Rouxkeloos

I made the payment for the vehicle transfer to the Wellington Lions Club, so I assume it will go towards a worthy cause. I have no idea what the going rate for these kinds of things is. I'm just happy the service is available. If I weren't fat and lazy and did the full route, a vehicle transfer would not have been necessary...

The dummy hub 3D print is done. Here it is off the printer: It took more post-processing than I had hoped: Those threads were tight! Below is how it came out: I'm happy with the seam: It was an interesting learning experience. If I do this again, I will make on on the lathe. It is not perfect, but I like using stuff I made myself.

The issue is with printing overhangs. 3D printing can deal with 45-degree overhangs. Because 3D printing deposits melted plastic in thin layers, you need some form of support under everything. I wanted a bit steeper slope on the inside (so that the chain doesn't climb out). In some examples I saw online, people made this with a slope. It will probably work just as well. Alternatively, I could have printed the slope and taken it down on the lathe afterwards. I'm mainly doing this to learn something, so I like the idea of complicating it a bit—even with an increased chance of failure...

Yes, of course. I expect it in the next few days and will post the results here.

Because I enjoy working with beautiful tools (as long as cosmetics don't degrade functionality), I have made some mods to my SKS Renkompressor pump. The result is shown below, and I've done a separate thread showing the steps taken.

And finally, the 3D-printed ring to keep the extra valve head is done:

Park tools call it a dummy hub. Because quick links have a limited lifetime, it is a useful way to clean a chain with the rear wheel removed. The plastic material will have low enough friction not to require a bearing. I became aware that designing an annular snap fit (the way some plastic containers close) is above my abilities. Therefore, I have resorted to a thread. M22 is coarse enough that slight dimensional deviation will not cause havoc. I'm going to start the process tomorrow morning, and I will report back. There is a good chance I end up ordering one after failing to produce it. I have learned that DIY is most often not a way to save money, but it is fun to learn new things.

Let us make a tool. At work, I have access to 3D printing. I want to make a chain keeper. The Morgan Blue ones look nice and are cheap overseas—I cannot find them around here. Since 3D printers are not too happy with overhangs, I'm going for a 2-part design that will snap together. I've kept my dimensions very tight—I have a lathe to tweak it should it be required. Below are pics of the two halves separated: I would like to appeal to your collective wisdom. Is snapping together a feasible idea? I don't know much about the material properties of 3D printed plastic (The filament I plan to use is PETG due to resistance to solvents.) If my idea is not good, I can also do a single print with a 45-degree overhang and either make the design work like that or cut away excess on the lathe. Please let me know what you think.

The Milton pump head arrived, and I also decided to up the size of the compressor fittings. The benefit is that I can attach it to the tubing without a clamp. This is done by heating the tubing with a heat gun and applying some grease inside the tubing to encourage it. Once it sets, it will not come off on its own. The upsized compressor fittings do not feel like it impedes the airflow (the previous ones did). I need max flow to get tubeless seated without a compressor. I like the Milton pump head. It seats fast, stays on and breaks off cleanly with a satisfying short psshh of air. The last and final step would be to 3D print a clip that stores the extension that is not in use. I don't have any experience calculating printed plastic's elasticity, so that research will take a while. It has appeared to me that there are faster ways to inflate a bicycle tire.

This found a new home... In other words, no longer available. ############ I bought a FreeZone organising set (see below), and then my plans changed, so if anybody needs something like this to organise your tools, you can have it. You will have to collect it in Stellenbosch, please.

After the oil dried, the pump was reassembled. I'm happy with how the grain shows—the funny thing with getting old is that stuff like grain patterns make you inexplicably delighted... Now I would like two add two chucks. The solution I'm implementing is to use pneumatic line couplers to swap chucks quickly. No matter how hard you try, it is impossible to standardise valves in your household. Even if you are a god amongst men who manage to do it, you might still be blessed by being appointed by the universe as your residential complex's official children's bike inflator. I'm happy to do it, but I had to do some client education after a few unfortunate incidents where a Sunday afternoon nap was violently disrupted. Nitto is a Japanese company that manufactures miniature pneumatic couplers. Things of beauty with tolerances that would make Germans weep. In the above photo, the Silca thread on Schrader chuck is also visible. The Presta side will be represented by a Hirame head—another example of Japanese manufacturing prowess. Two-ear clamps and a nail puller take care of the crimping duties. So we end up with two 150 mm sections that can be swapped out. The coupling looks like this in context: Lastly, we need to ensure that the hose stays in place, which calls for a bit of thread lock where the hose screws into the pump base. I saw other people on the internet that threaded a pneumatic coupler into the base, but I did not want to buy an imperial tapered thread tap for single use. As a metric follower, I also don't want to risk burning in hell for such a small but significant transgression. I'm happy with the outcome. But the Silca chuck is not on par. I like the idea of a thread-on chuck, but Silca's one isn't a joy to use. So the idea is to get a Milton one next time I order stuff from Amazon (whenever my wife is not looking): Does it work better than the standard Rennkompressor? No, but it makes me happy.

