Projects Giant speedster project

I figure the young ecdysiasts, following the muse of Terpsichore, practice their art in canoes on the lake, preparing for the wet t-shirt contest.

It's only logical, really.
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http://www.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?rd=1&word=ecdysiast

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terpsichore

 

Someone has been reading the dictionary.

I was playing around with some stains I had in my cabinet. I know Miniwax ain't so great but that's what I had. I thought cherry was supposed to be kind of red but I've learned that it darkens with age. So how long does it take? Can we speed up the process? I'm afraid if I just put some clear on the cherry it'll look a little blah. Need more research. Input? Don showed up to see where his cherry was going. He gave me a C- on wood work. Don is a natural pessimist and rarely has anything good to say about anything so C- is pretty good. I toyed around with how the rolled edge of the upholstery would look. Don said it should be small. By now every plank has been on and off about 4 times. I reckon they will be on and off another 4 times more. I'm also having doubts about this routing the seams business. Holding on to a router spinning at 20K can be like holding a mad polecat even if you've got a fancy home-made guide. One slip and you've ruined a nice piece of cherry. I was contemplating 1/2 wide brass oval strips to cover the seams. Lastly, I put on the muffler.

Jerry

 

Hey, I almost forgot. Check out my choke pull. Can you guess where it came from?

Jerry

 

Looks like the syringe that Nurse Ratched used to give me my flu shot...

 

Yep, large animal vet stuff. My great granddad was an Army vet (he treated president Calvin Coolige's dog!) so it looks sort of familiar.

 

LOL! As a friend's father used to say when describing a particularly onerous task;

"Sorta like trying to stick a wet noodle up a bobcat's ass!"

 

Been lurking and watching and admiring. Great project!!

Cherry looks almost white when its worked, but darkens pretty quickly. My son built all of our cabinets and dining table from it. When we asked him what our stain choices would be, he said we couldn't stain it. He cleared it. It was almost white when he installed it. It's dark now. Took about 4 months, but it keeps getting darker slowly even now. Put a couple sticks out in the sun every day for a week, then compare it to the indoor wood. You'll see the difference.

BTW It's cherry pie that's red.

 

I would have suggested trying dry powdered Aniline stain for that awesome cherry but I hear the crickets chirping already.

http://www.byoguitar.com/Guitars/Dry-Powdered-Aniline-Stain---Cherry__B366-0032.aspx

Jimmy

 

I looked into a aniline stain but everything online said it doesn't do well outside and faded after awhile. I'll get over to the store and get some more stain samples. Who knows I might just leave it alone and let time do it's work.

Jerry

 

I think I would just give it a good coating with Man-o-War Spar Varnish and let nature do the rest. I did some aircraft bits of woodwork that way over 20 years ago and they still look new.

 

Jerry,
Now that you mention it, I've never used it on wood directly exposed to weather. I did use it on tiger stripe maple veneer on a dash fascia and the results were stellar.
Jimmy

 

Don't worry Honey, it happens to everyone.

I hear these commercials for erectile dysfunction on the radio while I work. It's the doctor's name that kills me--Dr. Hornsby. That can't be his real name. Sounds like some snake oil salesman. Where was I? Oh yeah--broken stud. We've all had them. One of the exhaust studs snapped as I tightened down the muffler. Center punch, drill, drill, drill, tap out. After 30 years in the repair biz I've refined broken bolt extraction into an art. I bought this gas filler cap off of ebay about three years ago. It was a rough casting made for a round tank. I was going put a wooden base under it to make it fit the deck but today I decided to cut it apart and braze it all back together. The only big mistake I made was taking too much metal out cause I had to braze and braze and braze and... You get the picture. Then I had to grind and grind and I'm still not done. It's going to look way better than a wooden block.

Jerry

 

How many gallons per mile are you expecting to get with that beast? How big is the gas tank? Can you hide a 55 gallon drum back there for easy refills (just bring a forklift)?

 

I believe you can age cherry with lye, or is it pine? Aqua fortis stain maybe?

 

To get the wood to age I'd use BLO (boiled linseed oil). It will keep moisture out and continue to darken over time. You will have to rub more in from time to time though.


