CJ Van

I do make wallets. Most of them are minimalist wallets that take about 4 cards and some notes like the once in the pic below. I am not a fan of the bifold wallet so I have not spend the time and effort to create a template for something like that yet. I have some ideas for different wallets. If you have something specific in mind drop me a pm and we can chat. Should not be to difficult to create a template and make a different wallet to someone's requirements. I recently received much finer thread and stitching irons so I could make something that looks a bit more refined as well.

Not 100% woodwork related but it does have a connection to woodworking. I recently made this bag for someone on here. In return I received all the wooden hardware for a leg vice and a moxon vice for a new workbench I still have to build. Unfortunately my workbench will not look like his when it is done. Anyway, hopefully my leather work looks better than my workbench will.

K@k man. Ek val nie so gereeld nie.

So I ended up buying the Makita cordless drill and impact driver, the normal brushed versions. This weekend I made a new gate to put up on the side of the house that leads to the backyard. Had to drill 16mm holes in the concrete. I always drill smaller holes first because in my experience the smaller holes does not tend to drift off coarse that easily in concrete. So fist an 8mm hole and then the 16mm hole. No problem for the cordless drill. That said, the house is build with cheese and not really a true test for the drill. Having the impact driver also makes life so much easier than before. No more changing of bits every time I drilled a pilot hole and needs to drive in the screw. It is a bit of a learning curve to control the speed with the trigger and not drive the screw through both pieces of wood but when you have that under control it is so much easier to drive it in to the correct depth that with the drill. My next tool is for sure a cordless orbital sander. Sanding stuff by hand is not a job for someone that does not get paid to do it. I think the sander might already be in my basket.....

I phoned them to ask for pricing on this combo kit but was told that they don't do the combo anymore. Not enough people wanted to buy the combo kits according to them. Would have been nice to get the Makpac case with the kit. I also asked them if they have any impact bit sets that I can order with the impact driver. Was told that they do not stock them but if I can send him the product number of what I want he can order it for me. Their price on the bit set I wanted was also the best I could find. I have this feeling that might just start ordering all my tool related stuff through them if it is as easy as giving them the part number and waiting an extra 2-3 days for them to get it. Hopefully I will have my new toys early next week.

I understand that a brushless motor will deliver more power and probably last longer but is it really worth the extra money when you are not a tradesman? There is a substantial difference in the price of a brushed motor vs a brushless motor. My corded hammer drill is a cheap Bosch green drill that I bought about 13years ago when I was still in university. It's got a mind of its own now and only works when I don't need it. Maybe another cheep hammer drill is an option but I seldom drill holes into concrete bigger than about 8mm. For bigger stuff I'll get my dads Sds drill.

I'm looking to buy a new cordless drill and impact driver. Currently I have the following in my basket at Strand Hardware. Could not get a better deal at Top Dog Tools or Power Tool Services here in Cape Town. Anybody here know of a better deal on these tools? Also, any recommendations on impact bits to get for the impact driver would be great. Thanks.

Don't sell the Solaris max! What am I going to ride when my fancy pants carbon frame is broken again? I am so tempted to put in a preorder on the new Solaris Max.

I would do a whitewash on that head board if you want a type of distressed look. Take a decent white paint like Plascon Velvaglo - Satin sheen and mix it with turpentine of paint thinners and paint it on. The grain of the wood will still show and you will get a nice effect. The reason I would go for the Satin sheen is that it is not a very glossy paint but not matt either. Test the ratios on a scrap piece until you get the result you like.

Nuwe chain ring het vandag hier aangekom. Ek join nou officially ook die bling bling club. Hopelik gaan my bike nou mooi stil wees.

That friend is very clever. Or maybe he just had a look at the instructions on how to setup the Eagle derailleur. SRAM made if very clear that the B-Gap tool should be used when the bike is at the desired sag position. Anyway, sort out that noise, I don't want to ride with someone this weekend with a noisy bike.

Jy bedoel seker Sondag 8 November?

The only trail in Jonkers that is for MTB as well as for running and hiking is Irish. Only for MTB's going up, both directions for hikers and runners. None of the MTB single track down is dual direction and definitely not for hikers or runners. You could have gotten away with running up fire hut after the fires but the trees are now getting to tall and you cannot see someone coming down around the corners any more. Next time you encounter a hiker or runner on the trails please stop and kindly explain that they are putting your safety at risk by going up/down the trail. There is more than enough signage at the bottom of the single track showing no entry. Yelling and swearing at them does not help because for some odd reason a lot of them think that they have the right to be on that trail.

Ok, my bad. I did not read the whole press release. Actually, I only looked at the pictures because watching a video of the new stumpy is more entertaining that reading about it. Anyway, this bugged me enough (because it makes zero sense not to bring in some of the other models) to go and visit my local Spez shop during lunch today. They said that at this moment it is only the cheep cheep Stumpy and the S-works frameset that is available in SA but that they will get the other models in eventually. The problem is they do not know when the "eventually" will be. When I ride in Eden forest again I will ask the big Spez concept store in Stellies if they have more info on this.

