3 speed Elgin Velocipede 1934

[silverbear]

Kirk,
Yes, that's the plan. I'm going today to a nearby junk shop to see if they have a bit to serve as a model, then grind down an adapter I have.

hsvmick,
Minnesota has over 12,500 lakes, almost all of which are in my part of the state, hugging the Canadian border. I'm guessing there are well over a hundred with the name Long Lake. I know of one about 15 miles from where I live on Eagles Nest Lake #3. So it is with "Crooked Lake" "Birch Lake" variations on Bear Lake or Wolf Lake, Moose Lake. There are two different pair of "Twin Lakes" within 30 miles of here. So, I can't really answer your question if the one I know is the one you are referring to. Let's pretend it is, as it is a nice, clear water lake with beautiful islands and lots of good fishing. My lake is thickening up, getting sluggish at the surface as it gets colder... one of these days there will be a thin coating of ice like a glass ceiling which will thicken each day for months until the ceiling of the lake is feet thick. Cold winters, but glorious summers.
SB

 

[curtisfox]

Yep hard water coming. There are at least 4 long lakes around here also. But the city of Long Lake is down around Mpls,StPaul area that would be a good 400 mile for SB. And yes there are closer to 20,000 lake in our state. And i don't know how many swamps, CA. could use some of it....................Curt

PS let me know i can send you one if you want it for pattern. Who knows maybe use it for making holes also

 

[moto-klasika]

... start of engine!

 

[silverbear]

Now if that had been of the ratcheting type that wouldn't have happened.
SB

 

[Mr.B.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROnb5ouBjNc

Your bike should be a snap! :- )

-Kirk

 

[silverbear]

Pictured below is the Millers Falls ratcheting brace I purchased on ebay. I have ground down the socket extension so that it fits into the chuck and have tried it on the engine (dry, indoors, so no starting it up) and it turns over easily and comes off of the nut easily. So, it is going to work! I've lubricated the ratchet and am very pleased with how this has turned out. Some ideas are brain farts and others get a gold star.

Also pictured is what I have in mind for attaching the hand crank to the seat tube. I bought a clip organizer which is for holding a mop, broom or shovel... that sort of thing and is meant to attach to a wall. The spring clips slide along on the track. I will cut the track and drill it so that the u bolt can hold the clip against the seat tube. The spring clips are very strong and there is no chance of the brace coming loose. So that's the plan for that and now I know how I will start my engine.

SB

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

That is a really neat and tidy idea Silverbear

Recently I tried to find a brace and bit for a home handywoman job around the house and came up with nothing. Seems they are an endangered species these days

 

[moto-klasika]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROnb5ouBjNc

Your bike should be a snap! :- )

-Kirk

..maybe, this Tiger had falsh engine and just one biiiig, really biiiiiig clock-spring to be winded-up?

I had small FIAT lorry transormed into camper and fired-up it with hand-crank: it had 2000 cc engine of 60 HP. No problems at all - but, then I was 3 decades younger! Then, I used to drive it here and there without any brakes operational - but (again) 3 decades younger!

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjA_awxEtz0

Starting a Villiers Midget with an electric drill.

 

[silverbear]

Art Deco Headlamp

The following series of posts document the making of an art deco inspired headlamp from a copper pot I purchased for a few dollars from a junk shop. I had used it on my wood stove to put moisture in the air which otherwise becomes very dry in a confined space such as an old trailer (1957 Spartan) like mine. While looking at it one day it occurred to me that it had much the same shape as a headlight... and then I did a bit of polishing and saw that it would clean up nicely with some effort. I determined then to see if I could make it into a copper headlamp with a stained glass lens which in my mind would give it an art deco flavor, in keeping with the design of the bicycle and the time period in which it was made (1934).

The wood stove got in it's place a matching pair of brass spittoons. I removed the wooden handle and held it up to where it would be mounted on the Elgin. Yes, that should work! But how to make it?
SB (cont.)

 

[silverbear]

First I cut off the threaded rod which attached a wooden handle to a brass fitting. Then I drilled out the rod since this is where the wires would exit the head lamp. Then I determined where the holes should go for fitting the lamp between the ears of the suspension fork. I dinked the location with an awl and tack hammer and then drilled out each of the two opposing holes.
SB (cont.)

