Gear Gazer

I've been busy lately. I got the trim stained and one coat of varnish for the parlor project, got some work done outside and managed to do a little machine work as well.

The top photo is a gear gazer for a 250 Ducati motor. It replaces the cover on the head where the bevel gears are. It allows you to see the gears turning and watch the oil splashing around when the motor's running. When I worked at the other school we had a CNC milling machine so I learned a little programming and made up some cool motorcycle parts. I made a few of these gear gazers but I didn't cut the bore where the lens goes deep enough. I wasn't sure at the time what the thickness of the glass or plastic was going to be or how to seal it up properly. As it ends up, it uses a plastic lens and a rubber o-ring. I bored the hole a little deeper and let everything stand a little proud to give the o-ring a little crush when I bolt on the cover. One of these days, hopefully soon, I'm going to build a frame for the 250 motor I've had for about 16 - 17 years. I'm planning on a vintage trials/scrambler type of thing. I've been pulling out some of my collection of bits and pieces and trying to figure out what I still need. The idea being that if every thing is put together, I can get rid of the extra parts and maybe actually spend some time riding a couple of them.

The bottom photo shows a couple of ears for the headlight mount on the 900. I probably shouldn't have started on the *edited from the original post* project but being the eternal optimist, I figure I can get quite a bit done this winter using the little workshop setup down the basement I've got now. It's nothing special but I've got lots of files, a vise, good lighting and a radio. Throw in a cup of coffee and I'm set.

I also managed to get the little boat hollowed out and picked up the brass tubing I needed for the rudder post to slip through. The next step is to make the parts for the deck, cabin and the mast. Maybe I can get some pictures of that project for the next post.