12/4/10

New project sketch

Dual Stromberg 97 style, EFI throttlebodies on a 103" Knucklehead. We'll see...

Lots to do

10/8/10

White Stinger


I did this little white Stingray saddle with gold piping for an amazing Triumph that our friend Jeffro built for Vince. It's like a little wedding cake made of fish skin. I don't have good pics of the bike yet, but I'll get some up here later. Coolest Triumph ever... Congrats J. & V.

Twisted foot pegs


I twisted these up from an old set of Long Island Railroad spikes a friend gave me many years ago. Came out pretty cool....

9/28/10

Cut Test


One of my new 7" Chef knives of 440-C stainless steel

9/15/10

Deep Purple Perch


Friends help friends. My buddy Keino has just finished a really classy chop for another good friend of ours, Wes. The vibe of the bike is over-the-top, 70's, freak show, crazy. And Wes is the perfect man to be sitting in that saddle. Keino made a nice, King and Queen seat pan for it and Wes knew he wanted diamond stitched black leather. I decided to do the diamonds in increasing size to fit the shape, and when I got to the front, I blew out a pin-stripe style devil with a forked tongue in stitching. I think it works and Wes loves him some devils...
This bike along with my Sword of Damocles and many more will be at the Brooklyn Invitational Bike show this weekend. Come check it out...

9/12/10

Black Diamond Knife Set


This is a set of handmade Chef's knives I finished last week. Stainless steel blades, Ebony handles and a black diamond set in each one. Fully polished, razor sharp and ready to go.


I started the set with 440-C stainless steel. This is a great all-around cutlery steel with a high resistance to corrosion, and holds a razor sharp edge with proper heat-treating. These views show my initial designs cut from the steel. Here, I've done my basic shaping and grind for the blades. On the right, you can see the hollowing and taper I put in the handle area of my full-tang knives to lighten the handle and give a special taper to the spine of the blade.

The customer made one special request... that I feature a black diamond somewhere on each knife. I worked with NYC jewelery designer Itay Malkin to have 2.5 ct., square cut, black diamonds set in gold bezels upside down so the point protrudes like a spike. Once the diamonds were set in the bezels, I made notches in my blades so they could be soldered in.


I do a lot of filing and hand sanding to get just the right shape a finish. One of the blade styles I like to do is a Japanese Santoku. The one above has a 7 " blade and I ground the divots by hand before final polishing.


I made the handles from striped Ebony hardwood. Since the diamonds were set in a gold bezel, I added a layer of bright brass under the wood so it would leave a thin "gold" line leading into the bezel.

9/6/10

New Girdraulic Forks




Here's a new set of my Girdraulic forks I just made. I use shocks from "Works Performance" that they make custom for me, I use sealed precision bearings and a geometry that I know works. Otherwise, I design them differently each time. This one has a bit larger O.D. tubing than usual, and a zig-zag brace pattern, kind of like ladder bars under the rears of Muscle cars. I'm working on a style now that I'll reproduce and make available as a product.

9/5/10

It's been a long time since my last post. I set this blog up so I could have an easy way to update everyone with new projects. The fact is, I've been so busy with the projects, I haven't had a chance to do any updating. Well, there's a great little bike show happening in Brooklyn in a couple weeks, and it's a good reason to start posting updates again. Plus, new project posts coming soon.
The Brooklyn Invitational Custom Motorcycle show is a kick-ass event started last year by a creative group of motor-head friends right here in Brooklyn. A heavy influence of art, greasy culture, and gear-driven obsession have led to a unique and diverse collection of machines that will be on display at the show. Art, photography, music, motorbikes and friendship will shared all day and into the night. Go to brooklyninvitational.com for more info. This killer event connects with what's real about our scene. Real people and real bad-ass machines. No attitudes... no bullshit.

2/20/10

My Double-front Panhead set up



These are some shots of what I did to set up the double-front Panheads for the Sword of Damocles engine. On the "rear" head, I relocated the exhaust port to the left so it would clear the front head. I welded up the old tract and re-ported the head to flow out the new exhaust manifold. For the intakes, I built the manifolds onto the heads with flanges for the carbs. I had to make the aluminum elbows from straight tube then machine flanges and weld it all up and blend it out. Inside and out. Runs great.

Minerva cleaver


I just finished this meat cleaver for a friend that's opening a new cafe' in Manhattan. I ground the blade from A-2 tool steel and the handle is oak, treated with Butcher's wax. The oak for the handle came my friend Eric, who had saved pieces of the floor of the California house he grew up in. The blade was hardened to 58 Rockwell and double tempered, then I engraved the name of the cafe in the blade.

Tank construction for Sword of Damocles.




After making the tunnel and bottom of the tank, I welded in the stand pipes and fittings for the oil section. Then, with the oil tank section welded to the fuel tank bottom, I welded in the neck for the oil tank to exit through the top of the fuel tank. I hammered and shaped the side and top panels, then built them up around the oil tank to create a fuel section. You can see the oil filler neck coming through behind the fuel filler neck. The scalloped cut aways in the sides are polished stainless.