A man gets on a bike

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Tom Green

image

A picture of a man holding a bicycle wheel is never going to be that exciting to look at. Until you look carefully

As a wheelwright I am used to making and repairing wooden wheels, for carriages, early vintage cars, cannons, wheelbarrows, and recently a vintage bicycle, which was one I hadn’t considered before. Whilst doing research I came across a number of articles about modern wooden bicycle wheels, and even complete wooden bikes. Now some of these are awful, basic shapes cut out of ply, but some of them are serious craftsmanship, bordering on works of art.

After seeing the work of a craftsmen in japan I was inspired and set out to have a go and start by making a front wheel. Unfortunately whilst there are several websites showing examples of finished products I couldn’t find any information on how to make a one.  so time for an experiment.

Several visitors to my workshop have been confused in that they were expecting a complete wheel made from wood, like a mini carriage wheel, which is how vintage bicycle wheels were made, whereas this is a modern wheel a thin wooden rim with metal spokes and hub and a pneumatic tyre, which I am assured will give me a smoother ride than the metal equivalent.

The rim I made from 5mm thick strips of beech wood laminated in a former, which to my amazement turned out to be remarkably pliable, and is a technique I can see all kinds of uses for, and many a sleepless hour has been spent thinking of possibilities, with two words, penny and farthing being the clue.

If you want some more how to make it info there is a video which will be posted soon.

image

Posted in craft, Diy, heritage craft, sport, Uncategorized, work | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

We can all breath out

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Tom Green

image

Every husband or boyfriend will know of that moment of fear and dread just before you hand over “the present”. By day whilst we may not all be captains of industry, but we are decisive, and capable of making decisions. Until it involves a present for our beloveds.

Many years ago I happened across a book by Roger Welsch with the superb title  ” Everything I know about women I learnt from my tractor”. A man after my own heart. Some of his theories may not be politically correct , the concept of Rodeo Sex where you wait until you a in the middle of a romantic moment, and then whisper in your beloveds ear the name of a previous paramour and then see how long you can stay on for, is not for polite company but made me burst out laughing.

However I digress, in the book, Roger having managed to attract a wife who in reality like my own allowed herself to be caught at a weak moment, felt that come Valentines Day he had to make a grand gesture, which I can agree with. Now obviously as its Valentines Day what ever it is must involve a heart. His solution was to craft out of steel an enormous heart, at the bottom of which he had fitted a steel box containing several pounds of best beef jerky, as a construction and a piece of work it was we are told ,magnificent. His wife came down on Valentines Day for breakfast to be confronted with this. Luckily for him and again I can identify with him, his wife was a very sensible woman, and choose to see it as an expression, albeit a misguided one, of his love and affection and came up with a solution.   You will have to read his book to find the conclusion.

I can however sympathise with his plight, its Valentines day, which we are constantly told is the most romantic day of the year. Unfortunately most men cant cope with this. We had an apprentice once who despite our best advice brought his then girlfriend pole dancing lessons believing he was being romantic, it didn’t last. He surpassed himself the following Christmas with a new girlfriend, when having learnt his lesson this time choose a practical gift of Motoring Breakdown cover, reasoning that it would stop her calling him out every time she broke down, it didn’t last.

Which brings me to my own efforts. I made it a few weeks ago and then kept it a secret which is not a natural position for me. At the time I thought it was the pinnacle of grand romantic gestures, with both a heart and red roses. What lady could ask for more, and then I have had three weeks of self doubt will she like it, is it too tacky, she is after all a sophisticated lady. I will leave you to make your own mind up.

If you fancy making one for the special person in your life the link to the video is below.

thanks for reading

Tom

Posted in craft, fashion, humour, Leather work, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Wooden Bicycle Wheel

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Tom Green

image

Its time for a new project, Christmas is long gone, the weather is getting marginally warmer, or at least warm enough to allow glue to cure properly and I have some time to play in between real work. So its time to have a go at something I have been thinking about for some time.

I have started to make a wooden bicycle wheel. If you go looking you discover that wooden bicycle’s and wooden bicycle wheels whilst not exactly mainstream have a steady and loyal following, with some superb examples of craftsmanship out there. The benefit of wooden wheels and wooden frames is that its a more flexible material than steel and helps to cushion the rider against the bumps and holes in the road, giving a more comfortable ride.

