For as long as I can remember, my grandparents have had an awesome wrought iron bar cart in their backyard. While us kids swam in the pool, my parents and grandparents often gathered around the cart to fix their favorite cocktails (gin and tonics mostly) while manning the bbq nearby. Twenty plus years later, when we moved from our small apartment in the city to our house in the Oakland suburbs, my parents surprised us with the old cart on moving day, sent up by my “Pa” and “Remah” from LA.

The cart’s paint was faded and chipped from years outside in the elements and the glass top was dated and cracked. It was clearly pleading for a makeover, and became one of our first rehab/diy projects in the burbs.

We decided we wanted to paint the cart navy blue and replace the glass top with wood. We took on this project before acquiring several of the key power tools required to cut and sand the wood to the necessary size (like we did recently for the IKEA Hack Buffet). So instead, we located a seller on ebay that makes custom cutting boards to any dimension, and commissioned a cherry board to fit the top. Had we had a little more experience with spray paint at the time, we likely would have gone a different route for the color change (or invested in a HVLP paint sprayer a bit earlier), but we decided to use a rattle can none the less. We prepped our garage workshop with a plastic sheet and put on our craft clothes, protective eyeglasses and face mask. We started with two coats of spray primer. Once dry, we then applied four+ coats of navy spray paint, using up two cans for the whole cart. After 48 hours of drying time, we brought the cart into our dining room (next to our farmhouse table), placed the cherry wood top on and unloaded our favorite bottles and assorted barware.

With it’s fresh new look, the cart has brought an interesting touch of color and function to the corner of the dining room as well as fun memories of my childhood summers spent in the pool.

Vintage Bar Cart Rehab

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I recently decided that our dinning room was in need of a buffet piece to pair with our farmhouse table, to provide additional serving space when needed as well as open shelving to display many of our cherished wedding gifts. First, I began scouring Craiglist for a vintage castoff that could use some fresh paint and little love for a simple rehab project. Not knowing how long we will be in our current home, we did not want spend much on this project. Unfortunately, the second hand options were limited and not in our desired dimensions (we needed a relatively low piece as we already had a large map on the wall). I then checked out the ideas on  Ana-White to pitch Trevor on a custom piece, but with the holidays and party-hosting dates quickly approaching, we decided we needed a quick and easy option instead.

Throughout my search for ideas, I kept coming back to this photo, loving the combination of grey shelving with natural wood- not too modern or too rustic.  After a little browsing on IKEA Hackers, I decided my inspiration photo could be easily diy-duplicated by combining Ikea’s Expedit Shelving (already conveniently available in high gloss grey) with a custom wood top and shouldn’t cost much more than $100 total. This hack required little convincing of Trevor and we were moving on the project in no time.

First we picked up the Expedit at Ikea, brought it home and assembled it so we could confirm our desired dimensions for the wood to top it.  We determined we wanted the piece to be close to the size of the shelving top (when turned horizontally) with a small amount hung over on each side, coming to 17″ x 61″.

Next we headed to the local lumber yard thinking we’d pick up a piece of strong wood with nice form and grain, like a cherry or oak. We soon discovered that a piece of cherry in the size we wanted was going to exceed our budget for the entire project so we headed to Home Depot to find a cheap alternative (so much for shopping local). There we found a large piece of laminated pine for around $40 that we could work with. We also grabbed heavy duty construction adhesive, wood stain and were good to go!

Now that we had all required materials, we got to work on our wood top. We cut the wood down to desired size using our circular saw and sanded down to 220 grit, then added 2 coats of stain to the top, sides and perimeter of bottom side. After a day of drying, we attached the wood to the Expedit with the adhesive and used clamps to hold in place for the next 48 hours. Initially, we were worried about a slight warping of the wood but the glue and clamps managed to straighten that out. When we were confident the wood top was securely in place, we added 4 poly coats.

After living with the buffet for a month, we decided to add x-shelves to the bottom corners for storing wine (separate post on that to come).

And there you have it! We love the way the finished product looks with our dining table and enjoy the extra storage/display space. With it’s simple function and clean look, we’ll likely be keeping this buffet for awhile and the piece could easily move into an office or bedroom in our next space.

If you liked Ikea Hack Buffet you can read more at: fox.and.hammer - for the perpetual tinkerer

Fixin’s

- 4 slices of bacon
- 1 1/2 chopped onions
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 medium carrot, diced
- 1 medium celery stalk, diced
- 4 cubed potatoes (I didn’t peel ‘em)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 bay leaf
- Ground pepper to taste
- 3 cups half-and-half
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 (10 ounce ) cans of minced clams (reserve some juice)

Makin’s

1. Place diced bacon in large stock pot over medium-high heat. Cook until almost crispy; add onions, carrots and celery and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in water and potatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender.