The SKS Rennkompressor is a very nice pump. The SKS German website says: "Der RENNKOMPRESSOR ist seit mehr als 50 Jahren die beliebteste Pumpe des internationalen Radsports und der einzig legitime Vater aller Standpumpen." The English site says: "The RENNKOMPRESSOR has been the most popular pump in international cycling for more than 50 years and the sole legitimate ancestor of all bike stand pumps." This translation does not do the German justice. Here is my attempt: "For more than 50 years the RENNKOMPRESSOR has been the most beloved pump in international sport cycling and is the only legitimate father of all stand pumps". So, I'm going to try to turn mine into more of a father figure with some mods. Let us start with the handle: Let us see if we can do anything with the steel hardware that attaches the handle. I suspect that some are stainless and others galvanised. Vinegar is an environmentally responsible way to strip the zinc. It is only the dome nut on the top that is (galvanised) mild steel, the rest is stainless. The stainless need to be mirror polished. The dome nut I would like blued—that blue-black oxide that is often used on firearms. But before we do that, let us file a star into the dome nut. Next, I started on the new handle. The original handle is wood, but I wanted something nicer. I like the handle shape of the Topeak JoeBlow so I used that as an inspiration for my design. I measured my delicate digits for the finger cutaways. Those two cylinders at the bottom is to help me to locate the part when I turn it around on the CNC. Unfortunately the piece of oak—a gift from my brother–was too short to include workholding on the ends and forced this inelegant solution. The bottom was machined first and then flipped around. The oak machined well and the surface finish was very nice. After some sanding it was coated in linseed oil. It is currently drying. More episodes to follow. In addition to the cosmetic changes, some technical mods will follow.

I have made a little progress. Both layers of the pliers rack is now completed and mounted to the side panel. These are the tools that I selected for this kit. From the top left: 1. Engineer PZ-58 screw extracting pliers. It also works well as general pliers. 2. Fujiya 7700N-175 High Leverage Diagonal Cutting Nippers 3. Gedore Needle nose pliers (I prefer this one above some of my Knipex ones because this one is made in Austria and I had a wonderful time cycling there) 4. Engineer Small needle nose pliers 5-6. Park tool pin spanners 7. Engineer scissors 8. Knipex parallel jaw pliers (I prefer this above a shifting spanner) 9. Knipex water pump pliers 10. Gedore locking pliers 11. Knipex Bowden cable pliers (I really like the Felco ones as well, but they don't have the crimping function like these ones 12. Park tool chain link pliers Below is the protoype for another small shelf that will hold some liquids and where some tools will pass through. The Smoove people should just not change their bottle... Some context:

I think it is a nice idea to have it in a box and to have the replaceable plates. You are making me doubt my own design! I would gladly cut it for you if you d the CAD work, but I see you are in NZ. If you come this way (Stellenbosch) let me know. Otherwise enquire at your closest university—makerspaces are popping up everywhere and it might be worth your while to join for a while to get access to some machines.

If you do the design I'll be happy to mill it for you. The remuneration can work like this: As long as I have a beer in my hand while the machine is running I'm happy.

OK, so I should be working, but let me share my toolbox build. This is a work in progress and the idea is to have a tool tote that can be moved around easily: I like working on bikes outside under a tree. The design inspiration is from Adam Savage's "first order retrievability" tool cart. Everything should be accessible without having to move something out of the way. I should also be able to grab stuff with one hand and tools should need no further assembly or removal before use (like a hanger alignment tool's bottom cross-bar or L-keys that comes with a plastic holder). I also work on kids bikes and our Bromptons, so I need some more tools than the average modern bike. I started by desiding what collection of tools I would like in the toolbox and then played around with some placement ideas. I designed everything in CAD software: I am currently prototyping. Below is the CNC router cutting: Next I fit the tools and get a "feel" for the spacing and then I make some changes. I will do some more work over the weekend. Initially i had the idea to use some nice hardwood for the final design but I'm actually happy with the (local) pine I've used for the prototype. I think the use of an affordable wood will make it easy to adapt it in future. The constant creep of bicycle standards will necessitate future tool changes. I'm having a lot of fun in the process!

