Sprockets N' Strings

new blog

2009-08-25T12:07:00.001-05:00

My new blog is http://knelr1.blogspot.com my new email address is listed on that blog. check it out. i'm gonna leave this up for a while.

"Little Richard"

2009-08-24T17:46:00.002-05:00

i bought a riding lawnmower from a man i met through the musiscal i was in.

i nick named it little richard because it is small.

i payed $175 for it. have done a few minor things like weld a little bit on the axle so thata

the wheel would not lean out.it is very slow 6 and ahalf miles per hour is my top speed so far.

Online Coloring Book

2009-05-13T14:23:00.000-05:00

my pretty girl

top of my tool chest and the 'kneller1' utility trailer

2009-05-04T11:30:00.004-05:00

when I got my tool chest, My grandpa Kneller told me the place that would be hardest to keep clean would be the top. lo and behold, I took an inventory of the top of my tool chest.

There were over 30 items. the top of my toolchest is where I throw down my hat, and pick up my helmet and gloves before I head out on a bike trip. It's always open because the drawers lock when it closes. so it's a convenient place to throw things. usually I have my big blue maglite up in there somewhere. but i took it to my room saturday night. there is almost always 1 hat up there. and it is where I put my helmet to keep it safe away from where it could fall to the ground and get dirty or stepped on or anything. Here is the list of things that I found in the top of my toolchest:

safety goggles

a springfield bike map

welding gloves

my welding helmet

my cabela's hat

A seat bag for a bike

biking gloves

Craftsman suspenders

A Mr. potato head wearing a hard hat.

a can of zippo lighter fluid

genuine Zippo flints

a zippo wick

Black and decker 18 volt flashlight (broken)

bottle rockets

firecrackers

waterproof matches

2 pairs of safety glasses

an old Dog collar

2 biking gloves that don't have matches

my airsofdt gun

4 bicycle tubes

a pair of work gloves

a BMX trophy

a wooden french curve that I scroll sawed

a plastic mounting piece for a mini pump

a snap pin for my trailer

bike rack mounting hardware

a rubber band

and an old pair of sunglasses that I found somewhere.

Now the trailer I installed taillights. i bought a toggle switch, 6 feet of wire, a 6 volt battery, the two lights, and a new victorinox pocket knife all with a $20 Lowe's gift card that I got for easter.

it took me about an hour to figure everything out and get it all wired up. but it works great now. truly one of a kind. B-McKne.

"Customize, and accessorize"

2009-04-03T14:02:00.005-05:00

The Door in the front has been named the 'floor door'

I'm referring to my trailer, the one that the last blog was about. It is now named 'Kneller 1 ' I added a tool-box which reduced my flat cargo space, to tie things down on, but gave me more protected waterproof space to store 'stuff ' in. I put down another 1x2, then bolted and drilled through the tool-box, 1x2, and 'bed'. After that I bolted down the toolbox. I had to move the eye bolts and re-center them to make that space 'square'. Also you will see the coffee can, I chose this because of it's watertightness, this I screwed down instead of bolting. After the current bed wears out I am going to put on a new one, and cut around some things in order to have it cover the front of the bed so nothing gets in, or out. Actually I could just move the whole 'bed' up, I think I'll go do that. Here are some pics.

I definatley have relatives in Indiana

2009-03-17T10:23:00.005-05:00

my trailer has been through a few modifications sice it was given to me.

first i took off the sides to 'flatbed' it. and then the other day i finally put an actual bed on it.

and it just kept going. I used some left over battens from the shed,and put eye bolts in those there are 9 eye bolts all together. also i made a trap door in the front where the floor drops down so children's feet would be comfortable ( this was originally a child trailer.) After it was finished i roade away to Snoockies with our empty 5 gallon water jug. in the store there were two people who saw my helmet and asked how i was gonna' carry that on a bike. i proudly told them i had a trailer. I could not lay it down on it's side because the lid leaks I succesfully hauled it home.

later that day jude had a friend over who brought a kite and i put him on the trailer with his kite and i rode while he flew. lots of fun. can't wait until i get a pickup truck!

the picture with all of the tools on the trailer is when i loaded up for a project down the street.

I was so excited when we went to menards and i bought 32 feet of 2x2 for 5 and a half dollars.

B-MckNe

"Front quarter horse hide"

2009-03-09T13:53:00.001-05:00

This jacket is made of front quarter horse hide. the brand is windard 'quality outdoor clothing'

My Dad stopped by the salvation army to see if there were any 'steals' all of the leather was half price and he found this jacket; he was really hoping that it would fit him but it was too tight.

he brought it home and it fit me. the leather was almost 'crunchy' so we rubbed it down with saddle soap, and leather conditioner after that. the zipper still works and the only hole is a small rip in the lining; don't be fooled this is not a 'brand new vintage distressed jacket' its the real deal.

B-Mckne You all should start swimming 10 miles a week like i do then i would be able to share it.

Oh yeah.

2009-02-15T13:15:00.001-06:00

I forgot , I did finally get a haircut. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get a haircut in a family where both of you parents are hair-stylist's.

-come on!!!

