduction Luckily my sewing machine is fully analogue so big brother* wont be tracking that

We're often a test area here. We were a pilot area for water meters and then they decided not to bother in the rest of the region

Touch wood, were not doing too bad for Covid cases. The Island has always been good at social distancing, in the west of the Island they have such a distrust of 'outsiders' that most peoples parents are brother and sister

* Mine's actually a Frister and Rossmann.

[PaulB2]

Large scale NHS software projects are normally a disaster - PAS was years overdue when they finally cancelled it

[sean_iow]

This is something I've had on the back burner for some years. My frame doesn't have any mounts on the underside of the downtube for a bottle/cargo cage. I did think about drilling it and putting in some rivnuts but even when the bike was the steel Genesis I wasn't keen and since then that's been replaced by the ti Salsa so I'm even less keen now.

I bought some Problem Solvers Bow Tie Strap Anchors last June as I came up with a solution. I did some mock ups and tests but never got round to making the final version. Since then Revelate Designs have brought out the Joey but it still relies on friction which was my initial concern. So after 2+ years of development I've finally made my version.



It's a bit tricky to see but where this differs from the commercial versions is the attachment. The straps don't go over the downtube.



The upper strap is threaded through a Bow Tie mount which is on the lower bottle cage mount and upside down so it points towards the ground. The straps from each side are threaded through this and then back under the bag and velcro on to the bag and each other. For the lower bag strap I've made a fabric version of the bow tie with a rubber gripper. On my Spearfish the original bottle mounts are lower so it can fix onto 2 bow tie mounts. The image of it off the bike might make it clearer how it works.



It can't rotate round the downtube as each side is fixed back to the bow tie and it also can't slide down the tube for the same reason. I've not tried it out yet but it was rock-solid when test fitted It's for either the tools/spares of most likely for a fuel bottle as I don't like packing the fuel in with other kit. I don't like to have it on display as it might be an issue getting on the ferry as they can get funny about these things so it needs to go in a bag somewhere. I will need to shorten my crud catcher to enable that to be refitted.

And before anyone says... I realise that instead of sat at the sewing machine my time might be better spent washing the bike

[techno]

That's ace Sean! And sod washing the bike, it's only going to get dirty again.

[jameso]

Just found this thread, Sean, I'm impressed firstly with the mini bearpacking kit .. more so with that DT bag, it's great. I have a set of eyeletted velcro straps here that work with bottle mounts and had wondered about something like this for my new audax bike. I've deliberately kept it free of all but essential eyelets and braze-ons but I know I'll want to carry some extra stuff on a longer lightweight road trip soon - that bag design is the solution, good work. The strapping method and the rubber scuff section/gripper is key to it I was thinking but you've got it all sorted there. If you wanted to make a few more I think you'd find buyers!

[techno]

...If you wanted to make a few more I think you'd find buyers!

Definitely!

[sean_iow]

Cheers guys, I'm not sure my stitching skills are good enough for public release and unless I charged a 3 figure sum or somehow got a lot quicker I'd be making about £1 and hour

If I made a V2 I'd only put a single compression strap in the centre between the two attachment straps, it's only to take up the slack before attaching if the contents are much smaller than the bag. I'd also not make it round as sewing the circular panel in the bottom is harder work than the reward of a circular base. I'd just make it a flat rectangle and then sew across the corners in the same way some dry bags are made, which gives a square shaped base for minimum effort.

If any of the commercial producers want to copy it I'm happy with that, i.e. if Beth/Ian/Steve can't work it out from the picture then PM me

[RIP]

Big mistake making that new gaffer stem cell. It reminded me to have another bash at a hyperlight seatpack.

So here it is. Some plastic milk bottle bits cut up and wrapped in gaffer tape to make stiffeners here and there, gaffer tape everywhere else, along with two re-purposed straps with "eyes" to allow tightening. Two bits of velcro for the seatpost strap and cableties to attach it to the saddle rails. Add a few heavy-duty staples. Moulded it to cater for an Exped Fold 13L drybag. To be fair it wasn't keen on contracting down for an 8L - the straps flapped around a bit. Easy enough to make an 8L one I suppose!

Stuffed it full of the usual kit, and went for a ride. It survived the "twisty woodland singletrack" test track with no problems and very little wag. Not as stable as the traffic cone but good enough. Access is very quick - just un-do the velcro strap and pop the drybag out.

Cost about 10p, and a very respectable indeed 74 grammes, plus 56g for the drybag, = 130g. My AK Koala is 340g.

My total luggage weight now then: 'RegPac' cabletie bar harness 8g, two AK LS07 drybags with straps 180g, AK LS07 stemcell 42g, 'RegPac' gaffer tape water bottle stemcell 9g, AK LS07 gastank 51g, 'RegPac' gaffer tape seat harness with drybag 130g. Never needed a frame bag.

Grand total of luggage 420g. I reckon I've about reached the sensible(?) limits there so I'm sure you'll be pleased to know I'm stopping further experimentation now.

[sean_iow]

I can't see anyone making a lighter or more minimal (is it possible to have more of less?) seat harness.

Hand crafted by the master of the gaffer-luggage. If you had an insta account and took grainy black and white pictures of it the gravel-packers* would snap them up

*don't know how many times I've typed gravel-packers but it comes up on the predictive text on my phone by the time I've typed the first 'e'

[RIP]

I must admit I was quite amazed how well it worked. Maybe I'll send a photo to whoever it is that manufactures gaffertape, they could stick it on their website. I like a nice bit of engineering as much as the next person, but I do think a lot of gear is a bit "Forth Bridge" - beautiful to look at, stunning to admire, but totally over-engineered. Although I suppose you don't have to continuously paint much bikepacking gear. Straps are my bugbear - 1" wide webbing is bonkers when a 2mm bit of dyneema has a breaking strain of 280kg. Personally I'd make all bag straps from that, locked with Line Loks.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Sean, those 1kg pegs are brilliant!

You'd hope they'd good wouldn't you.

Straps are my bugbear - 1" wide webbing is bonkers when a 2mm bit of dyneema has a breaking strain of 280kg. Personally I'd make all bag straps from that, locked with Line Loks.

I bought some Kevlar sewing thread last week Reg. Looks just like cotton but you can't break it by pulling it, however, tie a knot in it and it'll snap about 10mm from the knot, every time.

[RIP]

Curious. How does one tie-off at the ends after sewing with it? Looks like we're back to our carbyne investigations then .