2. Pour in half-and-half, and add butter. Drain clams, reserving some liquid; stir clams and 1/2 of the clam liquid into the soup and drop in the bay leaf.

3. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until heated through. Do not allow to boil.

4. Add additional salt and pepper (and maybe more cream if needed), remove bay leaf, serve (with sourdough) and enjoy!

If you liked Clam Chowder Recipe you can read more at: fox.and.hammer - for the perpetual tinkerer

The design was pretty simple, I made some measurements based on my shoe dimensions and then drew a masterpiece on a piece of paper (watch out Charles & Ray Eames).

Materials (for each shoe rack)

1 – 1 x 12 8ft long (pine)
1 – 2 x 2 8ft long (pine)
4 – dowels (bought in a kit with drill bit and depth gauge at Home Depot)
Pocket hole screws and jig (I use a Kreg)
Stain/Wipe-on poly
Wood glue
Felt pads for the legs
I opted for pine as it was the cheapest option and I’ve had some pretty good success with staining it to mimic more expensive hardwoods. Just make sure you inspect each board to make sure it isn’t warped before you get it home.

The cut list is pretty easy – 4 legs each 21.25″ long and 3 shelves each 27″ long.

The assembly is straightforward, especially if you use a pocket hole jig. If you don’t have one, you can countersink the screws from the outside and fill them with putty before staining.

Here are some pictures of the assembly:

Setting up the pocket hole jig on the underside of the shelf

Pocket hole on the underside of the shelf

Assembling the legs using pocket screws.

Ready for sanding and staining

Next steps were to choose a stain and finish. I selected a Minwax stain in Red Mahogany. After I had stained it, I decided it would be cool to add a bit of color by painting a stripe along the right side of the shelves. I settled on a Robin’s Egg Blue color in an eggshell finish.

Applying the Minwax stain

Removing the tape after the paint dried

Striped and ready for shoes

Time to install them both in the closet

I used about three coats of Wipe-On Poly and added some dowels to keep the top rack from slipping off the bottom. The racks can easily be broken down into two units and set side by side if desired.

 Making A Wooden Shoe Rack  

If you liked Making A Shoe Rack – If you build it, they will come you can read more at: fox.and.hammer - for the perpetual tinkerer

I learned a lot doing this painting.  Tess is so good at mixing colors.  I know it’s hard to see in the images, but she did so much of this painting!  It was also my first time with the GoPro, time lapse and video editing in general.  I promise to do better next time!

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Missed last week’s post? Check it out here.

Rubber meeting  the road

I’ve been riding my new whip after work every day this week and have started to feel pretty comfortable with the setup. The riding position is perfect and only required me to raise the seat about a half inch. Steering is precise but not squirrely — I’ve had it up to 40 mph (according to my GPS) with no stability issues. The cantilever brakes provide ample stopping power as I’ve had no issue locking up the rear tire. The bar end shifters worked out really well as I find that I ride in the drops and can easily operate the shifters without much fuss.

Update (2 months later): As I suspected, my $20 seat is not cutting it on the comfort front. I recently used my REI dividend on a Brooks B-17 saddle in honey brown. Amazing upgrade in comfort even when not totally broken in. I have about 100 miles on the saddle and couldn’t be happier. I added a little theft deterrent to the saddle and superglued 3/16” ball bearings into the allen bolt holes on the seat adjustment and seatpost screws. I tested removing the ball bearings  using acetone (nail polish) before I did all the bolts, and I’m very happy with the solution as it would be very difficult to quickly remove the seat. At least they’ll have to earn it if they want it! I also added a steel water bottle holder to replace the camelbak I was using.

As far as the build process goes, I’m really pleased with the results. I thought I’d need to use my local bike shop for more of the installation (headset, crown race, bottom bracket, ect) – However, the interwebs provided some pretty ingenious substitutes for the high priced specialty tools. I certainly wouldn’t want to use these if I was building bikes all day, but they were great for my purposes. I was also pretty happy with the total cost of the bike. I was very patient and bought all my parts on sale or on closeout and thus ended up with a custom bike that I would have paid much more for if I had altered an off the shelf bike. However, this is not an easy project to say the least. Building a bike from scratch with no reference parts or ride fitment baselines presents a problem that would frustrate most people enough to have them heading over to the bike shop rather than tackling this build. But, for those that just want to see if they can do it, it’s really rewarding.

