strip.

Since my bike is nearly finished, it's time for a new project! 

My husband and I are just starting out, and there are times (with much thanks to our families!) that our hodgepodge of donated furniture feels a little like a goodwill showroom.  So, my plan of attack is to re-finish a lot of the big stuff to match, such as the bookshelves, a desk, a drafting table we've acquired, and a set of chairs.  First up: the desk.  My husband had this desk in his bedroom in the "bachelor pad" when he lived with roommates.  It's a great piece of furniture, and recently I learned that on top of that, it's a family heirloom!!! Since I found out, I've been trying to learn a little more of the history of the piece, since their family has a few more pieces belonging to the set that I'd like to try and clean up.  

But it's really much much more than that... "Olive & Myers Manufacturing Company" was a mattress and furniture manufacturer founded in downtown Dallas in, I believe, 1900. At that time, one of the founders, also the vice president of the company, was Horace Elton (aka H. E.) Spalti.  This guy was my husband's great-great-grandfather!! The company in itself has an amazing history.  The headquarters were located in a very prominent building located in downtown Dallas; today it is know as 2220 Canton Lofts.  H. E. Spalti later became the president of the company, and in the mid-50's Olive & Myers officially merged with a Houston manufacturing company, Myers & Spalti, to become Olive, Myers, & Spalti. My husband's great-grandfather, Horace Duncan (aka H. D.) Spalti became president.  Vera B. Spalti, H. D.'s wife,  was a name that I was already familiar with; my husband proposed with her engagement ring, and I wear it every day. (:

Here are a couple of pictures of the historic part, and a bunch of the beginnings of the project:

Also, here are some of the links that I found during my "google-fest" on Olive & Myers:

Texas Historical Markers- Myers & Spalti Manufacturing Plant, Harris County, Tx

Looking for answers- Forum discussion

A Dallas firm, Selzer Associates, renovates one of the warehouse buildings of Olive & Myers

Location of the old warehouse complex in Dallas, Tx:

build.

Here it is! The bike is back together! Not by any means ride-able yet, but not too much left before it will be!  Re-greased/ oiled the parts, got everything back on the way it came off, and I think that everything works.... List of things to do before I can ride: new tubes and tires, new chain, and a little work on the shifters, also need some handlebar tape; I'm thinking yellow to match. Take a look:

shift.

One step closer, and if things go right I'll be putting the bike back together in the morning! Even though I finished the shifters and the brakes last Thursday, we've been away again and I'm just now getting the chance to post...

Both systems went smoothly, even though they were the parts I was most nervous about.  I've never done much mechanical work, and I thought a bike was a better place to start than leaving pieces of my truck all over the place. Turns out I was probably right.  With a little help from Zinn, I was able to navigate both systems pretty easily and really, they're both fairly self-evident once you get the covers off and the basic nuts and bolts out of the way.  I was proud to unravel their mysteries. Hah. A few pictures here:

clean.

Today, I cleaned. And scrubbed. And brushed. Anything and everything to get all of the pieces and parts ready to toss back onto the frame.  I started with a daunting box full of non-sense, and ended with two very shiny wheels, very shiny handlebars, "like new" pedals, and a clean bottom bracket. Not to mention that I survived a rear wheel crisis.  I think it was a pretty productive day...

The crisis was the moment when I realized that trying to take the freewheel off to clean it was a mistake. Little did I know that A. removing the freewheel just about always ends in a complete overhaul of the rear component, and B. you need a special tool to even remove a freewheel. One that I do not possess. Loosening the nuts on the ends will only result in a really cool long piece sliding out of the middle of the entire wheel, and *hey* a neat little handful of ball bearings that no matter how you balance the bike, smash your fingers, or poke with needle nose pliers, will absolutely NOT fit back in the way they seem to have started. So, about an hour, and lots of panicking later, the crisis was averted with only two little ball bearings left over... Who needed those two anyways??

[note: this will probably be one of those "hindsight" moments later. And no, you can't say "I told you so," because I already beat you to it.]

At the end of the day I was left with things to do: figure out the brakes and shifting systems, clean the seat and kickstand, and things to get: A new chain (mine's shot...) and new tubes and tires. The (very) old ones seem to have been whitewall.... What do you think? Should I go for it? I got a funny feeling thinking about cruising around with the whitewalls and chrome popping against the purple frame, I'm just not too sure. 

unwrap.

