Murray Beach Comber/AMC VII

[user 35233]

but something I put time and effort into, well yeah there's gonna be some trepidation. That rack looked fairly solid, though. Also, I assume you wouldn't be going very far or fast on a bus trip with a bike, so I'd figure there's less chance of it shaking loose or parts loosening up.

I only have things I put effort into at this point and the Verrazzano bridge gets wiiiindy. I'm worried a gust will catch my banana seat like a sail and throw the whole bike over that flimsy arm on the front tire, bend my fork and leave me stranded across the water.. therefore I rarely ride in Staten but yeah, there are more parks per mile on the isle than you could hope for. It also contains the highest point on the Atlantic coastal plain. But alas, fear of racks and rattles has thwarted my desire.

 

[ParkRNDL]

I only have things I put effort into at this point and the Verrazzano bridge gets wiiiindy. I'm worried a gust will catch my banana seat like a sail and throw the whole bike over that flimsy arm on the front tire, bend my fork and leave me stranded across the water.. therefore I rarely ride in Staten but yeah, there are more parks per mile on the isle than you could hope for. It also contains the highest point on the Atlantic coastal plain. But alas, fear of racks and rattles has thwarted my desire.

Ohhhh, the Verrazano. Ewwwwww. Say no more. When I go back to visit family on LI, the Belt Parkway is the bane of my existence.

 

[BobbyStillz]

@BobbyStillz , I think you're right. And it looks like I might take @The Renaissance Man 's advice on using Air Conditioner, which will look like this:
View attachment 241344View attachment 241343

In that case, the low height of the font works to my advantage because it fits under that mounting bolt, and then I can center the name on the wide part of the tank with the flat bottom.

And @The Renaissance Man , thanks for the tip on the varnish! I knew that might happen with the grain in the wood and I was wondering how to avoid it...

That looks great! I would raise it up just a smidge (1/4-1/2") to give the lettering a nice margin along the base. Basically match the amount of space you have between the 'B' and the front of the tank. But that looks perfect!

 

[ParkRNDL]

Just because I'm playing with images... this is closer to what I originally envisioned for the wood panel. Heavily influenced by the big old wagoons of the '60s, '70s and even '80s (and technically there were a few left into the '90s; I had one).

I don't know how I'd get the lighter colored edge molding in small scale like that, but the lettering would be a chrome decal, chrome paint, or ideally a 3D printed emblem emulating the chrome scripts on a car. Vista Cruiser happened to work well because there were no letters hanging down to interfere with the bottom edge of the tank, but you could just as easily name it Country Squire, Colony Park, Kingswood Estate, Safari, Sport Suburban, Coronet Crestwood, Royal Monaco...

It'd have to have an interesting rack, too... something to emulate the ubiquitous roof rack on big old Detroit wagons. The rack on this bike currently isn't a bad starting point, actually.

Definitely filing this away for a future build...

 

[hbn]

Just because I'm playing with images... this is closer to what I originally envisioned for the wood panel. Heavily influenced by the big old wagoons of the '60s, '70s and even '80s (and technically there were a few left into the '90s; I had one).
View attachment 241360

I don't know how I'd get the lighter colored edge molding in small scale like that, but the lettering would be a chrome decal, chrome paint, or ideally a 3D printed emblem emulating the chrome scripts on a car. Vista Cruiser happened to work well because there were no letters hanging down to interfere with the bottom edge of the tank, but you could just as easily name it Country Squire, Colony Park, Kingswood Estate, Safari, Sport Suburban, Coronet Crestwood, Royal Monaco...

It'd have to have an interesting rack, too... something to emulate the ubiquitous roof rack on big old Detroit wagons. The rack on this bike currently isn't a bad starting point, actually.

Definitely filing this away for a future build...

Lots of cool touches here. Just caught up so I'm behind on commenting but the stenciled graphics are spot on! I'll probably be using that technique in the future!

Here's a tip that might save you some grief when you letter the wood insert:
Unlike painted metal, wood has a lot of small peaks and valleys in the grain that will wick the paint under your stencil. I'm assuming that you will be applying some type of clear varnish to the wood after you stain it. To get a clean edge on your graphics, lay down your vinyl stencil and then paint a thin coat with the same varnish so that it wicks under the stencil first. You could even wipe it off after it is applied. After that dries enough do your sponge color over the stencil as usual and peal the mask. You should end up with a clean edge. As always, test this method first on a scrap piece of material to learn how to do it best.

