bike time 51 - fish mouth project

An old pre-perich brothers artifact,
recently unearthed from the dregs of storage.
This is probably my oldest unfinished project,
going on 17-19 years now!

fishmouth bike frame

Back then it was easier building out of fiberglass vs metal.
This was all shaped out of a surfboard-like foam.
Much quicker to make crazy curves like this.

modded schwinn frame

The drawback is durability.
Surprising it has lasted this long.
I bombed out when the resin coat warped out the side pieces.

headlight

There is a lens step for an integrated headlight.
I did a couple bikes like these.
Something fun to do that took very little space.
Imagine it with fenders and a chainguard.

fishmouth

Most likely it'll get hung back up in the rafters.
Just a cool little piece of history.

TP

phasmatidea

Macey and I went out the other day and visited my parents.
They're not that far,
but it seems like it takes alot of effort to get out of our routine.

san diego walking stick bug

Anyway we took a stroll to the front yard,
and found this crazy walking stick bug.
We spent a couple minutes looking for them in the plants.
Since they are nocturnal,
the big ones aren't too difficult to spot.

I couldn't believe Macey was comfortable with the thing crawling on her.
They are slow enough that they aren't too creepy.

Macey Perich with stick bug

In many areas these are kept as pets,
but in San Diego these are considered pests.
I guess the climate is perfect,
and they'll mass up and eat leaves like snails.
We let this one go!

TP

anvilita

Another treasure had joined us over the weekend.
This beat up mini anvil.
What the heck did the previous owners make to get it like this?

anvilita

Some of you are looking at it,
and thinking maybe you should have kept your $8.
This was like that abused pound puppy with 3 legs, one eye and eczema.
We actually left and returned later to get it.

brushed

Back on the bench,
a couple minutes with the wire-wheel,
I was surprised to see the old blue paint underneath.
A couple minutes with the sanding disc,
and for any realistic purposes this was ready to rock.

measurement

There you can see my old standby railroad track anvil,
cut by an old friend Kevin Perry up in Ventura.
It looks primitive and it is only roughly shaped,
but man that thing has helped make a ton of metal pieces.
I thought about forming the point part a bit better,
but the sharp edges work well for hammering corner pieces.

soft rulers

On a tangent,
this was the last straw for that tape measure.
For over a week it had been stuck out at the 3 foot mark.
I can't just let stuff like this go,
and four years of service is not enough.
Now it lives on like an organ donor.

stash ruler

These cut down rulers are super handy.
They fit anywhere and are basically disposable.
I'll blow through the first 8 or 9,
and then keep the last one for months.

ken's old box

Now there's something to stash in Ken's old tool box door.

Hey Ken if you're reading this,

hope your hanging in there out in Afghanistan!

Okay where were we...

railroad track anvils

This little anvil will only see light duty use,
sheetmetal and aluminum,
and the idea was to lock it in the vice like this.

old iron

It wasn't the most sturdy of locations.
The best thing would be to bolt it down.
Since there was still some daylight,
a little tab was whittled out of some scrap.

tabular

I dragged the torch out to preheat it,

than stick welded it with some 7018.

clamp party

I've got this hammer-weld-forge method.

While it's still red hot I'll hammer the weld one or two times.

Maybe not the correct way to do this,

but nothing chipped off after some test hammering,

so it'll be good for what I need it for.

anvilita!

In the next couple weeks,
I'll be putting this baby to work.
Stay tuned!

TP

pass it on...

Don't ask or wonder how I found these things,
I'm wondering myself.
Thing is once I find deals like this,
the little voice in the back of my likes to make it a reality.

1971 Harley Sportster Chopper

Someone has spent some time piecing this thing together.
Looks like it still needs a couple parts,
but wow what a neighbor shocker.

1971 Harley Sportster Chopper

Cool bike project at what seems like a great deal.
Pass!

CL deal

If I had the money I think this one would be more my speed.
Yeah it looks kinda boring in comparison,
but I bet it is a good ride.

1977 yamaha xs650

Fortunately again I don't have anywhere near the dough,
but hmm maybe I could flip some stuff...lower it to 2K maybe...

CL deal #2

It's easier to put dreams like this out to pasture...
For now!

TP

justified splurge

Every couple weeks
 I'm able to do a quick early pass thru the friday swap meet.
I consider myself a good scrounger,
with the ability to pass on deals that seem out of my interest.

treasures

So what the heck happened this particular friday?
The only thing I was on the hunt for was one of those wooden clamps,
and somehow all this junk ended up in our yard.
And I thought I was in downsize mode!