 

[silverbear]

I used Allen bolts since it is easy to fit a key into the head and hold the bolt firmly in place while affixing the lock nut to the outside. Eventually I used longer bolts than what are shown in the photos below.

Next up is making up the light unit inside. I have used this 32 LED unit from Harbor Freight (about $6.00) in making over other headlights and think it is a good deal for the money. It is quite bright and easy to work with.
SB (cont.)

 

[silverbear]

I've used tin cans in the past for all sorts of bike stuff, from air cleaners to an engine shroud to tail lights, so it was natural enough to turn to the same resource for the light housing. I chose a double size chicken meat container for being the right size needed and assembled the tools for the job. Tack hammer, punch (I used an awl for leather work) and a smallish knife. The pictures tell what to do.
SB (cont.)

 

[silverbear]

The sides of the opening in the can need a little grinding with the rotary tool to shape it more for the light unit to fit into it. A half round file would work, too.

Holes for mounting the unit to the pot get drilled and I used four brass bolts with lock washers and nuts inside to hold the light housing in place.
SB (cont.)

 

[silverbear]

The light unit is fitted into the opening. I've not shown the wiring, so that part is what happens now in the actual sequence. Once the wiring is done the light unit gets epoxied into place even though it is a snug fit without epoxy.
SB (cont.)

 

[silverbear]

Second photo in the prior post shows part of the light unit being cut off. On this unit it is needed to hold the led segment firmly against the flashlight lens. Otherwise the light circuit is not completed and it won't light up.

In looking for the wiring photos it appears I either forgot to shoot them or lost the photos along the way. How you make up wire leads depends on what you use for the light unit, but for this one there is a spring affair which the battery pack had fit against and served as a post of one side of the battery pack. I use a soldering gun as would be used for doing up circuit boards or radio work. You don't want too much heat or you'll wreck the LED unit. I used acid core solder and attached a wire to the spring. For the other polarity I drilled a small hole in the aluminum flashlight housing and using a small bolt and nut attach the other wire in place. The leads were then soldered to the wires running through the brass fixture which had at one time had a handle attached during a previous incarnation as a common pot.

The photos below show the making of a jewel light. In old carbide type bicycle and motorcycle lamps there were sometimes faceted glass jewels which lit up each side of the lamp. I wanted the same, but having jewels to the side would interfere with the mounting ears, so I decided to mount one blue jewel to the top. First I drilled out a 3/4" hole to house a short section of copper water pipe. This little shaft extending out of the top of the lamp will then get a 1" faceted jewel soldered in place so that light can come from underneath. How do you solder glass to copper??? With something called copper foil which you will see more of when the head lamp lens is made. The adhesive backed foil is wrapped around the edges of the jewel, touched with an acid flux (also the base of the copper pipe extension) so the metal is ready to bond with the lead/tin solder.
SB(cont.)

 

[silverbear]

Once the jewel was bonded to the copper extension and in turn the extension to the headlamp I gave the light unit some juice to see how well the jewel lit up. Not so well. I was afraid of that so I took things apart and mounted a smaller led light unit (9 LEDs) removed from a smaller flashlight also purchased at Harbor Freight for about a dollar. It also got cut down to remove the portion which had housed the batteries. Do not use a cutoff wheel for this operation as it will heat up the LED section enough to wreck the LEDs. I know this from prior experience. You can use a hack saw or as I did, a tool made for cutting copper pipe. Forget what it is called... There is a little cutting wheel and as it is fed into the pipe you turn the whole unit as it slowly cuts into the copper. That tool works nicely and there is no chance of wrecking the LED lights.

Now the copper jewel had it's own dedicated light source housed in the tin can and aimed up into the copper extension with the jewel at the upper end. I gave it juice and... yes!, that's how it was as I imagined it. Purty blue light!