Oh, and I like the Air Conditioner font best!

I'm with @The Renaissance Man. The Air Conditioner font rocks, and his excellent advice with clear varnish: I'd start with a stencil to lay clear on the edge molding, to seal it and keep it light, before adding stain to the center part.

 

[ParkRNDL]

Minwax Ipswich Pine stain...

...and Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane.

Gotta say this is some new definition of "fast" with which I am not familiar. The can says it can be sanded after 4 hours. I put it on at 8am, it's now after 6pm and it's still tacky. Grrr.

 

[OddJob]

Hey PRNDL, how does the stain look / feel this a.m.? One thing I do with stain is let it sit in the sun or use a blow dryer on it after about the first hour or so. And then put in front of a fan, wind across the face of the stained wood will speed up the dry time.

Then take a light weight sandpaper 1000 grit, and lightly brush across the top to smooth out any bubbles or rough stuff. Then add a second and third coat, following the same steps as above ^^.

To avoid the stain still soaking in to the wood and staying sticky next time, after you sand the wood, use a sanding sealer to seal the wood. Then the stain will sit on top of the sealer, and dry faster.

I am making a 'feedback buster' sound hole cover for my acoustic guitar. Now that I'm playing regularly with a band, it cuts back on the vibrations that enter through the opening in the top of the guitar.

It is made from a piece of birch 1/4" veneer and a cork coaster . And a rubber band, for a tight fit.

First round of stain was an Ebony transparent, stain then wipe off. Next was a Golden Pecan, two coats.

And after smoothing with 1000 grit...

Still not 'red ' enough. Want something closer to the red hues in the pick guard, and the head stock is red Bubinga. So I used some Gunstock stain color, and it's getting there. Anyway, using stain is a fine art. As with all artistic elements they take time to achieve the look and feel you are striving for. Keep on keepin' on! Woodwork is fun, but it is time consuming for sure!

 

[ingola]

https://www.timeanddate.com/countdo...31T12&p0=1176&msg=Build+off+end+&font=cursive

 

[ParkRNDL]

Hey PRNDL, how does the stain look / feel this a.m.? One thing I do with stain is let it sit in the sun or use a blow dryer on it after about the first hour or so. And then put in front of a fan, wind across the face of the stained wood will speed up the dry time.

Then take a light weight sandpaper 1000 grit, and lightly brush across the top to smooth out any bubbles or rough stuff. Then add a second and third coat, following the same steps as above ^^.

The polyurethane seems fine now. Just needed 24+ hours to dry, not the 4 hours they claim on the can. I think I am going to hit it with very fine sandpaper or 0000 steel wool and try the stencil out. My concern is that I will have to wait a LONG time (weeks?) for automotive touch-up paint to dry before clearing over it. If I had done this earlier in the build-off, it would have been fine. But this Monday we are heading to the beach for the week, and my plan was to bring the bike and do the final photos there, and when we get back on Friday we have other travel plans, so basically I need to have the bike finished this weekend and post the final build pics next weekend while we are away. I'm not terribly concerned, it's just that the bike is going to be entered with one coat of clear on the wood and no clear over the stenciled graphics.

I guess for the future I have to keep in mind that including finished wood in a build takes LOTS of time.

 

[ParkRNDL]

So last night I hit the tank panel with 0000 steel wool, applied the stencils, and brushed a coat of poly into the stencils to seal them for paint.

It felt dry this morning, so I let it sit all day while I was at work and started the sponge-in stencil process I have always used when I got home. I guess the automotive paint I used was pretty hot, because it shriveled up the poly that was on the vinyl stencils. The graphic seemed to come out fine on the first side, anyway...

...but on the other side the the shriveling and crinkling got worse and we had issues. Maybe I sponged the paint on too thick. Whatever, the graphic came up with the stencil in a few spots.

So Plan B was to break out the old detail brushes from my model car building days.

I was able to touch up the problem spots fairly well. Looks good from a distance, anyway. But then again, the whole bike is like that.