Let me know what you think of the build or shoot me any questions you have — I’d be happy to help if I can.

Trevor

Pake C’Mute Frame Up Bike Build – Road Test

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Coming down to the wire and only a few finishing touches to address. I wanted pedals that complemented the vintage feel of the drivetrain while also functioning at the level of the other components. I found some great options at Rivendell Bikes and pulled the trigger on the chrome MKS Sylvan Touring pedals.

The bar tape was a bit more difficult to find as I was trying to match the caramel brown color of the saddle without having to purchase the pricey genuine leather bar tape. I ended up finding a really nice synthetic option that offered the look and feel I wanted at a great price (Dada Mistral Brown Tape). For the install, I followed the video posted by Art’s Cyclery on YouTube (video here).

Finally! This thing is ready to hit the open road. I’ll do some minor tweaks and adjustments to fitment over the next week or so and then report back with my opinion of the bike and the build process.

Build Weight Totals
Pake C’Mute Frame – 2551 grams
Pake C’Mute Fork – 1030 grams
Wheelset – 1814 grams
Tires – 500 grams
Inner tubes – 180 grams
Saddle – 330 grams
Seatpost – 285 grams
Crankset and Bottom Bracket – 865 grams
Cassette – 252 grams
Headset – 119 grams
Stem – 137 grams
Handlebars – 325 grams
Brake Cable Hanger  - 26 grams
Brake Levers – 284 grams
Brake Cable Kit – 214 grams (uncut)
Cantilever Brakes – 344 grams
Rear Derailleur – 227 grams
Front Derailleur – 100 grams
Chain – 304 grams
Shifters – 276 grams
Pedals – 385 grams
Bar Tape – 24 grams

Total – 10,572 grams (23.3 lbs)

Next week we discuss any final adjustments made and review the build project

Pake C’Mute Frame Up Bike Build – Pedals and Bar Tape

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Based on my gearing, I needed to complete the drivetrain with capable components that would allow for the wide range of gear changes. I decided to get proven quality in the rear derailleur and selected the Shimano 105 RD-5700 in silver finish. The Shimano 105 line has been a longtime favorite of everyone from commuters to touring riders. The front derailleur is somewhat less important but still needs to make the jump from the 34-50T sprocket. I found a great deal on the SRAM Rival 10-Speed, although I needed to get a shim that would take the 31.8mm clamp size down to the 28.6mm tube size on the Pake frame. Chain selection was relatively easy – I was shooting for a silver 10-speed compatible option. The SRAM PC 1051 P-Lock (114 links) got great reviews and included the powerlink to connect the chain after I adjusted the length. And finally, the shifters. Being that the Pake came with every imaginable option available, I debated between downtube shifters, brifters (brake and shifters combined), and barcon shifters (bar end shifters). After some research, brifters were too expensive and seemed to break quite often (requiring complete replacement of the brake/shifter). I then ruled out the downtube shifters as I preferred to have both of my hands on the handlebars when trying to shift at high speeds. I opted for the industry standard Shimano Dura Ace Bar End Shifters that came with all the pods, cable stops, cables, housing, ect.

Installation of the parts was pretty straight forward. The only part that needed some clarification was determining proper chain length. There are a few ways to figure this out, so I recommend you head over to Park Tool and read about the different methods (check it out here). I opted to use the method that involved setting the chain on the biggest sprockets and adding a few links to account for the derailleur. Here is an excerpt from the Park Tool website:

Chain Sizing – Largest Cog and Largest Chainring Method

An alternative method for determining chain length for new chains is to use the largest size sprockets on the bike. It is easiest to size the chain without threading it through the derailleur.

1. Remove the old chain (if present).

2. Shift the front derailleur over the largest chainring, and the rear derailleur on the smallest cog.

3. Thread the new chain through the front derailleur. It is not necessary to thread the chain through the rear derailleur at this point. Simply wrap the chain around the largest front chainring and around the largest rear cog.

4. Pull the chain tight, and note the closest rivet where the two could be joined. Keep in mind a chain can only be joined by mating inner and outer plates.

5. From the closet rivet, lengthen the chain by counting over an additional two rivets (two links), which is a distance of one-inch. Cut the chain at this point.

