The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

Category: Recumbent Bicycling

Cruisin’ the streets

3D Printed Bike Helmet Mirror Mount: Two Years Later

A bit over two years ago, I hoped my design for a bike helmet mirror mount would prove to be more durable than the fragile commercial mirrors I’d given up on:

Helmet mirror mount – 3D model – Fit layout

Having just tightened the teeny screws that hold the joints in place for the first time since I glued it to the helmet, I’d say it’s working fine. The 2-56 elevation setscrew has worn a slight dent in the arc and the 3-48 azimuth screw worked slightly loose; the mirror didn’t fall apart, but the position wasn’t as stable as it should be.

If I ever re-do the design, I’ll try adding a recessed metal (brass?) strip along the top of that arc, as that’s the most finicky adjustment. Perhaps a shoe under the setscrew would be better?

Two years of road grit show up clearly against the yellow plastic, though:

Bike helmet mirror mount – two years

For the record, those 2-56 setscrews require 35 mil hex keys; as Eks reminds me, any design requiring those screws is just crazy talk.

2013-11-05
Dutchess County Rail Trail Ride

The DCRT folks held a “soft opening” last week at the bridge over Rt 55 completing the rail trail from Hopewell Junction to the Walkway Over the Hudson; the Hudson Valley Rail Trail continues westward to Lloyd. I hadn’t actually planned to ride the whole thing, but Monday was a lovely day and, hey, why not?

So here’s what a pleasant, mostly off-road 36 mile ride looks like:

KE4ZNU Rail Trail Ride – 2013-10-14

Hadn’t realized it was Columbus Day until well into the ride, which accounted for a Hudson River crossing at 3 mph embedded in a solid 1.5 mile scrum. Being no fool, I returned over the Poughkeepsie (a.k.a. Mid Hudson) Bridge.

2013-10-17
Tour Easy: Handlebar Wrap

After more than a few years, the handlebar grips on my Tour Easy are rather worn, so I recently wrapped them with cheerful red and yellow silicone tape.

Back in the day, you wrapped with cork tape and had to worry about the direction on each side. Silicone tape fuses into a solid mass and the orientation shouldn’t matter; that’s a Good Thing, because I’m not sure what direction would be correct in this situation.

The yellow section covers the SRAM twist grip, which means it has a moving joint at each end. I suspect the tape will pull back from the larger part of the grip and form an unsightly lump just behind it.

It’s certainly much grippier than I expected…

(The small pushbutton switch is the PTT for the amateur radio HT that does voice and APRS/GPS.)

2013-10-08
Monster in the Mist

We biked to Saugerties for the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival and spotted this monster looming in the morning mist during the ride home:

Excavator on CSX gondola car – side

The end view shows it’s not an optical illusion:

Excavator on CSX gondola car – end

Some Google Maps fiddling reveals the plant, with the excavator atop the first car on the siding, down in the lower-left corner of the image:

Google Maps – Kings Highway at Tissal Rd

A zoomed view, rotated a quarter-turn CCW so it’s not quite so vertiginous:

Google Maps – Kings Highway at Tissal Rd – detail

My search-fu isn’t strong enough to uncover the plant’s name. They’ve obviously been doing something involving gravel and either asphalt or concrete for many years, so it’s not a prank…

2013-10-06
Getting More Clearance While Bicycling: Fluids Division

Based on recent experience, this “Baby, Think It Over” rig works even better than a propane tank:

Tour Easy BOB Yak – Gasoline can

I was going to take a picture with it posed next to the gas pump, but the whole affair isn’t all that stable: it’s tough to look cool when your fancy faired Tour Easy ‘bent flops over like dead possum…

2013-10-05
BOB Yak Trailer Flag Ferrule Reaming
The BOB Yak trailer I tote behind the ‘bent has a flag with a two-part pole which generally stays together; I pull the entire affair out of the frame socket when I hang the trailer up after a trip. The ferrule between the two pole sections recently worked loose and I took it to the Basement Workshop for repair.

The assembled nickel-plated brass (?) ferrule came off both pole sections all too easily, which was a Bad Sign: those little punch marks originally clamped the tubes to the pole. You can’t overestimate the Bad Effects of prolonged vibration on bike parts.

Separating the two ferrule sections required running several pin punches down the bore and tapping gently, all accompanied by considerable muttering; the joint was no longer a slip fit. Eventually I produced this tableau:

BOB Yak trailer flag ferrule

The small hole gauge to the far left showed that the inside of the larger section (on the bottom) had entirely enough clearance for the smaller section, but the rolled ring at its end had somehow shrunk to a tight interference fit.

I’d actually chucked up a piece of rod in the lathe, with the intent of making a mandrel to expand the ring, when I came to my senses. The smaller part was 0.253 inch diameter, so I deployed the letter drills:
- an E drill (0.250 inch) just kissed the inside of the ring
- an F drill (0.257 inch) opened the ring to a nice sliding fit and still fit easily inside the tube
A few whacks with a center punch reclamped the dimples firmly in place on the dents in the poles.

That was easy…
2013-09-23
Overgrowth on Rt 376

This shrubbery grows just south of the Dutchess County Airport on Rt 376:

Rt 376 Overgrowth – south of DC Airport intersection

I’ve called it in, so maybe it’ll get trimmed back in a while… meanwhile, we’ll take the lane and hope for the best.

2013-09-14