At this point I'm a little concerned that this graphic will flake off if I look at it wrong. Just gonna have to be real careful with it till after the photo shoot, I guess.

About that photo shoot, I'm pretty excited... we are going to Ocean City, MD next week and I plan to get pictures of the bike on the beach and boardwalk.

 

[hbn]

Some clear coat on top to protect it?

 

[ParkRNDL]

Some clear coat on top to protect it?

Yeah, that would definitely help. But I have 2 questions for anyone with more experience than me:

1. How long should I wait before clearing over the graphic? It’s Dupli-Color sprayed into the cap and sponged/brushed on.

2. What’s a good clear to use? Another coat of Minwax poly or something else?

 

[OddJob]

Yeah, that would definitely help. But I have 2 questions for anyone with more experience than me:

1. How long should I wait before clearing over the graphic? It’s Dupli-Color sprayed into the cap and sponged/brushed on.

2. What’s a good clear to use? Another coat of Minwax poly or something else?

The clear should be the same base as the Dupli-Color. So, if it is acrylic, enamel, or lacquer; use the same for your clear.
Now that I think about it, the way your lettering got a little fudged on the one side could have been a result of the Dupli-Color not bonding well with the MinWax clear satin poly. What is the base of your model paints you used to touch up the letters?

Maybe replicate the tank panel with a scrap piece of wood from that cut, and put the MinWax on, then use a couple letters of your stencil with the Dupli-Color, and then try the MinWax over the top of one area, and a Dupli-Color clear of the same base over another area. I know you have a limited time frame, but you also don't want to wreck what you've already done.

 

[ParkRNDL]

The clear should be the same base as the Dupli-Color. So, if it is acrylic, enamel, or lacquer; use the same for your clear.
Now that I think about it, the way your lettering got a little fudged on the one side could have been a result of the Dupli-Color not bonding well with the MinWax clear satin poly. What is the base of your model paints you used to touch up the letters?

It wasn't actually model paint, it was the same Dupli-Color I used to do the lettering. It was the BRUSHES that were from my model-building stash.

Maybe replicate the tank panel with a scrap piece of wood from that cut, and put the MinWax on, then use a couple letters of your stencil with the Dupli-Color, and then try the MinWax over the top of one area, and a Dupli-Color clear of the same base over another area. I know you have a limited time frame, but you also don't want to wreck what you've already done.

Now that I've done it once, I may just re-do the whole panel eventually with a little more attention to the process. I know there's a "correct" way to finish wood and paint lettering on it and seal over the top of it, I just didn't take the time to research and figure out what it was. The panel wasn't terribly hard to cut out, and that was the hardest part, so I won't feel too bad about redoing it. The only other difficulty was figuring out the clamps/hangers and now that's done.

 

[ParkRNDL]

This is about as close to done as it's gonna get. All that's left is the "good" photo shoot.

 

[OddJob]

Gotcha. Enjoy the beach! Looking forward to the photos.

 

[Kroozerdave]

What might be worth testing if you chose to redo it later is use an engraver to cut the letter shapes into the wood a little or just a hobby knife to outline them a little. Fill the cutouts with paint.

I actually like that the lettering might be imperfect as I live close enough to the ocean that older stuff including wood weathers a bit just from the air.

 

[Kevin B]

I really like the font you chose. It looks so appropriate for your build. Fine job.

 

[BobbyStillz]

This is about as close to done as it's gonna get. All that's left is the "good" photo shoot.
View attachment 241808View attachment 241809View attachment 241810View attachment 241811View attachment 241812View attachment 241813

Turned out amazing! Well done!

 

[ParkRNDL]

https://www.timeanddate.com/countdo...31T12&p0=1176&msg=Build+off+end+&font=cursive

hey so dumb question: when I click that link it says the build-off is over at noon on July 1st using Cornwall, Ontario time. It also says that Cornwall is in the same time zone as Hagerstown, MD and Chambersburg, PA, where I am now, which would be Eastern time. In the Rules post, it says the Build-off STARTS at 12:00 AM Central time. Does the build-off end at noon Eastern time or noon Central time? Not trying to be a bozo, but if I recall, people have actually missed the deadline in the past by that small an amount.