6. Remove the chain from the bike and thread it through both derailleurs and join the ends.

MASTERLINK NOTE: If the bike chain uses a “master link”, it is necessary to account for the link. Install one-half of the master link on one side of the chain. Size the chain by cutting the other end of the chain.

Be sure you measure twice and cut once — my chain only came with one replacement pin.

The installation of the front derailleur requires installing the shim for the post and then aligning the derailleur over the chainring. Make sure the outer cage is parallel with the large chainring and that it barely clears the largest chainring when pulled over the top of the chainring. The clearance should be somewhere between 1-3mm (or about the thickness of a penny).

The shifters and cables went on easily, although I needed to buy the CN-10 cable cutter and crimping tool from Park in order to get clean cuts (I also used it for the brake install). Because I decided to go with bar end shifters over downtube shifters, I installed the cable stops onto the downtube bosses that were included in the Shimano Dura Ace kit. As with the brake cables, try to minimize the bend of the cables and check for any binding issues by turning the wheels and watching the cable path.

Go through your standard derailleur tuning process to get the indexing right and we’re ready to start fine tuning the bike.

Build Weight Totals
Pake C’Mute Frame – 2551 grams
Pake C’Mute Fork – 1030 grams
Wheelset – 1814 grams
Tires – 500 grams
Inner tubes – 180 grams
Saddle – 330 grams
Seatpost – 285 grams
Crankset and Bottom Bracket – 865 grams
Cassette – 252 grams
Headset – 119 grams
Stem – 137 grams
Handlebars – 325 grams
Brake Cable Hanger  - 26 grams
Brake Levers – 284 grams
Brake Cable Kit – 214 grams (uncut)
Cantilever Brakes – 344 grams
Rear Derailleur – 227 grams
Front Derailleur – 100 grams
Chain – 304 grams
Shifters – 276 grams

Next week we tackle the pedals and bar tape

Pake C’Mute Frame Up Bike Build – Derailleurs, Chain, and Shifters

If you liked Pake C’Mute Frame Up Bike Build – Derailleurs, Chain, and Shifters you can read more at: fox.and.hammer - for the perpetual tinkerer

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Given the versatility of the Pake frameset, I instantly knew I wanted to go with cantilever style brakes. In addition to having an undeniable retro feel, they have long been the choice of cyclocross and touring riders that run wider tires and need serious stopping power. The design of modern cantilever brakes have come a long way and have finally disposed of safety concerns that arose from some serious accidents in their early days (primarily when used on knobby-tire mountain bikes). After considering various options, I settled on the highly recommended Tektro CR-720 cantilever brakes in a silver finish. I also ordered an alloy brake cable hanger made by Tektro to attach to the stem. The idea for the brake levers was to get something sleek and retro looking – I found some awesome Cane Creek SCR-5 levers that came with caramel brown hood covers. A Jagwire Hyper brake cable kit from Amazon completes the system.

First up on the install were the levers. After peeling back the hood and sliding them onto the handlebars, I sat on the bike and picked the most comfortable placement of the levers on the handlebar curve. I simulated riding both on the hoods and in the drops – making sure I could brake from both positions. Tighten the allen bolts to set them in their final resting place. The brake cable hanger had been installed along with the headset assembly, so I moved onto the brakes. I installed the cantilever pad assemblies onto the frame bosses per the instructions (used a little waterproof grease on the threads). I then tackled the cable routing. The basic idea is to minimize the bend you apply to the cable during the routing process as any bends create additional friction and prevent smooth operation. You should also try to keep the cable housing as short as possible (while keeping cable bend in mind). I routed my cables along the handlebar (will be under the bar tape) toward the stem until meeting up with either the cable hanger or cable stop for the rear brake. Cut, crimp, and run the cable until getting it to the cantilever assemblies. The straddle cable can make or break the setup as this is where you set the mechanical advantage of the brakes (see Sheldon Brown’s article here). You are aiming to get the angle of the straddle cable to the brake arm at around 90 degrees when contacting the rim — I’ve found it easy to use a two finger spacing from the tire to the straddle cable hanger. Take out the slack from the straddle cable and tighten the bolt. Trim the main and straddle cables and crimp the ends. Last step is to adjust the pad centering on the rim. Most people are very happy with this setup, however, many road riders recommend changing the pads to a road cartridge for less squealing/chatter and extended brake pad wear.