Jaco, this is my last one with equipment. Of course none is this is necessary—the only reason I take all this stuff is because the credit card is so empty. For cooking, I just the Trangia I already mentioned as a heat source. I like these very thin chopping boards for prep duties and also nice to do a kind of shared cheese board lunch/picnic thing that sees a lot of use in Europe where there is a lot of great bread and cheese around. The pot is a simple anodised aluminium pot with a lid that can serve as a pan. A plastic spork from Lightmyfire. The bowl is a Seatosummit Delta bowl. The knife is a Opinel no 12 carbon steel. I thought that this is the closest thing I can get to a proper chef's knife, but it does not feel like it. It is more of an oversized pocket knife. Therefore, I left it at home for my last tour and just used the Leatherman knife that is part of the toolkit anyway. A Scotchbright (no. 35) sponge for dishwashing and a linen tea towel for grabbing hot pots and drying dishes.

Blasphemy!

Ag, since it is Friday let us move on to the important stuff. When touring you never want to be caught at the top of one of our beautiful (gravel) mountain passes without the ability to produce good coffee. This is my setup. As a heat source I like the Trangia alcohol burner. I like using methylated spirits as fuel since it is not a fossil fuel and you can use it inside a tent since the fumes are non-toxic. The stove I made myself from laser cut stainless steel with the design stolen from the internet. The picture below shows an extra stove in its folded form. I use a Lightmyfire fire steel to start things since it doesn't mind getting wet. For brewing I use the Checkers knock-off of the Bialetti moka pot. The Checkers one is dirt cheap and much lighter than the Bialetti. To make it even ligthter I removed the lid and added a wire handle (that also helps with handling above the open flame). The grinder is a Porlex, but on longer tours I don't take it, I just purchase or take ground coffee. For milk I use a SINGLE-WALL stainless steel bottle that I also warm up on the stove. Use use a fish mouth spreader to handle the hot bottle. The cups are the Wildo Fold-a-cup. I like how sturdy they are compared to some of a silicon offerings and it is lasting much longer than I expected. There is also a DIY tinfoil windshield that doubles as a caldera cone to cook faster.

Since I'm not getting any work done—too excited about bike touring now—here is some info about my cleaning setup. I use one of these SeatoSummit lightweight dry-bags as a washing bag. Put water, soap and dirty clothes in there and let it soak for a while, shake it a bit and done. There are various biodegradable liquid soaps on the market that is useful for cleaning clothes, dishes and yourself. The last part is the Flexo-line surgical tube clothesline. Of course you don't need this, but I find it is worth its weight. You also don't need any clothes pegs with it. I have experimented with various body soaps and also found that the concentrated liquid soaps work the best for me. One piece of kit that I really enjoy is my linen towel (100% Flax). They weave it with a "box weave" pattern to increase the surface area. The lovely thing about a linen towels is that it is naturally anti-bacterial and won't stink even if you pack it away slightly damp.

Jaco, bike touring is one of the best things you can do—on my deathbed I will probably flash back to the amazing places I have been privileged to visit in the company of wonderful people. Regarding sleeping stuff, I agree with the absolute importance of a liner. I have a silk one and I also use it in warmer weather as a blanket for my mattress. For summer touring I also use a Thermarest Honcho Poncho since it is open and I wear it outside. I actually want to talk about my electronics system for bike touring. Since I'm so often off the bike drinking beer lying around reading a book I went for a solar charging option. I use the Anker Powerport. There are various others on the market that will work just as well. Below is the Powerport attached to my tent somewhere in Austria. While cycling it is placed on top of a bag plugged into a Power bank (with feed-through capability, like the Zendure stuff) and into my phone mounted onn the handlebars. I run Komoot omn the phone and also use Google Maps and Tripadvisor to find restaurants and beer gardens. I also carry a Kindle. My headlamp is a Led Lenser and you get a rechargeble battery pack for it with a USB port that replaces the three AAA batteries. My shaver/trimmer is this Gilette thing that is very small and light and powered by a single AA battery. You can use one of those USB AA batteries that can be charged from you system. In conclution a USB-based system works really well for me and your promary input source can also be a hub dynamo should you not want to go the solar route.