Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Tales from the "messy" workbench.

Most of the time I try and keep a pretty clean and organized workbench. But that is not always the case when things just kinda happen. Garage sales, blown hot tub motors, multiply bike projects, broken toy trucks, there is always something going on. It is quite a chore to keep it clean and somewhat organized. The messiness is what brought on this "Tales from the workbench" post. From chaos comes order, or something like that.

One thing that I truly hate is working on brakes. It can be one of the most irritating things ever. Especially the 990 brakes that have been so popular with BMX bikes for the past couple of decades. Stringing and setting those cables is such a pain in the ass. One thing I have kept on hand for doing brakes is my trusty Hozan C-356 "forth hand" tool. This thing is a life saver. Pulling cables and setting hanger position is so easy with this thing. Really good also for installing zip ties extra tight. A must have for any workbench.














Good old shiny Hozan C-356. I have had you forever, and you even still have the original spring. You rule. Yes, that is Fry back there missing a head.














Another thing I have to have is a good set of tire levers. None of these plastic, break all the time cheap ones. Hell no. The only way to go is a good metal set. These are so good for taking off tight tires on high walled rims. Plus you won't have to worry about losing an eye when you snap a plastic one. I think these are called Steel Core by Soma. I picked them up here. Rivendell site.














Lots of times there is some kind of project that I am working on so there is always random parts on the workbench. I am getting ready to start a build of a King bike that I have been meaning to get going. Here is one of the second generation stems that where produced for King Bikes. The Tie Fighter is keeping guard over it.














Another shot of the same stem. These where good looking stems. Much better than the first run that where a huge block of aluminum. Much cleaner looking stem. This was right before the switch over to 1 1/8" stem made their way into BMX.

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