Build Weight Totals
Pake C’Mute Frame – 2551 grams
Pake C’Mute Fork – 1030 grams
Wheelset – 1814 grams
Tires – 500 grams
Inner tubes – 180 grams
Saddle – 330 grams
Seatpost – 285 grams
Crankset and Bottom Bracket – 865 grams
Cassette – 252 grams
Headset – 119 grams
Stem – 137 grams
Handlebars – 325 grams
Brake Cable Hanger  - 26 grams
Brake Levers – 284 grams
Brake Cable Kit – 214 grams (uncut)
Cantilever Brakes – 344 grams

Next week we tackle the derailleurs, chain, and shifters

Pake C’Mute Frame Up Bike Build – Brakes and Brake Levers

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This part of the build provided the most trouble as I didn’t have any existing road bike (or old parts) to estimate the correct lengths and sizes. This group of components largely dictates your riding position and optimizes your pedal efficiency based on the type of riding you’re doing. There are a number of choices involved in the steering assembly and they all create different ways to tweak your body position and steering. While racers strive toward getting a flat back riding position to maximize aerodynamics, most touring riders prefer something more upright that can be maintained over 100+ mile rides. After reading some articles on bike fitting, I decided to shoot for a back angle of about 45 degrees when riding on the hoods of the brake levers. This seems to be a classic road bike position that allows for a more upright position when riding on top of the handlebars while also creating a more aggressive position when riding in the drops of the handlebars.

The headset was the easiest choice as the frame determines the type/style of the headset. I opted to get the proven industry workhorse Cane Creek 40-Series EC34. The stem was the next component I needed to get, so I looked online while using the stem on my mountain bike for a benchmark. The two things you need to decide on when choosing a stem are the length and the stem angle. The angle part was a bit confusing, but after looking at bikes online, I settled on an option that would give me the choice of 83/97 degree stem angle (you can simply flip the stem over). This allows you to adjust the handlebar height without buying additional stems – which was perfect for me considering I had no idea what I was doing. I got an average length stem of 100mm made by Dimension. The handlebar choice was based largely on style and color. I found a great deal on a silver aluminum set from Kona (44cm wide 31.8mm clamp 130mm drop 100mm reach).

Installation

Installing these parts required some pretty specialized tools that I couldn’t bring myself to buy (headset press and crown race setter). So in the spirit of DIYing, I scoured the internet and made my own tools. Thanks to jr14 on the BicycleTutor.com forum, I was able to get all the parts to make a headset press at my local home depot for $7. Check out the DIY here. The other tool was the crown racer setter that is used to affix the crown race onto the fork. After perusing YouTube, I decided on using a section of pvc pipe slightly bigger than the fork with a cap on top. In theory, you can then use a mallet to set the crown race uniformly on the fork. Sound crazy? The proper tools run about $209 for both — I’ll take my chances with these first.

After assembling my homemade tools, I started on the headset cups. I greased them up and used the headset press to smoothly press them into the headtube. The makeshift crown race setter was not quite as smooth. I think there was some paint around the fork crown and the race was really tough to set. I actually shattered the end of the pvc pipe about halfway through and needed to recut the bottom and start again. Eventually, it snapped into place and I could continue assembling the front end. I packed the rest of the bearing into the headset and slid the fork through the headtube. I added a brake cable hanger for the cantilever brakes and then some spacers in order to give me some room to adjust the stack height and cut down the steerer tube.

On went the stem and handlebars. After playing around with the stem height to get a comfortable riding position, I decided to cut about ½” off the steerer tube. I used a hacksaw and a miter box to get a square cut. I then inserted the star nut into the fork tube using the headset cap screw and a mallet. All you need to do is thread the screw into the star nut and use a mallet to pound the nut into the fork tube a few centimeters. There are tons of YouTube videos that demonstrate how to do this correctly. Then follow instructions from the headset manufacturer on how to preload the bearing and the order in which to tighten the steerer tube components. I leveled the handlebars with the top tube, although I will likely change things after a get a chance to ride the bike.

This thing is starting to resemble a bike!

Build Weight Totals
Pake C’Mute Frame – 2551 grams
Pake C’Mute Fork – 1030 grams
Wheelset – 1814 grams
Tires – 500 grams
Inner tubes – 180 grams
Saddle – 330 grams
Seatpost – 285 grams
Crankset and Bottom Bracket – 865 grams
Cassette – 252 grams
Headset – 119 grams
Stem – 137 grams
Handlebars – 325 grams
Brake Cable Hanger  - 26 grams

Next week we tackle the cantilever brakes and levers

If you liked Pake C’Mute Frame Up Bike Build – Headset, Stem, and Handlebars you can read more at: fox.and.hammer - for the perpetual tinkerer