Question: Where did you get the info that Spez will only be bringing in the entry level Stumpy and the S-Works frameset? I see everybody is writing their own marketing thesis on why Spez took this decision but nobody gave actual facts or statements made by Spez that they will not bring it in. (I know, I know, I am not allowed to use the "Fact" word on here.) So, here follows my Marketing thesis: Spez SA does not have a cashflow issue and sitting with 5 - 10 bikes at the end of a season that did not sell at the RRP is no issue for them. They drop the price to almost cost price and those bikes are sold within a week or 2. They have no intention to lose out on trail bike sales in a market like SA where more and more people are getting into trail riding. I am pretty sure that what we see on the Spez website is only the available stock in SA. Spez might not have the 2021 Stumpy Comp Carbon on their website with a price because they do not have any in stock yet. The SA market is not the biggest in the world remember. I am pretty sure SA does not get the pick of the litter when the new season bikes are being released. The whole world are out of stock in the bicycle department and SA will probably not even be top 20 in the list of countries to get the new bikes. (This is definitely not a fact, just a thumb suck) Maybe wait a month or 2 and they might get stock or even better, go and ask your local Spez shop. You might get the actual answer there.

No, he means flip it upside down. Then you have 3 points of contact, 2 on the handlebars and 1 on the seat. I transport our MTB's like this on our big camping trailer. I put a piece of foam under the handle bars and under the seat. Then I strap the front down by compressing the fork a bit and tie it down to the sides of the rails on top. Do the same with the back of the bike and those bikes are going nowhere. No side to side movement at all. Make sure you also tie the wheels off so that they cannot spin freely. This will be your cheapest option but it takes a bit longer to put the bikes on. If you know how to tie a knot that holds you should be fine. If you don't have to much trust in your knots then do some research on YouTube or go this the Holdfast options.

Still riding and enjoying my Following MB. She used to be called Olivia but I think I have change her name to Jessica. I eventually got the decals made for the head tube that I "designed" about 2 years ago. I stole the Evil/Deadpool design and did some entry level Photoshop of Jessica Rabbit on a WW2 bomb in there as well. Actually, my fiancée eventually got it made for me.

I’ve also made a few extra wallets. If anybody is in the market for a minimalist wallet let me know. They can take about 4-6 cards and one or two notes. I have orange thread as well that goes really good with the light brown leather.

So, I’ve finished another leather bag. This one I made for my mom for her 60th birthday. This is made of a soft chrome tan leather with a bit of a pull-up effect. The oils in the leather displaces when the leather folds creating if sort of destressed look. For the handles and straps I used a thicker more rigid leather so the it does not stretch over time. I’ve changed my design slightly from my previous bag and did not think everything through properly. Luckily everything worked out in the end. Next project is a bag for a well know hubber around here in exchange for something that I cannot make myself. I will have to ask him if he also wants flowers on the bag liner. Hopefully after that I can start with something for myself again. I think a laptop back is a good idea.

That ODI logo on the grips is not lined up. Who ever installed that grips needs to do a better job!

Behalwe vir daai 1 draatjie waar ons almal geval het.

I have thought about using a scaffolding leveling jack as the vice screw and attach the nut thingy that comes with it to the back of the leg for the for the screw to screw in. I am just worried that this setup will have to much pay because the leveling jack and nut thingy feels really loose. Anybody that have tried this before?

Nice! I like the idea for the hub, keeping the live edge on the branch. I would like to see how you turned the thread on the screw. I wanted to make a leg vice for my bench but I had no idea how to cut the threads for a wooden screw. Is that piece of live edge slab sneaking into the photos going to be the chop? Also, what wood are you going to use for the top?

Thanks. Yes, the patterns....... The wallets I made I developed the patterns myself. Once I had the design I wanted in my head I drew it om my technical drawings board I used in school I still have from 16 year ago. This was a bit of trail and error because one of the designs only use one piece of leather wrapped around itself and then stitched in place, the other one uses only 2 pieces also folding over itself. It is difficult to calculate the exact length because you do not know how much will be used for every time you fold it over. Also, if the piece of leather you use is slightly thicker that the previous piece the you need to cut it a bit longer because even more leather will be used when you fold it over. For the first bag I kind of winged it. I had an idea of what the bag should look like but it change here and there as I was making it. For the second bag I sketched out the design I wanted and then I drew the "ontvouing". I have no idea what "ontvouing" is in English. I did not draw a full size pattern, I just had the measurements I worked off. Someone wanted to buy some toiletry bags from me for fathers day so before I started with that I drew the exact templates in Adobe Illustrator. Print them over 2 A3 pages and glued that on to thick cardboard. I now have a nice template I can use to cut out the pattern for that. After I did the template for the toiletry bags I also drew a template on illustrator for the second bag I made because my mom said she also wants a bag like that, and that's the one person you cannot say no to. So I guess I will have to go buy some more leather. I cannot give you to much advice on this craft because I'm also fairly new to this. One thing I can say is that if you think what you have made can look better then do it again. Just focus a bit more on what you are doing and do not rush the project. I have scrapped some pieces because I got impatient and then screwed it up. The rest I learned at the university of YouTube.

The big hide I used for the first bag was about R1200 for the full hide. I had enough material for the bag, 4 toiletry bags, some test wallets and I still have a bit left. it was about 3.5 sq m. The leather for the second bag cost about R1200 for a side, half a hide. It is a thicker and stiffer leather. I had just enough for the bag and some offcuts big enough to make a few wallets. The total cost for the second bag was about R1500 for all the material and brass hardware. Not cheap but also not expensive for a bag that should last a very long time.