Kiley's Garage Sign

Have you ever known a guy that is so awesome that he would open his heart and home to a rag tag group of near total strangers in the name of brotherhood alone? What about a dude who just gets it? I'm talking about the type of person who works full time bettering humanity, spends his off time creating motorcycle uber-amazing-ness, and just happens to rock an epic level chin mounted push broom.

I just happen to know a guy named Kiley, who just happens to fit that very description. Although I did not personally get to attend the monumental occasion that brought an army of vintage bike nuts to rest at Kiley's Garage last fall, I was inspired by the stories that grew out of it. I wanted to make him something just to say that someone noticed he was being top-notch. I started freehand sketching on a piece of catalpa, and after a while carved a ribbon. The idea was to incorporate "Kiley's Garage" into a hanging sign to put in front of the the now infamous shop where all the shenanigans in question transpired. Due to the size of the scavenged stock I had to work with, "Kiley's" is all that would fit on the first piece.

With this piece locked in, it would require actual planning to design the rest of the piece. I hauled myself over to the Do The Ton forum, the place where I first got in with this crew of crazy gear heads, and sought out some advice. After getting several suggestions there emerged a clear choice.

Justin Longhorn, as he is known on the interweb, suggested a tree of life design. Kiley had mentioned wanting one in front of the shop. Done deal.

After some research the idea came into focus and the cutting began. After the rough shaping the disc got planed down flat enough to take the design.

 

Then the design was sketched on, and holes drilled in the negative spaces. I used a scroll saw, but the job could have been done with a coping saw. You could even stick with knives and chisels if you were under equipped and dedicated enough.

The bulk of the work on this piece came in the form of sawing the blank and chiseling the details.

I worked in short bursts for months. It would not have taken very long, start to finish, but I have a habit of jumping from project to project. The overall time was also inflated due to the need to stop and fabricate chisels and knives. Since I had never done anything like this before, I was learning as I went. The methods and tools evolved along the way, and I worked on a few simpler practice pieces also.

The end result was agreeable enough.

So the last thing to do was to carve and letter the lower "Garage" section.

I left this one pretty simple. I kept the same vintage tattoo font from the top plaque. If its not broke, why screw with it till you break it. I bend that rule enough to understand it's importance well. That is to say I break way more than I fix, but it is usually because of a learning curve I'm too impatient to respect.

Once all the pieces were stained they were set up for a quick pic.  All that is left to do is string the pieces together, and ship the whole thing off to it's new home.

Even though this project took way longer than it should have, and the learning curve was a headache, the fact that it is for such a stand up guy made the completion that much more rewarding. In the end that is what it is all about. An epic gent gets some positive reinforcement, I learned something, I get to share it with you guys, and not having idle hands keeps me off the streets.

Incidentally, here is a quickie of a knife and the chisels and scrapers that were used on this project. I think a follow up post of the process used to forge, shape, harden, and temper these little guys is a must. It is a fun project that doesn't take much in the way of tooling up or experience.   These were all made of found and scavenged metal ranging from cut nails, to post tension foundation cables, and even springs from an old mattress. Once you have the basic idea on these you can easily tweak the design and hardness for all kinds of uses, so stay tuned.

Happy Father's Day

Just stopping by to wish a Happy Father's Day to all the hard working, steady, responsible gents out there. Here's to the guy who stands head and shoulders above the rest, charismatically and confidently supporting his offspring through all the pitfalls and chaos in life, while highlighting for his brood all that is good, and proper, and manly.

As for the rest of us who have been that minivan driving, stroller pushing, barely sentient butt wiping schlub, this is our day too.

I need to take a moment, if I may, to honor my Dad for all that he has done for me, and how that affects the attitude I hope these ramblings express.

My father is a man who came from meager means, and yet without fail, has worked every day, without complaint, disdain, or regret, to give his family every opportunity to thrive. That spirit infects everything I have ever seen him attempt, almost to a fault. He embodies the nature of turning nothing into something. I have watched him commit himself to great feats of engineering with supplies to which a cave dweller would scoff. Commonly this path is taken to extremes, like building a tool that could be purchased in spite of it's low cost and ease of availability. But it is his example of not only making due with what you have, but thriving with it, that has shaped much of the picture of the man that I aspire to be.

His methods are at the core of more than just the projects and ideas that I intend to submit for your consideration. They inform my understanding of how life works, and how it should work. I'm not casting dispersion on the haves, and elevating the have nots. I'm offering up the concepts of of appreciating what you have, doing more with what you have worked for, and building up more than collections of pricey knick-knacks. It's all about refining yourself, building upon what you can be, and utilizing what you have learned to better those who rely on you most.

Lofty goals to say the least, but many of us were lucky enough to have had a mentor there during those critically impressionable years that set the bar high enough to make the most extreme goals seem achievable. Today lets thank those men, our fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, or whoever was there for you, for showing us what is possible, investing in our potential, and giving us the confidence to aspire to be more.