The painting is finally finished!!  There was nothing more satisfying (except maybe when I take that first cruise) than peeling all of the tape off for the last time.  (: After taping off yellow... then white... then black... then the text... then all of it... Hah. It felt great to spray the last coat of gloss on wildly.

The solid color stripes and bands were actually pretty easy...  I covered the entire bike with newspaper to keep from making a mess, then just adjusted the taped off parts as I needed to.  The only part I ran into a bit of trouble with was the text.  I had printed stencils onto card stock, and I never even thought about the rigidity of the paper.  The little bits inside the letters wouldn't conform to the bike... duh. So, my solution was to trace the text onto layered painter's tape and then cut out the letters with an exacto.  Worked like a charm! See??

sort.

On another note, this the box of stuff that I have to sort through to get the "project portfolio" portion of my site going... dating from fall 2003... yep. The goal is one project a day until they're all finished.  Maybe. I'm having trouble finding any documentation from a couple of projects (and, no, it doesn't matter that they drilled it into us to document EVERYTHING and save it all in at least two places.....) but I know it's out there. Sigh.  [ If anyone needs something from project, let me know... Pretty sure I keep everything.]

go.

Sun! Finally, a day off where the sun is out! Though, technically, that first part isn't really true... We were planning on heading out of town to get some work done, but it's just too gorgeous outside.  So, even though our estimated departure time was, oh, about now, I dragged all of the bike non-sense out of the shed.  I'm currently in between coats of white on the stripes, then comes the black, some sanding (for sure!) and the text... then a final glossy coat and a week to get all the parts up to par.  If the weather will cooperate, there's a light at the end of the tunnel! I could be cruising by mid-June.  Pshhh... dreaming again...

p.s.- I'm still alive, that was really the reason for this post. Hah. A house guest, a rehearsal, a wedding, a handful of thunderstorms, and hundreds of dollars later... I'm still alive...

spin.

After about a week of rain, I couldn't take it anymore... I had to find something to do!  While wandering around the house after about 3 cups of coffee, I decided that we needed a "real" dining area.  Before yesterday, our table was a catch-all for junk. I only have 2 of the 4 chairs that match (the other 2 are half-sanded and stashed in my parent's attic somewhere...) and the cats just can't keep their lazy butts off the table.  We received place mats and napkins for our wedding that hadn't even been de-tagged.  So. Goal: Phase one, clear off the table, wash and iron everything, and find some sort of "scheme" for a centerpiece and maybe some napkin rings (which I am not really a fan of... hence the challenge.) Phase two, find the other two chairs, re-glue, and paint all four... 

Now, I already had a good centerpiece.  A small tray with glass votive holders and a few red candles to pop into it.  Napkin rings on the other hand were the challenge.  After a little internet research on "non-ugly" rings I decided I wanted to try and make some.  I decided on twisted wire and beads because they wouldn't be overpowering (not to mention silly looking) and they would be a quick project.... little did I know.

Now, side note: my husband is a bona-fide artist.  Degree and all. We have the supplies to make any 3D form of art imaginable.   While digging through our "supply wall," I stumbled on a handful of glass beads left over from some endeavor of his.  Perfect!  When I left them out on the table though, I began a revolution... He was inspired. Instead of using found beads, I was going to learn to make my own! Yay! 

Below are pictures and a little further explanation of the process, but in short, it involves fire, molten glass, and a lot of patience.  And the end product of "phase one" is pretty nice, if I'm allowed to say that... See for yourself:

And a little more about the process here.

wait.

What a long week.  Apologies in advance, but there is no end in sight to the busy-ness. The bike is locked in the shed still, and the yard is screaming at me (weeds- mother nature's sweet May gift.)  

I was hoping to get the bike finished for a bit of riding before the Texas heat sets in, still the goal, but the rain is going to have to stop first! 

detail.

I love details. This, for me, is where the fun is at... and cleaning up old parts, I suppose. Since I'm quite a "n00b" at this, I'm trying to keep it simple to stencil. And, because I loved the feel of the bike from the beginning (slightly retro,) the new look is going to be reminiscent of the old decals.

The new graphics are clean, simple, and they pop. Yellow, black, and white. A symmetrical sun. Futuristic font in all caps. I wanted something that would speak of me and my design choices. Nothing over the top...

And every good bike needs a name, right? The word "Sunna" was the Old High German name of the sun goddess in germanic mythology.  The sister of the moon. I found it quite fitting.  (more here. )