Blogshanks – great travel blog

Posted by jerry on February 19th, 2008 — Posted in Journal

This is a great travel blog – instead of photos and brochure clips, this one is hand drawn – and with both a great sense of humour as well as some canny observations – You should see the trip to Singapore and Malaysia!

Blogshanks is one to remember!

Cheers
Jerry

Treecycle – the amazing wooden bike

Posted by jerry on February 12th, 2008 — Posted in Journal, Technology, Woodwork

While most teenagers are content to kick a footy, 16 year old Marco Facciola was in the woodshop fabricating a bicycle entirely from wood – no metal or rubber parts – just wood, good joinery and a bit of glue. Even the chain is made from hundreds of wooden components and it all works – even down to the free-wheeling ratchet so he wouldn’t have to pedal down hills. As part of his International Baccalaureate studies he had to complete a non-academic project. In this case he recalled stories his grandfather told him of how during the Second World War, rubber was short, so kids made wooden wheels fo rtheir bikes. Marco took this a stage (or two) further and built the entire bike.

Wooden bike

It may not be the first (although the one pictured in Leonardo daVinci’s Notebooks appears to have been a forgery) but it is more sophisticated than most others in having a working wooden chain and freewheeling ratchet.

You can read more about this amazing bike in Lea Valley Tools as well as Gizmodo

and in newspapers, like the Montreal Gazette

Cheers
Jerry

Jimmy Carter’s Workshop

Posted by jerry on February 10th, 2008 — Posted in Journal, Woodwork

Former US President Jimmy Carter has been known for his Presidency and his international diplomacy since leaving office. But not many people know that he is also a very skilled woodworker.

Each year he produces a special piece to auction for charity – Since his first auction in 1983 he has raised over US$10m.

I a short video he gives a rare glimpse into his workshop next to his house in Plains, Georgia, USA. It’s worth a look 🙂

Cheers
Jerry

Music – my new blog

Posted by jerry on February 8th, 2008 — Posted in Journal, Music, Woodwork

First up, I’m still maintaining this one – but I thought i’d try an experiment with a single-topic blog – Four Strings – which will be about all things fiddle and violin and folk music. So the music posts you have enjoyed here will now be on the Four Strings blog.

The main thing I’m working on at the moment is a pochette – a travel fiddle – that I am making using traditional violin making techniques. So there’s also something there for the woodworker. My latest post there is about how to bend the sides – hence Bend it like Antonio” (Stradivarius).

Let me know what you think of it. If it works well, I may set up a couple of other single-topic blogs so you can follow your favourite theme. Of course the eclectic ‘random notebook’ style of this one will continue as usual

Cheers
Jerry

Stanley steamer motorcycle – the lococycle

Posted by jerry on February 4th, 2008 — Posted in Motorcycling, Steam

I had seen brief references to a pacing motorcycle built by the Stanley brothers – makers of the Stanley steam car, but I had not seen any photos until this one turned up on the Stanley Motorcarriage website, along with a few technical specifications. Please email me if you have any further information about this steam motorcycle

Stanley steam motorcycle

Cheers
Jerry