Big Wood

Well it's been a while…

Another project, big deck, arrived at work yesterday.

Looks like a normal deck, right?

Dimensions in millimeters, that's about 45" x 9.5"

Top, metre rule for scale.

Bottom, yes, a big lump of ply has been glued to the bottom, apparently was gonna be a camera mount.
Tried removing it with Acetone to dissolve the glue but it's not shifting just yet, might have to break out the sander.

Also notice it's not drilled, been a long time since I've had to drill a deck from scratch. Will probably measure the nose and tail on the Z36 and use those measurements.
It's a similar shape and fairly flat concave.

Rit Dye 101

Okay so I've had a couple of people ask me how to dye wheels and could I knock up a how to guide.

So this is what I wrote on OldKookSkating after doing my first set…

Oh Well, not quite as Orangey as planned but hey it's a learning experience right? 

I took the wheels, gave them a good scrub in warm soapy water then rinsed them.

I bought myself a mess pan from "Poundland", cost a pound 

I filled it with enough water to cover the wheels, some Rit Dye and brought it up to the boil on the hob, 
stirring to ensure a good mix, then turned down to a simmer, added the wheels (carefully to avoid splashes).

I left it simmering for 30 minutes occasionally stirring and turned the wheels over halfway through.
Took them out and rinsed in cold water. 

So theses were supposed to be orange, this was Tangerine Rit liquid, obviously too strong a solution.

It's still a bit hit and miss after 3 years of doing it, final colour seems to be dependent on a combination of strength of dye mix, length of time in the mix and temperature.

I cold dyed the Rainskates the other day as I wasn't sure about how the hot dye would react with the hot melt glue on the wheels. I heated the water and dye mix up then let cool before adding the wheels, I left those for about 5 hours and they still came out pink rather than red although they looked very red when I first removed them from the dye. 

There is a lot of inspiration and tips here on the Bulldog Skates Forum.

Rit Dye comes in powder or liquid, I find that the liquid mixes easier. 

I think that covers most things. Any questions, leave me a comment and I'll try to answer them.

Fun with Rit Dye and Glue Guns

So today was my last day off work this week and I still had "Dye wheels" on the to-do list.

So, take knackered looking Rainskates wheels….

Sandblast clean…

With a glue gun add a pattern…

Leave in Rit dye all afternoon, remove, rinse and pick off glue...

Awesome...

Fish Eye Film F*** Up

Got my film back last week from the P30n included on it were some shots form the cold and frosty session at Tilehurst back in October.

This was the first time I'd tried the fisheye on a full frame camera and wasn't sure what results I'd get.

Well the built in lens hood gets in the way resulting in shots like these…

Edited they don't look too bad…

So, having read about people removing the built in lens hood using a Dremel which sounded a bit drasticI was happy to see a link to a guide on how to remove it by loosening a few screws and removing the front element of the lens.
All was going well until the main body unscrewed and I am struggling to get it back together now.

Damp Bournemouth Skate Day

Back on the 23rd November, Gra and I went down to Bournemouth and met up with Paul and Jase.

It was touch and go whether anything was going to happen as the weather was a bit iffy to say the least.

Slades Farm was a bit soggy so Paul took us to the nearby Velodrome which was fun.
Then we skated Slades and Kings Park interspersed with tea/coffee and cake at Paul & Charlottes.

A great day with great people.

Thanks

Here's some photos…

(Pentax P30n, 35-80-mm f4.0-5.6, Fuji C200 expired 11/08)

Surf, Surf & More Surf

Took a trip to the south coast again for the weekend, yes, Brighton again.
The Surfin' Lungs were gigging so it seemed like a good idea to have the weekend down there so I could have a few beers and not have to drive back.

First up were The Squadron Leaders, unfortunately being the twat I am I recorded the video at 90º and can't get it to rotate yet, will sort it out and edit.

Next up were Space Agency...



Then Los Fantasticos...



Before my old mates the Surfin' Lungs hit the stage...

Wheels, Wheels, Wheels

Been having a bit of a splurge...

These...

Well the ones on the right, BDS DubCons 100a duro which have yellowed slightly, nothing a bit of Rit Dye won't improve.

The BDS Shogos on the left were bought on behalf of Gra.

Then today these turned up...

Rainskates Stingers 100a (that magic duro) Single Conical version.

Anthony gave them a blast with the sandblaster and removed the tatty graphics for me, ocd happy now.

Might dye these too.

K-30

Well the plan was to sell the k20d and upgrade but it didn't sell on ebay after 2 weeks with over 20 watchers, tight gits!

Anyway, noticed that Curry's had the K-30 on offer at £429 and £50 cashback offer from Pentax so bit the bullet.

Weatherproof so could have done with it at Hog Hill last Saturday...

K20d with grip still for sale...

Bude Beer, Billet Block, Bow Waves and Bastards

Made the trip to Hogtoberfest today, was really looking forward to the slalom racing.

It was sunny but cold when I left home, a few spots of rain just before the Dartford Tunnel but arrived at a very grey and overcast Redbridge Cycle Centre.

Queued up to pay to race only to find that in the time it took to queue it had started raining, it stopped a few times and the sun came out and the bitterly cold wind blew. Didn't dry the track out though.

Still I had a really good time meeting up with old friends.

The lovely thoughtful Jo bought me beer for my birthday...

Here's my new 2014 Aluminium riser...

Work in progress...

What it is replicating...

Fitted

Got my board out of my bag only to find it had been vandalised by my so called friends, off centre and crooked sticker...

Bought some 2nd hand Seismic Hotspots from Paul Price...

And some Lush Slide Gloves from Jo & Steve size S but fit like a glove...

The wet weather didn't deter some people...

Stickers Not Stucks

Spent yesterday evening sorting my sticker collection into alphabetical order into a new ring binder.

The hours just fly past here at Dunmulleting Towers...

I don't like like these dark evening much, perhaps I've got Seasonal Affective Disorder, possible as I've been described as sad recently...

Whoop, 500 blog posts...