Unfortunately whilst there are lots of pictures and websites showing off the finished article there is very little to show you how to make one, so I have had to make it up as I go along, but that’s fairly normal for me. If I was making a carriage wheel, something I have done a number of times, I would make the rim in sections cut from a solid plank and joint it together, however a bicycle rim is really too thin to enable me to do this. Vintage bicycles that have wooden wheels use that method but then have a steel rim shrunk on, which this wont have, just a pneumatic tyre. I did consider steaming the wood, in the USA its quite a common method for carriage wheels, but in this instance I have decided to laminate the rim from strips of Beech wood.

I started off by cutting out a circle in 25mm ply to act as the former in which I can mould the wheel. I then cut some 5mm strips of wood, with one thick side planed the other side left sawn for maximum glue adhesion. The picture above shows the now 5 ply laminated rim, glued up and drying, so tomorrow we find out if my plan will work or will it be time for plan B.

 

Posted in craft, Diy, sport, work | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A tasty experiment

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Tom Green

imageLast weekend was cold and miserable, not a time for working outside or in an unheated workshop, and my dearly beloved was busy so a perfect day for an experiment.

In the Autumn we harvested our crop of apples, some we ate, some we juiced, some we dried, and the rest we just put into store. On Saturday when I checked the ones in store were beginning to look like they needed to be used before we loose them.

Some I made into Blackberry and Apple cake. As you will see from the picture at the top it was a violent colour going into the oven. I would show a picture of when it was cooked but I wasn’t quick enough. However I can report it was lovely, and packed full of flavour.

The success of the day was undoubtedly Apple Bread. Changing the liquid I use in a recipe is a favourite experiment of mine. In the past I have made pastry for apple pie with Calvados which was superb, Beer bread is a favourite particularly with Theakstons Old Peculiar. I keep thinking bread would be interesting made with red wine, I just need to get some leftover red wine. That’s something to look forward too, but for today I had lots of stewed apple so time for an experiment

image

The reciepe is

700 grams strong white bread flour

2 x teaspoons salt

75 grams caster sugar

12 gram dried yeast

150 gram sultana

cinnamon and dried ginger to taste

1 x jar of Apple Puree.

put the ingredients in a mixer with a dough hook and knead for 10 mins, tip out into another bowl, cover and leave to prove for 90 mins or doubled in size. Knock back and put into a baking tin to prove for a second time. Then bake in a hot oven 200 degrees, for 35 minutes.

Leave to cool and the enjoy. Lovely with butter, delicious toasted with cheese on top

Posted in food, heritage craft, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Was it worth it?

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Tom Green

I do enjoy a good pickle, and better still a vinegar based sauce, my home made plum and ginger stir fry sauce in my mind is the stuff of legends, and a bacon sandwich made with home made bread, home cured bacon and my home made brown sauce is for me the ultimate breakfast treat.

Unfortunately my family don’t agree. They don’t mind the end result, but their enjoyment is always tempered by the memory of the boiling vinegar and the aroma that permeates the house, causing them to rush around opening wide windows despite the external temperature, and light scented candles, the aroma of which then clashes with the acidic smell of hot vinegar. I am surprised the council don’t come round and declare us a bio hazard. Therefore you understand I have to pick my days.

The other day I added something new to my repertoire, which unfortunately is going to join family folk lore. I had been getting ready for the weekend where in amongst other things planned I shall be smoking some home cured bacon. It takes about a week to cure so as I was getting the bacon ready I remembered  this time to cut off the pork skin and a thin layer of fat so I could try to make Pork Scratchings, I believe in America their known as Pork rinds. Basically is pork skin which is salted and then baked causing it to puff up.

The method is really simple. Take some pork belly skin, score it with a knife and then rub in salt on both sides. Leave it overnight uncovered in a fridge, after which you take it out, rub it dry, rub some more salt on the outer face and then cook. You cook it on a roasting rack above a baking tray at 180 degrees for 10 minutes, and then lower the temperature to 140 for the next 80 mins until golden and crispy. After which point you then take it out and leave it too cool. When its cool enough to touch break it into bite size pieces and enjoy. Very simple and absolutely superb providing of course you eat pork. I did read a reciepe that suggested dressing with some herbs or spices, but why mess with a classic.

