making the plug

There is news about Vrijwiel. As you know I was busy with the cardboard project. The last weeks I hid myself in the shed making the plug for the molds. Here you can see the different states the plug has been in so far. It isn't ready yet, though. A lot has to happen before I can make the molds of it but for a first idea of the shape you can have a look at the pictures.

Spring is here and the cardboard project goes on...

Today I was finally able to work with open doors again. It just feels so much nicer to work in daylight.
I've prepared the wooden ribs that will be the plug for my molds. End of this week I will cover it in PU foam and give it a nice Vrijwiel Solo shape. I'm looking forward to this.

The nose won't be as pointy as you can see on the picture.The horizontal pvc pipe couldn't handle the bending for too long and collapsed. I will give it a nice round nose.

I will think about a good hint for those of you who tried to win the test piece bowl but didn't succeed in it. I will post it soon.

Vrijwiel for hire

The Vrijwiel did a great job in raising funds for scouting Salwega Utrecht. The Vrijwiell helped the scouts earning some money for their summer camp. As a side effect there will be a few people enjoying a nice day trip in the not so distant future.
Would you also like to travel around in the Vrijwiel? Or just make a day trip? No problem, you can rent it. Just give me a call or write an email.

Prices:

½ day (4 hours)– € 35,00

1 day (8 hours)– € 65,00

1 week (7 days) – € 350,00

Test ride - for free

 

Call me for questions: 06 21 68 27 51

 

 

Captain Kirk is done, the bowl stays at home and Vrijwiel is ready for spring

The Captain Kirk experiment is definitely finished now. He was sucking on so much water through the cracks that he became so soft that the front is starting to collaps under the weight. The waterproof woodglue though stays where it is supposed to stay. Too bad that I've already chosen wallpaperglue to do the job, much cheaper and easier to handle. Now it's up to the new test pieces. As soon as I will start the project I will let you know.

Talking about testpieces and bowls, the bowl stays home. Even though a lot of you tryed it, still the right answer wasn't in the mail. Why not make it a bit easier? The beerbrand you can see imprinted in the testpiece is situated in a European country. Maybe that will help you a bit. If the good answer won't be in the mail until  Thursday 14th of february I will have to think about something else...Good luck!

Since you can win a bowl here, you might also be interested in winning the Vrijwiel. Yes you read it right, the Vrijwiel is to be won on Saturday 9th of february during the pancake restaurant organised by Scouting Salwega in Utrecht. First price of the lottery will be a day riding in the Vrijwiel for free! Those of you who where lucky enough to get a seat at the restaurant now have the chance to even go home with a day of "Vrijwieling" in your pocket. May the best eater win!

Captain Kirk as a softy and a great price to win!

Two weeks now Captain Kirk is sitting in our back yard, enjoying himself and the Dutch weather. He has seen a lot of snow and ice and since the snow is melting, he is almost constantly experiencing the Dutch rain.
What can I say about his survival skills? He is becoming a bit soft around the edges where water can be sucked in by uncovered paper, which was to expect. However, the dome part, except of the last 10cm of the tail, is still in very good (read dry) conditions. This leads to the impression that it is possible to make paper maché waterproof, given you do it a bit better than on this testpiece.

I've made another testpiece, partly because I wanted to try a different shape and partly because I started to enjoy keeping myself busy with paper maché. I've used an aluminium beercooler from a beer brand as a negative mold. This technique leaves such a good surface that you can see the imprint of the brand on the picture.

 And here is the deal:
The first person who provides the name of the brand either in the comments or via email wins one of the very fine, unused test piece bowls.
Lines will close on wednesday, february the 6th at 12:00 AM Dutch time.

Next step will be the production of negative molds for the bike. Any good advise for this project is welcome. Especially those of the "cheap and easy" departement.