Now it is time to make the lens for the headlamp. From the beginning of this project what I pictured was a combination of clear glass and blue stained glass in a star burst pattern. Onceupona I used to do a lot of glass work making stained glass windows on commision. I had a one room studio in my home at that time and also worked outside in good weather. I made and sold a good number of windows over a ten year period and worked with lead cames as found in old stained glass church windows. The other method does not use cames and was invented by Louis Tiffany in the making of lampshades and decorative panels. He wrapped each piece of glass in copper foil and ran a continuous bead of solder to cover and join each copper foiled portion to the next. Since the pieces were usually small a curve could be created and Tiffany's work became famous and permanently associated with art deco.

The short of it is that I know about lead work, but copper foil is a new experience for me. Like anything else to learn, I did a little detective work on google and listened to some advice from an expert. I got some good tips and felt ready to give it a shot.

First I traced the headlamp opening onto paper. Then I made up the proposed star burst. There would be 17 pieces of glass. Since the lens had to fit inside the opening I reduced the outer diameter by an eighth inch all the way around and also shrunk up the star burst in like manner.The pattern is called a "cartoon" and with the help of carbon paper it is traced again so that a pattern sheet is made on thin cardboard. I used part of a manila folder, but cereal box would work as well.
SB(cont.)

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Oh my word Silverbear this is going to be about the most beautiful motor bicycle headlamp ever

 

[silverbear]

The pattern pieces are cut out with special shears made for this purpose. If you look closely you will see that not only is the thin cardboard cut, but a thin strip is removed at the same time. This is so there is a small space between each piece of glass to account for the copper foil being added to the equation and to give a little bit of fudge room... but not too much or the solder will fall through.

Using a felt tip pen (fine tip would have been better) I have traced out the pieces intended to be clear onto a piece of scrap window glass. Using a common glass cutter as found at any hardware store, the glass is scored and cut into smaller sections. Eventually each piece is scored on the inside of the marked line.

A couple of things. Do not go over a scored line twice as it will wreck the cutter in short order. Do it once firmly with a steady hand. It is best to lock your wrist and score with the whole arm. Often I will lock my whole body and move as one unit. That way you get a smooth score right on the money.

When you score the glass you are "cutting" into it just a wee bit, enough to create a fault line in this man made crystal. The glass is actually broken in a controlled manner. Often a cutter will have a ball formed on the end which when tapped along the fault line from underneath makes the fault "break" where you want it to... so long as you don't ask too much of it. The break follows the line of least resistance and the fault line is the new weak point. To a degree, that is. Curves are more difficult to accommodate and the greater the curve the more difficult it is to break as you want it to. Inside curves are the most difficult of all. Add to that the differences in the glass you are cutting and it can get tricky. Window glass is pretty easy, but certain kinds of stained glass are not so easy. Opalescent glass is very hard, so the fault line you make with the cutter is not as deep and the strength of the glass is greater. And there may be bubbles hidden inside the glass. Hand blown glass (which is often the most beautiful) varies in thickness so you have to use your experience in "reading" the glass in order to know how to cut it without wrecking the piece and throwing it away. Stained glass can be very expensive so artisans tend to go slowly and carefully to avoid unnecessary waste. The different colors are created with different metal salts. Ruby red and canary yellow use gold salts, so you can imagine how the sweat can form on your hairline cutting into "gold". It is an interesting subject and worthy of investigation. If I told you that glass is a liquid and not a solid, you would probably not believe me. Look it up... see why old windows in cathedrals have glass panels precariously thin at their tops and double thickness at the bottoms... gravity at work.

Glass work is tedious, but the results can be very gratifying. Excuse this long aside. Let's get back to making the lens...
SB(cont.)

 

[moto-klasika]

​

Hello Silver,
Nice to learn something new every day! Maybe not of practical use for me, but who knows. I was always interested in "vitraille" (stained glass) and have some plans to build a few pieces when become pensioner... However, life isn't going in that way... Real stained glass is too expensive technique just to be a hobby and I do not believe that I could become professional. My neighbor in Belgrade was excellent artist and promised to learn me working with glass - but he passed away before that, but I still like to see nice examples and learn something about that... Only, I never saw such scissors! Maybe with ordinary scissors and more work, we could have the same results, cutting paper or cardboard as molds.
However, I will follow this work carefully - who knows...

​

Ciao,

​

Zoran