Lettering!

A few years ago, I decided to learn about sign painting and lettering.

I can do passable work now, but do wish I had more time to practice, 

and a few more brushes!

When I was in St. Johns, there were a number of faded signs around where you could see the brush strokes.

Here you can see the pounce pattern outline on the tailgate. 

My latest lettering project, was the GemTop canopy fro the Danger~Ranger.  

I find numbers much more difficult than letters.  

Stick~Welder

As soon as I started working in the Jeep, it was pretty obvious to me that I was going to need to make my own rear bumper, as the commercially produced ones were far to pricey for me.  

I figured that even if I sprang for a new AC-225, I'd be ahead of the game.  

I did better than that though, I found an old used AC-225 for $75.  

I found a lot of uses for it other than the bumper.

Stick process isn't the prettiest, but it makes for nice strong welds!

I also repaired my radiator mounts, nerf-bars, and other parts too.  

The rear bumper and hitch work like a charm!

I also added a front receiver as well.  I cannot get over how wonderful it is to push trailers around with this set up.  I was also planning on mounting my winch in a receiver cradle, but I think it will stick out too far.  Perhaps I can rework the front bumper to bring the receiver closer to the radiator.  

I built a tailgate for the Jeep as well.  This body tub didn't have a gate opening, and it was very inconvenient to put things in the back.  

Welding the 20 gauge sheet metal was quite a challenge with the stick welder, I'm just not good enough to weld such thin stock with ease.  Need more practice!

The most recent welding project was this swing away spare tire carrier.  I made it from a stock carrier, and a bunch of scrap tubing I had laying around. 

It sure is nice to have the tire and other equipment out of the back.  With all this stuff in the jeep, there isn't much room for luggage!!

Re-Born CJ-5

After several-many hours, the jeep again took on it's familiar shape.  

It's a brand new 1977 CJ-5!  

Jeep-in-a-Box

I've wanted a second car for some time now, and my Brother wanted (sort of) to sell his old jeep. 

My Dad helped me get it out to the coast, in a motorcycle trailer.  Sure beat flat-towing it!

 It was a tight squeeze into the trailer. 

Storage

 Here's a better photo of the fabric and thread storage.  

The cabinets are made from Douglas Fir of course!  

 You can't have a studio without a bulletin board! 

 I chose Douglas Fir for the case goods, so that they would blend in with the floor, and keep the room nice and warm. 

 The reference section. 

A design wall, 7'x7'.  The board works like a felt board, where fabrics can be placed for colour choice without pins.

A bit old fashioned, but pegboard works so well for storing tools. 

Above is a shot of the Douglas Fir floor, now that it's finished. Eventually, the Fir will darken to a warm amber as it ages. 

On the back wall cabinets, are the fabrics and threads sorted by colour.  

Sewing Cabinet

You can't have a great sewing room, without a great sewing cabinet!

Sew, (haha) here is the one I designed and built for the room. 

 I put a machine lift in the cabinet, which I think is really a necessity, not a luxury.  

The machine is in "storage" position here. 

The three lower drawers are a separate stand alone unit. 

 When in the second position, an acrylic insert fills the gap,and the cabinet top is level with the machine. The lift will also bring the machine above the desktop, for operating in open arm or changing bobbins. 

 Inside the top drawer, is a 4' long folding ironing board.  

 The stand alone drawers all feature full extension ball bearing slides. 

 The cabinet also has an enormous drop leaf.  With the leaf up, the cabinet top is a full 4'x6'. 

You can also see here, there is also an extension that fits over the ironing board mechanism.