Jeff's DIY

RSS
May 20
Got the bike up off the ground with the help of some scrap wood I had laying around. Pulled the tires and tubes off the rims and yanked the rear derailleur to clean it up. Luckily everything looks like it’s going to be good to go and I’ll just need the new tires, tubes, and bar tape since I removed the old tape that was coming loose. The tape ended up on my cruiser’s handle bars. Mostly just goofing around but I’ve ridden it a bit like that today and I think I’ll keep it. Hoping to have this bike on the road by Memorial day if I get my parts order in on time.  I spent the afternoon working on cleaning up all the built up grime. Had a nice sound track of old mix tapes I had recorded off the radio in my younger days. If you ever made tapes from the radio and still have them, go back and listen to them. Flippin’ worth it.  You can also see my work area is a bit of a mess. I have leather, scrap wood, empty beer bottles (for brewing of course), other bikes in the background, and all kinds of general mess. One of these days I’ll build some shelves somewhere. 

Got the bike up off the ground with the help of some scrap wood I had laying around. Pulled the tires and tubes off the rims and yanked the rear derailleur to clean it up. Luckily everything looks like it’s going to be good to go and I’ll just need the new tires, tubes, and bar tape since I removed the old tape that was coming loose. The tape ended up on my cruiser’s handle bars. Mostly just goofing around but I’ve ridden it a bit like that today and I think I’ll keep it.

Hoping to have this bike on the road by Memorial day if I get my parts order in on time. 

I spent the afternoon working on cleaning up all the built up grime. Had a nice sound track of old mix tapes I had recorded off the radio in my younger days. If you ever made tapes from the radio and still have them, go back and listen to them. Flippin’ worth it. 

You can also see my work area is a bit of a mess. I have leather, scrap wood, empty beer bottles (for brewing of course), other bikes in the background, and all kinds of general mess. One of these days I’ll build some shelves somewhere. 

(Source: jeffsden)

Reblogged 1 week ago from jeffsden

1 note

bicycle, bicycling, road bike, schwinn, world sport, DIY,

Jan 28

First Drink

Well, first drink of the new brew didn’t happen. Seems my bottles were overly carbonated. This resulted in lots of beer on the table and some up my nose (was getting a smell of the brew… whoops). I did get a small taste but it was so full of the sediment from the bottem of the bottle that it wasn’t very good. I’ve read online that I may not have let them sit in the fridge long enough (only been in there since this morning). So I’ll hold off a while longer and see what I’ve got later. 

Posted 4 months ago

2 notes

home brew, home brewing, homebrew, homebrewing,

Jan 17

Sprouting

Looks like cabbage and brussels sprouts are winning out so far in the pepper vs tomato vs other stuff race that is the start of my garden later this year. Also stuck a hand full of grapefruit seeds from the grapefruit I had after supper tonight. I doubt it will work out but nothing wrong with trying different things. I need a fruit tree to go with the hugelkultur stuff anyway.

Posted 4 months ago

5 notes

garden, gardening,

Jan 14
Starting my peppers, cabbage, brussels sprouts, and tomatoes today. Built a small carrying rig for the starter “houses” so I can move it around (currently got some bottled beer in my room that doesn’t need the grow light on it) the house when needed.

Starting my peppers, cabbage, brussels sprouts, and tomatoes today. Built a small carrying rig for the starter “houses” so I can move it around (currently got some bottled beer in my room that doesn’t need the grow light on it) the house when needed.

Posted 4 months ago

gardening,

Jan 14

Bottling done! 

Well that wasn’t all that bad! I did hit a couple of road blocks in timing (I should have taken care of bottles BEFORE I syphoned the beer to the pot with bottling sugar [honey]). But I think I’ll definitely being doing this again. 

Posted 4 months ago

7 notes

homebrew, home brew, homebrewing, home brewing, brooklyn brew shop,

Jan 13

Bottling Day Tomorrow!

Hope I don’t muck it up.

Posted 4 months ago

3 notes

homebrew, home brewing, homebrewing, home brew,

Jan 8

One of my many hobbies is doing some amateur leatherwork. I do ok for what I do and I’m pretty happy with what I’ve learned so far. In these photos we have the bicycle bag I made for my wife for her cruiser. I found inspiration from a few sites such as instrutables and etsy for what I was wanting to make. 

The end wood pieces are made form pre-cut wood plaques. I stained it with a walnut colored stain that was left over at the house from the previous owners. 

The part that took the longest was getting all my parts in. I ended up ordering the latch online since I don’t live close enough to a Tandy leather and most of the craft stores in the area have limited leather working supplies. 

In the end I’m happy with the result. I dislike that my original cut marks for the flap still shows through. Amateur mistake to make but I’m an amateur. I also learned my lesson.

Posted 4 months ago

10 notes

bike, bicycle, bikes, bicycles, cruiser, cruisers, leather work, leather, bag,

Jan 8
[Flash 10 is required to watch video]

Bonus vid of yeasts going to town on my beer after the first day of fermenting. 

(note: turn volume down… apparently I discovered where the mic was with my hand)

Posted 4 months ago

1 note

beer, homebrew, homebrewing, home brew, home brewing, brewing, brooklyn brew shop,

Jan 8
Week 1 down! Beer is looking pretty good as far as I can tell. Looking forward to getting the bottling done next week. After the first three days I switched from blow off tube to airlock as seen in the photo. The yeast has definitely slowed down a bit compared to the first couple of days.  Word of advice: make sure you find a way to dispose of your spent grains from the mash early on… It’s not a pleasant smell when left to it’s own devices. Mine ended up in the garden about a day later than I would have liked to have gotten it out of the house.

Week 1 down! Beer is looking pretty good as far as I can tell. Looking forward to getting the bottling done next week. After the first three days I switched from blow off tube to airlock as seen in the photo. The yeast has definitely slowed down a bit compared to the first couple of days. 

Word of advice: make sure you find a way to dispose of your spent grains from the mash early on… It’s not a pleasant smell when left to it’s own devices. Mine ended up in the garden about a day later than I would have liked to have gotten it out of the house.

Posted 4 months ago

1 note

beer, Brooklyn Brew Shop, homebrew, homebrewing, home brew, home brewing,

Dec 31

For Christmas my wife bought me a homebrew kit from Brooklyn Brew Shop (great folks, look them up). Today I finally got to setup my brew for fermenting. 

First photo: steeping the mash

Second photo: the wurt (pronounced wert for some reason) being boiled

Third photo: brew safely nestled into its fermenting jug with blow off tube in place.

Fourth photo: my jealous cat (she wasn’t getting enough attention)

I’m looking forward too having my first home brew this time next month and the spent grain beer bread mix I’m about to make.

(link for the mix I’m using)

Posted 4 months ago

1 note

Beer, Brooklyn Brew Shop, Homebrewing, home brew, home brewing, homebrew,