The down side we discovered is the smell whilst cooking. I had been expecting the aroma of roast pork forgetting of course their wasn’t any meat, so what you actually had was the smell of hot smoking fat. Now I didn’t think it was so bad, but once again fragrant candles were lit, and doors flung open with scant regard to the arctic external temperature, and I can see this has become a boiled vinegar product, only to be made when the family is out.

The sad postscript to the story is that the pork scratchings were too good if that’s possible. Their very high in both salt and fat, a Heart Attack waiting to happen, but so very very good. With my own mortality in mind I had to give most it away otherwise I could have happily eaten all of it, which leaves the question was it worth it? to which I have to reply with a smile ( I cant speak or the crunching noise might give away the secret stash)

Posted in food, heritage craft, humour, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Its a Secret!

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Tom Green

Once again valentines day approaches and a gentleman’s fancy turns to romance. So what do you get your beloved, particularly  if you have been together for a few years and your starting to run out of inspiration.

I had that problem a couple of years ago, but luckily a sleepless night led to a flash of inspiration and the result was Leather Lillie’s, whilst it may sound like some strange adult toy, although that might just be my imagination, they are as the name suggests a Lilly flower made from leather. My wife has a particular love of Lillie’s so I was able make a year round version. Have a look at the video and see how I got on.

I would like to say it started a trend and I have been inundated with requests for similar flowers but that would be stretching the truth slightly, but I have had a few enquiries for bridal bouquets, in a variety of leathers including white and black patent leather which does look very stylish.

Unfortunately the problem is back. I did too well at Christmas so once again the present giving bar is set high. Luckily I had another sleepless night and I had what I thought at the time was an excellent idea, which I then rushed out and stitched, moulded, cast, constructed, laid, sawn, hewn, extruded, forged, or any one of another 100 adjectives put in to throw my wife off the scent.

Now in the cold light of day and reality sets in was it such a good idea. Will I be sleeping in the shed?

So what did I make – You will just have to wait and see its a secret.

Posted in art, craft, Diy, fashion, humour, Leather work, Uncategorized, work | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is it a man or is it a bird?

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Tom Green

image

Is it a man or is it a bird? No its a flying figure created by French artist Cedric Le Borgne , one of several installed and lit by yours truly as part of the Canary wharf Winter Lights festival.

One of my customers is a Theatrical Supply Company in North London who for the last couple of weeks have been keeping me busy building and installing all manner of bits and pieces, in particular a number of weather proof boxes to house “technical stuff” needed for art installations now installed at Canary Wharf for the Winter Lights festival, running throughout January, although this weekend is the big family weekend so if your in the area go have a look, from what I have seen most of it is good but there are one or two bits which are exceptional, and its all free.

image

It all started with an enquiry for a weatherproof  box to house high power video projector outdoors in December and the order kept being added to.   I then made four further boxes to house smoke machines which attach to the side of one of the bridges. The boxes were straight forward enough to construct but the installation over the edge of a bridge was interesting in the wind and torrential rain. Even with industrial waterproofs on after 8 hours in the rain I got wet in places I didn’t think it was possible.

image

The final piece is the last of Cedrics sculptures. They were all installed last weekend again in the wind and rain, but when you see them like this its rather good and you forget the pain. They are beautifully made, with soft flowing lines, must be nice to be artistic.

Oh well back to my warm dry workshop the projects are backing up

Posted in art, craft, fashion, Uncategorized, work | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

So close but so far

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Tom Green

My most popular video is one I made about making a Leather Briefcase for a young lady who was just going off to university. It was an interesting project as she wanted tan leather with yellow thread so there wasn’t any chance to hide, all the stitching is very visible. Luckily it turned out well and I have been asked to make several since.

If you post videos yourself you will know that tracking the viewing figures becomes obsessive, every milestone is eagerly anticipated and on this video I am about to reach a big one, 100,000 views. This will be my first video to reach this magic number and getting there is painful. To my amazement a hundred plus people look at it every day with the viewing figures slowly and steadily climbing, at the time of writing its 99,658, so close but so far, its painful. Help an old man out, have a look , get me past 100k and then I can sleep

Posted in Diy, fashion, Leather work, work | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Christmas Dinner going up in smoke!