$6 score - airco torches + hobie oceanside sunglasses

The first score was a pile of old torch parts.
All I wanted was that green Y splitter,
to use as a backgasser for welding stainless.
When the guy said $5 I was contemplating it,
and then he said "no that's for all that stuff"...
how could I say no!?
Even came with that baby blue manbag in the top photo.
The two mini aircraft torches are AIRCO 9100's,
and way on the top is an early corn cob wartime AIRCO torch.

I had barely stood up when I spied those black glasses.
They looked like some cheesy liquor store homey glasses,
but I recognized the rubber inlay in the arms as Hobies.

How to check polarized glasses

"$1 he said and they're yours"
They were a little dirty,
but they were less scratched then the pair I was wearing.
These should have polarized lenses,
and an easy way to check is to cross the lens with another polarized lens.
They should black each other out.

how to check polarized lens

There goes another buck!
Hobies are my favorite by far,
easy on my eyes.
I wear glasses almost all day even in the house.
These are a bit big but they'll be perfect for thrashing around.

TP self portrait

The biggest money dump was this pile of gloves.
I can make a $5 pair of cheap leather driving gloves
last for months with medium duty welding use,
so I didn't need 13 pair of bitchin Tillman TIG gloves,
and 7 pair of the driving gloves.

glove score

Dang it when he said $45 for the whole pile!
Now I need to figure out 20 - 4 letter 2 word nicknames for each pair.
These should last about 25 years.

junk

Ok so now I blew over $50 on stuff I really didn't need,
and I was down to the last 2 rows.
From a mile away I saw that darned orange vase...

We haven't found one of these since we moved down to San Diego,

and in that time we've broken one of them!

This one was a tall one,

and I was expecting the seller to say $30 or $40.

L.E. Smith Bittersweet swung vase collection

When he said $10 next thing you know
I'm carrying around a baseball bat sized piece of orange glass.
One more for the fridge-top collection!
Get me outta here!

package deal

Rounding the corner to the last row,
I finally spied the only thing that was on my mental list.
One of those wooden clamps.
Of course it had to come in a package deal.
An almost new Dayton porta-power hydraulic pump,
3 quarts of oil - hey a flathead loves oil!
and 2 clamps...
all for $25...
Holey chit there goes $80 for the day.
I had to get outta there!

It took a while to recuperate from that spending spree.

It's not like the money was burning a hole in my pocket.

You know when looking at the pile,

it all together seems like a good deal.

That's cause I didn't tell of some of the things I passed up!

modified portable band saw

So what was so special about that wood clamp?
If you guys remember the band saw story...
perich brothers (and sister): trigger
An easy to use temporary base was needed.
I was prepared to screw one of the jaws to some plywood,
but this soft jaw clamp works perfect just like this.
I may shorten the studs a bit and make it a one trick pony.

Jakob Perich test cutter

The other trick was using a foot switch
from a busted Foredome flex shaft grinder.
The hand trigger was zip-tied down,
and the power cord extended to reach the floor.
If an 11 year old can work this thing than I'm happy.

Macey Perich photobomb

Til next time...

TP

viva mexico

Yesterday was our monthly TJ trip to the dentista,
and was also the year anniversary for the wife's braces.

dental mold or mould?

It is unbelievable the transformation in only one year - 8 visits.
I don't quite understand how the teeth can move so much,
since they are set in bone.
According to her there is a bit of pain involved!
In America they figured at least 2 years to straighten out her mouth,
most likely to have a longer time with less discomfort.

Anyway it was a shock to see how crooked her teeth were in comparison.
I always liked them but healthwise it's better to have them fixed up.
Couple more months and hopefully she'll be done.

the wife

Yes.
This is an extremely rare photograph of "the wife"!

Honda CG 150 Titan motorcycle

On the way out I had a clean shot of a popular motorcycle down here.
It's a little honda 150cc and they are all over the place.
Check out the trunk box on the fender!
It's like a cycle truck.
I'd love to have one of these to buzz around town.

Honda made a similar bike for the Indian market - Honda Unicorn.

Honda Unicorn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and it looks to have the same motor.
These things are rated at 120-130 mpg!
In San Diego,
little vespa-like scooters are really popular,
and I'm not sure what the hold up is for the little motorcycles.
I guess there are more people like me,
who like to drive big vans and suv's carrying 100's of pounds of junk everywhere!

calimax score

On the way back we couldn't pass up the calimax run.
All this stuff for about $25!
Those are liter bottles too!

Viva Mexico...

TP

ran when parked

This is one for the "where are they now?" file.

chinagirl #2 motorized bike

It's been over 2 years now that Chinagirl #2 left the compound.
The time was right to focus on other projects,
cut out the distractions.

clapped out chinagirl #2

Somehow a friend had recognized the old ride on a CL ad.
Unmistakable with the pipe and custom tank.
Looks like it's followed the rat rod path.
For anyone that has a deathwish of going 45 MPH on a prewar beach cruiser,
this is the ticket!

TP