Projects
Bug screen tent canopy
I took a canopy made for beds and make an outdoor nook for my wife and I to sit in and enjoy the summer, bug free. For the stakes I cut 10 ft rebar lengths in two, then I cut an X in tennis balls and slipped them over the stake ends. I draped the…
Homeless stealth bivy tent
This Bivvy bag tent was made by sewing a cheap 8 by 10 foot camouflaged tarp together. Shoes are used to maintain the opening. Rocks on a windy day. The bottom of the wood pole was carved sharp to stick in the ground, and the top was carved to fit through the top grommet hole…
Stealth camper
Back in 2002 after 9-11 I and many others were laid off from Boeing. I’d been working straight for 14 years and decided a break in routine was in order. Traveling across America sounded good. Money was tight for lodging, but I had a good Toyota truck. The 6 foot bed was just long enough…
Rear steer recumbent bike
When I was eighteen I read an article in Popular Mechanics of a rear steer bike. It looked like a good idea for saving weight with the shorter chain. I spent 4 years designing and redesigning this bike. Once it was built it took me 2 hours to get both feet on the pedals. Once…
My first recumbent bike
To the best of my memory, this was the first recumbent I built back in 1975. I made it in my metal class when I was 16. I never did get a picture of it, and I never finished it, but it was to be a two position bike either riding upright or reclined.
Burningman trike
My first motorized trike was made for my first Burningman experience back in 2000. I used a 3 hp Briggs and Stratton motor with belt drive. This went to a 12″ pulley which drove a 13 tooth sprocket to my rear 6 speed cluster. It could easily carry 3 people, and it topped out at…
Burningman box shelter
This was my first use of Coroplast, or better known as fluted plastic or plastic cardboard. This 2-1/2 sheet 4 ft square box used 2×2’s for corner framing. Button head screws fastened the panels to the frame. For transport the shelter was made modular. All I had to do was attach the corner frame to…
MWB recumbent
Itching to have a test ride. Of all the recumbent bikes I’ve made, this was my favorite and most used. I later added a 3 speed wheel with drum brakes up front, then added pontoons for a kinetic race, which never happened. A minute after this image was taken everything went South. The pontoons flipped…
MWB recumbent bike
This was my fourth recumbent build. I built it for my neighbor kid who thoroughly enjoyed it.
Aluminum SWB recumbent bike
This recumbent weighed in at 25 pounds. The main boom was made using 2″ aluminum tubing. To eliminate stress on the aluminum frame I placed the seat mounds directly over the steering tube and rear wheel stays. The crank length was adjustable, but often the hose clamps used to secure the crank tube would fail…