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

This is still the coolest fire engine I have seen.
Davo

 

...x2 on that, that header/ muffler setup is awesome. I can't wait to hear that thing roaring down the road !

 

Three days, or was it four?

I might finally be done with the gas cap. I soldered in a pipe Kent down at the muffler shop made for me. Hey, that reminds me, I owe him $5.00! Then I cut a hole in the deck. The hard part was grinding all the chrome off the cap. It must have been an 1/8 inch thick! I wish I knew the secret of electrolytic chrome removal. After and hour or two of grinding and sanding and buffing I stuck the whole thing in it's place. Kind of adds to the nautical look don't ya think? Next I did a little prep for the wiring by drilling a strategic hole near the battery for a power cable to snake up to the dash. I also ordered some 10 gauge red cloth covered wire for the power cable. I think we're getting close to a start up and drive! I want to be able to pull the speedster in and out of the shop at will. You know, I've got no where to keep this beast after it's done. 18.5 feet long. It won't fit in my garage. I need an 8 foot diameter culvert pipe to keep it in. Hey, what if I split 2 55 gallon drums length wise, weld them together to make a big tube, then weld about 10 of those together and...

Jerry

 

See if you can get a 20 foot shipping container to park it in. Or two of those portable canvas garages

 

Or convince the Significant Other that you have to have a 40x40 shop/garage there at the house. You know, a place to go to get out of the house (your current shop) and one to keep you close by (the new joint).

 

Jerry,
Have you thought of a sealer on your wood. I have had good luck with products like "MINWAX Dura Seal sealer for wood floors" This acts like a primer & toughens the wood as well as keeping the varnish or urethane from sinking in to the wood over time. This is the material often used on gymnasium floors.

 

is there a pin/ stop to keep the cap from coming loose at mach speeds?

 

No pin needed; at speed the suction from the gas leaving the tank will hold the cap on even if the threads fail!

 

Not to give you anymore to think about as you are trying to fall asleep at night but have you considered what you are going to do for tail light yet? Pretty sure you need at least one brake light on it.

 

Pretty cool and they fit right in.

 

Pain: Some people spit in its eye every day.

But not my big son. He called me this morning to say he broke his foot walking down his front steps. Fluke! I had to take him to the doctors. Now he's wearing one of those black nylon foot things. Got done with all that about 1:30. I had wanted to take off the deck and seal the underside but all I had time to do take it off and vacuum up the mess underneath. BTWHere's the taillights I have picked out. I didn't get anything done Sunday because we took the kids to the Cumming Fair. I wasn't expecting anything more than carnival rides and livestock until I saw that sign that read WALL OF DEATH. I hadn't seen one since I was a kid. If you've never experienced the WALL OF DEATH you gotta go. It was awesome!! Patch McGillicuttey is a one hell of a man. Been riding the wall for 19 years. He had
the crowd was screaming. There are some youtube videos if want to see it on the tiny screen. But standing there looking down into a 20 foot barrel, inhaling the exhaust, hearing roar, watching Patch race round and round while the crowd whooped and cheered, it took me back to a time when men risked their lives for a few dollars and a thrill. We need more men like Patch McGillicuttey. God Bless him! (No pictures or videos please)

Jerry

 

Went to the Newport Hill Climb this last weekend. There was plenty of regular speedsters but there wasn't a single GIANT speedster to be seen. But there was this 1910 Brush which wasn't a giant anything. Thought you might enjoy looking at some of the details, but I guess it's too late for you to use a wooden frame and axles on yours.

 

Up our way, they used to chop corn with corn chopper and blow it up into a silo. Then the stuff they blowed in was called silage. Silo's aren't cheap, so somebody came up with polyethylene bags laying on the ground, forty or fifty feet long. Blow the same stuff into those and it becomes tubage.

I was low on barn space one winter and drove a car into one of those tubes (brand new) and sealed off the ends after sucking the air out with a vacuum cleaner. It could get kind of awkward running in and out on a daily basis, but maybe your speedster would winter OK as tubage.

 

Those lamps look cool, but I kinda expected more nautical-themed or vintage ones like this one from an old Caddy found on eBay.