I'm amazed at how universal that idea has been.
I used to think the kids in our neighborhood were the only ones with that technology.

It turned out to be my First "Mod" ... followed by hundreds more as the years have gone by.....

When I was in the Boating Business I had many special things that were one off delights.
One Special Personal Project was the restoring and a complete customization of a 17 1/2 ft.Classic 1966 Glasspar Seafair Sedan Hull into a Center Council Fishing Jewel that took me 8 years part time to complete. Truly One of a Kind.
I ended up selling it to one of my best Fishing buddies so I could get onto my next "Pipe Dream".
He built a Custom Garage with all old Growth Red Cedar siding, In Floor Heat, and a Steel Roof just to House it. That's been over 25 years ago and he still cherishes it.
It all started with Playing Cards, my Moms Clothes Pins, and Bike Spokes.....

Thanks George for Bringing Back the Memories.....

Silverfox

 

Anyone make a homemade chopper bike (years ago when they were a kid) from their high-rise handlebar banana seat bike (Schwinn Stingray, etc)?

We would cut off the front forks off a scrap bike and then pound them onto the forks of our good bike so they would be longer for the "chopper" look. This worked because the forks were hollow and tapered. If the fork extension came off while you were riding, it didn't end well.

Steve

 

Neighbor kid had his extended forks come apart while popping a wheelie... He left his front teeth in the pavement, literally. Sorry to say that was the funniest thing that happened that summer.

Well it wasn't funny for him... but the rest of us were like "Oh... Look, it's Paul's teeth"

Yeah... Kids are mean.

 

You young whippersnappers with your highrise bars and bananna seats! Probably had skateboards with plastic wheels, real men had metal wheels stolen from old roller skates.

 

Misty water coloured memories of the way we were..... from away to make our bikes sound like Marlon Brando’s bike or Steve McQueen’s , it’s universal.
I just had a sad thought, most young’uns today play cards on the computer, wouldn’t know those slick cards strangely named Bicycle.

 

For me, garbage day was the best. There were lots of things people threw away that were ripe for picking. I made lots of things with old washing machine motors from the garbage.

Todays kids don't make things anymore, they buy them (or their parents do I should say). This is to the detriment of their imagination. I see lots of new engineers that never actually handled anything or built stuff at home, just the theory and simulation programs from college. They don't have the "feel" of designing stuff, just what the simulation program on the computer shows. That's why most kids can't work on cars anymore and don't even know how to change a tire.

I let my kids into my shop and let them make things (they cant use dangerous power tools like table saw). Some things they make fail, some don't but they learn that way. Electronic devices are OK if they are used now and then, not if they dominate your life to exclude most everything else.

Steve

 

Show me a barn in Pennsylvania put up using a laser level or pneumatic nailer or a tape measure.
Most are dead on level and square to this day , I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a Home Depot or Lowe’s, 84 lumber.
They cut the trees , milled them and erected the barn .