Big Brother Bearded Ax

As promised, here is the update on the second half of the double bit ax. The head was given a long cycle of baths rotating between a bleach bath, warm dish soap and rinse, and an extended stay in a vinegar mixture. The mixture is vinegar, salt, and a touch of hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizer. If you try this be really careful about contamination between the bleach and vinegar. Chlorine gas is nasty stuff, even in small doses, and death doesn't agree with my complexion. The general idea was a heavier carving ax that could stand up against some chopping, splitting, and batoning.

The final product is an artificially aged medium sized chopper with good weight and balance. It fits well in the hand and the scale makes it look a bit like something from an anime. It actually has me plotting a story about a huntsman's daughter set in a manga style alternate universe. Have to tread a fine line to avoid looking like a hunger games knock off. I think the first step is make her a little less emo.

Here's the stats:

Handle: scavenged bradford pear

Overall Length: 16"

Handle Width: 1.5"

Head: recycled antique double bit

Butt to Bit: 7.5"

Bit Length: 4.5"

Head Width: 1" at haft

Total Weight: 3#

The antiquing on the head was tricky, but it really makes the piece. The warm colors and the striped chatoyancy in the handle were pure luck. Bradford pear is known for this type of grain pattern due to the crossing grain. the down side is it is a nightmare to split, and tricky to carve. 

The upside is that it will sand and scrape to a beautiful sheen, and you can easily get a glass like finish by 400 grit or so. I have yet to turn any, but I'd imagine tear outs are likely. If you plan to use a block plane on it, keep it sharp. The random grain makes that a challenge too. 

The last thing I need to do is put a final sharpening on it. I did a mid angle bevel grind on the smaller of the pair, so I'm thinking a slightly more aggressive flat grind on this one. The wedge is made from a split of hedge apple, and the yellow/orange sets it off. The width required to haft a double bladed ax head shifted the carving grip down slightly on the handle, but the hefty hunk of timber left on the end sets the balance point right below my index finger in an up-close working grip.

A Quick Update, and Fiction Resources

Hey all, there has been a lot brewing on the home front. The second ax is finished, and exceeds my expectations. A full post is coming soon. There has been a lot more reading going on around here, too. Want to write fiction, it helps to read it. I've also been plugging away with the writing, though not as much as I'd like. I'm just a pinch over 10,000 words on the novel, and there are several short stories in various stages. I'm splitting the writing time between actual writing, plotting, light world building, and a score of character exploring exercises. The plotting/outlining has been the hardest thing for me so far. I'm experimenting with several processes, and I'll work up some comparisons from my notes once I figure out what I like best.

In an effort to rekindle my fiction writing chops I have been searching for sources of contemporary short genre fiction to absorb. I was truly amazed as to what was available for free on the web. Most of it is available with RSS feeds straight to your [techno-babble]device[/t-b] thingy of choice.

Chrome is my current go to browser, and I installed a program called Feedly to compile all my RSS feeds to my desktop. So far I like it. It features easy interface, list or magazine views, and simple content addition. I have almost totally replaced my wasted Facebook time with a steady stream of content from blogs, science news sources, and free fiction.

If anyone is interested in absorbing some fiction I have a few feed friendly suggestions.

Tor.com - Awesome sauce in a can. Not much more to say. Quite a few of their offerings are excerpts from a larger work , provided as a teaser, but good reads none the less. Really, my go to for the written word.

District of Wonders - The District of Wonders is a more recent find. It is an umbrella site for a collection of themed sister feeds. Each one has a podcast with delectable little tidbits to whet your apatite for fiction. Each short story is donated by the author, and read by a volunteer. The first is Star Ship Sofa, sci-fi goodness served up with related features. The others include Tales to Terrify, Crime City Central, and my favorite Protecting Project Pulp. The last is a vintage pulp fiction podcast full of noir gumshoes and larger than life serial heroes.

Lightspeed Magazine - A sci-fi and fantasy podcast that allows you to choose between reading the short stories in print or a streamed podcast for the on the go types.

Nightmare-Magazine - This on is pretty much what the name implies. It is also a sister sight to Lightspeed, with a similar format. it offers the same consumption versatility.

Another noteworthy source is SF Signal. Touted as the 2012 Hugo winner for Best Fanzine, they offer a lot of good write ups, author interviews, and industry insight. They also offer a periodic list of available free fiction from around the web. My Andriod phone is stuffed with free books from Amazon thanks to SFS.

In the mean time, I've been researching and working on several projects over the last month. There is a back load of pics and content on the way, so there should be some cool bushcraft and upcycling coming soon. If anyone out there has any fiction links or project ideas shoot them my way. I'm always looking for my next obsession.

I have to end with a shout out to Dawn Montgomery, a long time friend who is experiencing a boon from her latest erotica release Haunting Melody St. Claire. If you like it hot and steamy, she has what you need.

Till next time, keep creating. Remember, we are defined by what we create, not what we consume.