Posted on December 26, 2014 by Tom Green

image

Christmas was a little different this year, or should I say Christmas dinner had a slight twist. This year we cooked the turkey in the smoker and what a difference it made.

Earlier in the year I had constructed a smoker in the garden which can be used as either a hot smoker or a cold smoker, which seems to confuse a number of people in the UK, where the concept of hot smoking is relatively unknown although that’s changing. If your reading this in the USA or any other country that has a tradition of Pit barbecue you will be familiar with the technique.

In the UK smoking food is really cold smoking, where you set light to a small pile of sawdust in an enclosed space to create a mass of smoke but without any heat, which is then used to “smoke” food, placed in the smoke. The most obvious example is Smoked Salmon. For Christmas presents this year I smoked Salmon, Bacon, and a variety of cheeses, all of which were well received and judged delicious.

Hot smoking in my case involves a charcoal fire inside the smoker which is a brick enclosure, which acts as an oven to slowly cook in this case a turkey. the charcoal creates the heat to which you then add wet wood chips on a regular basis to add smoke into the equation. Inside the smoker is a series of metal racks and the turkey goes onto one of these. However to stop it being grilled I have added a thick steel plate between the fire and the food, with a gap either end to let the heat round. I have also added a pan of water onto the steel plate which heats up adding steam and keeps the food moist. The picture shows how we started off. Once alight you shut the door which keeps the heat in a more importantly allows you to restrict the air flow, regulating the temperature.

image Had we cooked the turkey in a conventional oven it would have taken about 3 hours, this took 5, so its not a speedy process, and we did take care to check the internal temperature of the meat to ensure it was cooked. I am delighted to say the end result was a triumph, flavoursome and succulent, and I suspect will be a new Christmas tradition.

As always you learn a few things.  I was running short  of my home made charcoal and so switched to some commercial charcoal I had on standby, which didn’t create anywhere near the heat that mine does, I was very surprised by the difference. Fired up with enthusiasm I have now starting clearing the ground for a wood fired bread oven, so next year we will have choice.

Happy Christmas

tom

 

 

Posted in food, heritage craft | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Do you admit to a mistake

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Tom Green

image

As every father will tell you, your family in particular  your children are your harshest critics. Triumphs which anywhere else would be celebrated, in the family home are just accepted, however mistakes are cherished and never forgotten. Alas today is one of those never to be forgotten days.

Making use of  food smoker I built in the summer, this year I have decided to give smoked salmon and smoked cheese as Christmas Presents to elderly relations. To my mind a perfect gift. To facilitate this a few weeks ago I acquired a vacuum packing machine, and this weekend was my first time to try it. Now when you look at this paragraph in the context of a normal family, first of all how many do you know with a smoker in the garden ( apart from one that involves nicotine), how many would know how to cure salmon, or purchase a vacuum packing machine. But in our house its just accepted, its what dad does.

Yesterday I cured the salmon, and smoked it overnight, ready to slice and pack it this morning.

The second part of this tale is that when I get the time on a Sunday morning I do like to make some form of pastry for breakfast, and this morning I was up early so I decided to try a new receipe for Austrian Danish Pastries, to  my mind a confusing title, but they turned out well, light and fluffy and packed full of flavour, just what you want for a lazy sunday morning. As a special treat just for me, I made  a couple of pastries with marzipan in, a particular favourite which no one else likes.

Breakfast over, out came the vacuum machine, and I set to work slicing and parcelling up the various edible goodies. Having never seen a vacuum packing machine before, never mind used one I was delighted with the speed and the results, and in my mind all kinds of exciting opportunities to preserve things were revealing themselves, as my pile of edible delights grew.

Flushed with my success I then looked around for anything else that could be vacuum packed, and my eye fell upon the Danish pastries, in particular the treasured marzipan ones,  into a bag they went, every single one. Its only when the vacuum pump kicked in did I connect why the pastries were so light and airy, for the simple reason they were full of air, which had now been sucked out reducing them to a decidedly unattractive flat blob. Needless to the resident experts so full of wisdom after the event, pointed out the error of my ways which  they could have predicted had they been asked. Of course you know that every time I now get out this wonder of a machine I will be reminded of the day I vacuumed a pastry. No wonder I hide my mistakes

thanks for reading

tom

 

Posted in craft, food, heritage craft, humour, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment