Schwindecisive

[Bike from the Dead]

While I waited for Dad to come back to the shop to help me finish the fork, I spent a little time fixing some dents and dings on a couple chain guards I'd like to use. Neither turned out perfect, but they were good enough for me.

Once Dad got back, he slowly drilled out the hole in the fork to 13/64" (using PB Blaster as cutting oil,) then he gently tapped the hole for a 1/4" 20 bolt.

SUCCESS! I can now mount a front fender on this fork, no problem! Stick a bolt in it, because this fork's done!

But now I have a new problem: the respirator I got earlier was too small for me, so I had to buy a larger one from Amazon this morning. I payed a little extra for it to arrive tomorrow, because I've got a few things coming up that will keep me from working on this bike over the next few weeks.

First, I'll be going down to Arlington, Texas again this Thursday to look after my brother's and sister-in-law's home and dogs while they're on vacation, and I won't get back home until the 29th. I can't work on my bikes down there, so I want to make as much progress as I can over these next few days.

Next, my brother and sister-in-law are coming up to Oklahoma on July 3rd, so I'll need to spend at least a day before then getting the house cleaned up. I might have some time to work on the bike before then, but not much. Once they're here, I don't know how that will effect working on the bike, but odds are I probably won't have time to work on it as we'll be doing a bunch of stuff together the rest of the week.

Finally, I'll be going up to Missouri with the rest of my family that weekend to celebrate July 4th and my brother's and sister-in-law's gender reveal party together. We'll all be up there until Sunday, so I won't be able to make anymore progress until after all that is said and done.

So basically, time is not on my side here! I'm only going to have about 3 weeks of July plus a few days before then to get this bike rolling, and I still have a ton of work left to do! The good news is, there's still plenty I can work on these next few days even without the respirator. I might not have the bike fully sandblasted, wire-brushed and clear coated before I head down to Texas, but I can at least carve out a few new tanks, rebuild some wheels, shine up some chrome, and hammer, dolly and bob some fenders before I leave. I'll just have to see what happens.

 

[BobbyStillz]

I still need to learn how to do a splatter paint job. The designs I came up with are more of a half splatter, half dripping sort of paint job, so I need to find out what the best way is to get that effect.

I can give you some tips/techniques if you want?

 

[Bike from the Dead]

I can give you some tips/techniques if you want?

Sure! I'd love to learn some tips and tricks to doing a splatter paint job!

 

[BobbyStillz]

Sure! I'd love to learn some tips and tricks to doing a splatter paint job!

I'll put together a little instruction video next week (on Thursday or the weekend). If you are getting to paint sooner than that, I can give you some bullet points.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

I'll put together a little instruction video next week (on Thursday or the weekend). If you are getting to paint sooner than that, I can give you some bullet points.

Take your time. I probably won't get into doing splatter paint jobs until next month. I can still see what others have done in the meantime, but let me know when you have that video ready. I'd love to see how you do paint splatter effects!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

I pulled a bunch of wood and a few other materials out of storage for tanks and took them over to Dad's shop this afternoon. I'll try to get pictures of everything tomorrow. Unfortunately, it was so hot out that I began sweating up a storm in only a few minutes. I was also guzzling water bottles like an old Hummer guzzles gas. If I'm going to make any real progress on this bike these next 2 days, it's going to have to be in the morning when the weather is at its coolest. Even when I'm drinking a ton of water and keeping the big shop fans blowing on me, when it's over 90 degrees Fahrenheit with a near-100 degree heat index in the back of my dad's shop, my head starts to throb with pain.

I also got my new, larger respirator in the mail today, and returned the medium-sized one I picked up earlier. Thankfully, the new one should be big enough for me to use, so if all goes well, I might even do a little painting tomorrow!

The main things I'd like to tackle these next 2 days are carving out a few new tanks for Schwindecisive, shining up a pair of chrome wheels and handlebars, fixing the dents in a few fenders, and maybe bobbing one rear fender. I might not get all of that done before Thursday, as I need to prepare for my trip down to Texas, but I'll try and do as much as I can before then.

 

[kingfish254]

When drilling any metal, any lubricant helps tremendously. My go to is wd40. Slow and greasy work. It's also important to not apply constant pressure. Drill in a little, then back out allowing the slag to come out. Then back in, rinse and repeat.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

When drilling any metal, any lubricant helps tremendously. My go to is wd40. Slow and greasy work. It's also important to not apply constant pressure. Drill in a little, then back out allowing the slag to come out. Then back in, rinse and repeat.

I don't have a lot of experience drilling into metal, so this is all good info that would've nice to know a little earlier. I pretty much did everything I wasn't supposed to do when I drilled into this fork! I'll have to remember all of this the next time I drill into metal, Thanks.

 

[kingfish254]

I don't have a lot of experience drilling into metal, so this is all good info that would've nice to know a little earlier. I pretty much did everything I wasn't supposed to do when I drilled into this fork! I'll have to remember all of this the next time I drill into metal, Thanks.

We all learn the hard way and burn up more than a few drill bits

 

[Bike from the Dead]

We all learn the hard way and burn up more than a few drill bits

Sad but true.

 

[Uncle Shish]

While I waited for Dad to come back to the shop to help me finish the fork, I spent a little time fixing some dents and dings on a couple chain guards I'd like to use. Neither turned out perfect, but they were good enough for me.
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I find a vise works really well for straightening flat areas like chainguards.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

I swear, sometimes these bikes just don't want to be built, and they will do anything and everything to keep you from putting them together like you want.

I had just pulled a bunch of wood, metal and even plexiglass out of storage and brought it over to Dad's shop yesterday, and today I was all fired up to cut up some of it and make a tank or two.

Well before I could even get one tank roughly cut out, the bandsaw failed. From what I can tell, the blade came off the track, though I'm not sure how. Maybe I was trying to turn the blade too sharp? I don't know.

What I do know is that after trying to watch a few videos about how to install and adjust a blade on a bandsaw, specifically a Boice Crane bandsaw, I still have no idea how to fix this. Dad might have better luck, but the shop is open for business and he needs to be in the showroom in case any customers show up. So I'll have to wait a while before he can really take a look at it.

Now, I could use a jigsaw to cut my tanks, but they're a 40-minute drive away back at home, and last time I used them, the blades were all crooked.

There isn't really a whole lot else I can do on my bike right now, at least not anything that would really help me in the long run, so if Dad and I can't figure out how to get this bandsaw going again today, I'm just going to call it a day and head home. I've got plenty I need to do before I head down to Texas Thursday, so it wouldn't be a bad trade-off. I'll just have to see.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Well, Dad and I tried to fix the bandsaw real quick, but the blade still came off the wheels again in just a second. So, I'm calling it a day and heading home. Might as well start prepping for Texas...

 

[Da Gas Man]

There will be a tensioner somewhere in the works. It may be out of adjustment.
Also, let the blade do the work so don't force or push the piece into the blade
too hard. That might dislodge the blade, especially if the tensioner isn't doing
it's job. And of course, have a sharp saw blade. That's without looking, so don't
hold me to it or anything.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Well, it'll be a while before I can get back to work on Schwindecisive, as I'm over 4 hours away from home, and I won't be getting back until later this Saturday. So, what am I supposed to do when I'm down in Texas looking after my brother's and sister-in-law's dogs and home for a week?

Simple! I ride one of my previous bike builds around the neighborhood...

Chill with said dogs, Boomer and Zoe, while binge-watching a favorite show (this time it's Battlebots)...

And plan ahead for my next projects.

In addition to all that, I can finally catch up on everyone else's builds too! Can't wait to see what I've been missing these last 2 months.

When I'm not busy doing all of the above, I'll be working more on some art I hope to sell at some point. I might post a few updates of that throughout the week, partly to stay out of page 2 slacker status, but mostly to show what I'm working on when I'm not wrenching on my bikes. Some of that art's even bike-related!

 

[kingfish254]

Enjoy the break. Killer sketches man. Love those ideas!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Enjoy the break. Killer sketches man. Love those ideas!

Will do, Kingfish! Thanks!

 

[BartRidesEternal]

Well, it'll be a while before I can get back to work on Schwindecisive, as I'm over 4 hours away from home, and I won't be getting back until later this Saturday. So, what am I supposed to do when I'm down in Texas looking after my brother's and sister-in-law's dogs and home for a week?

Simple! I ride one of my previous bike builds around the neighborhood...
View attachment 270611View attachment 270612

Chill with said dogs, Boomer and Zoe, while binge-watching a favorite show (this time it's Battlebots)...
View attachment 270613

And plan ahead for my next projects.
View attachment 270614View attachment 270615View attachment 270616

In addition to all that, I can finally catch up on everyone else's builds too! Can't wait to see what I've been missing these last 2 months.

When I'm not busy doing all of the above, I'll be working more on some art I hope to sell at some point. I might post a few updates of that throughout the week, partly to stay out of page 2 slacker status, but mostly to show what I'm working on when I'm not wrenching on my bikes. Some of that art's even bike-related!

Not even part of the build and so much to comment on
Battlebots! What are your favorite bots? I haven't seen the newer seasons unfortunately.
Love the sketches there, number 1 and 8 are gorgeous designs. The trike sketch is promising, really like it!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Not even part of the build and so much to comment on
Battlebots! What are your favorite bots? I haven't seen the newer seasons unfortunately.

Haha, thanks! I hadn't had a chance to watch the later seasons until Discovery recently decided to move my Motortrend+ subscription to Discovery+. I had only seen the first 2 seasons of the new show on ABC when they were on the air, and whatever episodes of the show I caught on my grandparents' TV back in the Comedy Central days. I'm just a little more than halfway through season 3 right now.

As for my favorite bots, it's hard for me to think of all my favorites, but off the top of my head, I like Warhead (good balance of artsy and deadly,) Deadblow (rest in peace Grant Imahara,) Whiplash (for taking on Tombstone and actually getting some good hits in,) Tombstone (when he's not battling another bot I like,) and Sharkoprion (more for the driver than the bot itself. Dude has great sportsmanship and seems to have a blast whether he wins or loses.)

Most of the time though, I don't really care who wins or loses; I'm just enjoying the show!

Love the sketches there, number 1 and 8 are gorgeous designs. The trike sketch is promising, really like it!

Thank you! At least half of the pages I've used in this sketchbook are all just bicycle thumbnail sketches. I've thought about sharing them all at some point, but I just never got around to it. As for the trike sketch, it's a re-imagining of this trike I bought 4 years ago:

I called it The Trashliner Trike because it was a Spaceliner-style frame turned into the sketchiest trike I'd ever seen! Honestly, the more you looked at this thing, the crazier it got! This thing would twist and flex as I rode it, and if you weren't careful, it'd throw you right off! Looking back, I wish I hadn't parted it out and had instead just fixed a few things to make it a little less sketchy. That thing was a blast to ride!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Okay, these past couple of weeks were a mess. I'll spare the details, but long story short: I'm just glad it's over now. Also, I'm going to have a niece!

On to the here and now: I'm... well, indecisive about whether or not I want to try and finish Schwindecisive before the Build Off deadline while it's this hot out. The Oklahoma summers just keep getting hotter and more humid, and my ability to handle the season isn't exactly improving. It's not as bad in the early morning as it is for the rest of the day, but it really does not take long before I sweat up a storm. I've had moments where I was literally dripping from my forehead and soaking through my leather gloves, and that's a major cause for concern when building a bare metal bike. If I was painting this bike, I might be able to get away with immediately applying primer after pulling parts out of the blasting cabinet, but that's not the case here. I know how fast stuff can flash rust during this time of year, and I really don't want to mess up the finish of this bike because I'm in a rush to finish it.

Overall, I think it'd be better for me to save projects that require paint or clear coats for the spring or fall when the weather's better for it, and instead enter bikes with little or no required paint work for future summer Build Offs.

That said, I did take some time to run by my Dad's shop to assess the situation Sunday morning, and while the temperature's not so bad in the morning, the humidity is at its highest, which could cause my parts to rust and the clear coat to not apply correctly. So... I think I'm out for this year's Build Off once again.

One other thing happened on Sunday: while I was doing my assessment, I found a stray kitten that got stuck inside Dad's shop!

I managed to catch him, and after seeing just how thin he was, I took him inside the bathroom and gave him some food and water... after I disinfected and bandaged my wounds from grabbing him bare-handed. He may have been nearly skin-and-bone, but he was feisty!

None of the shelters were open on Sunday, and this little kitten was admittedly too feral to be a pet, so after the little fella stopped eating and drinking, I donned some thick leather gloves and took him out to a little field across the street. Once I set him down, he was GONE! He ran right off to put as much distance between us as possible. It wasn't the easiest choice to make, but I think it was the right choice.