2009-02-15T12:41:00.003-06:00

Well as you probably picked up from the title, we're still waiting for anonymous to finish up on the car. we're still driving the "super-cab" ranger. I don't understand why they call it a supercab; it's more like a toddlers play area. I have just come home from a bike race. the TOUR DE GROUND-HOG Bill Jensen memorial race. I raced in the begginners class. I was not sure of what to expect. but I am in pretty good shape physically (for my age.) I practice with a swim team 3-4 nights a week for an hour-and-a-half of pretty much non-stop, all together we probably get 10 minutes of "break". there are three different lanes. Lane 1 is slowest, and lane 3 is fastest, i've been swimming for a little over a month now and am in between lane 2 and 3.
Back to the race. The course is a 1.8 mile loop, my race consisted of 5 laps. I DID SURVIVE.
There were 8 raceres in my race; I was the youngest there was an older man probably in his late 50's early 60's he was behind me most all of the race. and all of the other guys were in their 20's I finished 4th overall. and won a pair of wool socks and a water bottle. I almost had 3rd place, I was less than a half of a bike length away from winning third place. the course was a muddy mess. and there were 5 'dismounts' which are obstacles that lay across the whole trail so you can not go around them. you must 'dismount' and hop over them. I started out with too much clothing on. I handed off hat and gloves to dad the first 2 laps.
Once I finished I was not feeling well I layed down on the muddy, wet, ground by my bike and tried to catch my breath. I felt like I had to burp or . . . throw-up after we all shook hands and received our rewards I said to my Dad: "can we go now?" and I told him "I feel sick" then "I might throw up" then "I'm gonn'a throw up" and I did it was 2 stage, first it was a little bit watery, then again, it looked lik potato squares. BUt anyway I felt alot better after that.
Jude is turning 9 years old on Tuesday make sure everybody to call him and wish him a happy birthday. (I rode the 'hardtail' bike because you get better power-transfer with a 'rigid' or 'hardtail' bike. here's some pics. :-)

B-McKne

This week, we're auto mechanics.

2009-01-27T13:00:00.002-06:00

well, as the title implies. we've had some auto problems. When my Grandma and Grandpa came over to our house this past weekend. The girls went to the mall and we went to the birds and brooks army surplus where Jude picked out his B-day present from Grandpa an
Indiana Jones fedora. we left that store and were on our way to the next when the car squealed;
the belt tensioner on the Buick had fallen off, so we drove to the auto parts store. and saw that the belt was jammed up behind something, and we were not all agreed on what happened but I cut the belt as I was told to and like I thought, I had just cut the belt. so we drove all the way home (1 mile ) with no belt. = no power steering, we turned the car off and rolled down the hills, and shut off the car at the stop signs. Once we got home Dad put the belt tensioner on and started it up. power steering fluid strarted spraying; some how the pump got taken out when the tensioner fell off. so sunday we had to borrowed the minicks truck, Dad went down the street to start up the old ranger, and it just clicked. So Dad came back to our house and got a hammer tapped on the solenoid a couple times and it started. Now that is not so bad, but whenyou have to do that everytime you start it gets to be a pain, and then we figured out that it was not the solenoid, it was the starter. but we had already bought the solenoid so se installed both and it started right up. The only thing is now we're back to square 1, The buick.

B-Mckne

The Jim Herron's Experience.

2009-01-14T20:41:00.006-06:00

I had asked for ties for my birthday. My 'big' present was my phone; and then my Dad got me a "bunch" of ties 9 or 10 (score!) I was happy but there was no bow tie. He could not find one.
I made sure that he knew I wanted one for Christmas, but he forgot. and told me that we would go to 'Jim Herron's' ( a men's clothing store 'under' the Hilton hotel downtown Springfield. Today we finally did go, and as we were walking up in front of the store, I tripped and broke my ankle.
JUST JOKING! We saw Mr. Herron standing in the window, he waved. When we walked in he greeted us and my Dad introduced us (me, Celina, and Jude.) and then we told him we were looking for a bow tie, (which I had already spotted) He stepped down from the counter where he was standing and showed us his selection. He then proceeded to ask what I would be wearing the tie with and then suggested a tie. He then took me over to a clear spot in the store, in front of a tall mirror and showed me how to tie a bow tie, then let me try, I "hit the nail on the head"
on the first try I succeeded, he was amazed. Mr. Herron then walked towards the back of the store and grabbed a white shirt, and some tan slacks and brought them out to show me an example of how the tie would look with the outfit that I had described to him. After showing me 2 outfits he told me the history of the tie manufacturer: Robert Talbott (look it up) and finally we checked out and left; but not with-out being "shaken-upside-down" My Dad dropped $60.00 for my bow tie, I'll keep this 'till I die.It's beeyewteafull. thank-you Dad!

B-McKne

Another project

2008-12-31T15:37:00.003-06:00

This is the project i am working on this week. this "shadow box" is actually for my neighbor who has a pool table. and I help her around the house with projects like this. this past summer we together resreened her back porch. It's kind of a pain stretching the screen across the supports.

but it did look good after it was finished. this box is 5' x 10" and will have a green felt back to match the pool table.there will be a thin piece of wood behind that, and in front of that will be a sheet of plexiglass. now inside this box a string of scorers, will hang and this will show who is winning the pool game. the wood is all from my neighbors basement, except for the thin piece behind the felt. so we saved a few bucks there; but the thing I was worried about was that I did not have two pieces that were 6' long, so I joined together 2 three foot pieces. These are all 45 degree joints which do the same thing as a butt or lap joint but look a little bit more decorative.

they are a little bit trickier to measure out though. I learned that when I installed new trim in my room. (don't look in the corners) the tools I used for this project were: My air nail gun,

my craftsman 10 inch mitre saw, my speed square, my great grandpas engineers measuring "stick", my little 6 inch combination square, my try square, my pliers,(for when I mess up), some wood glue, and my tape measure.

I am B-McKne

2008-12-23T15:46:00.002-06:00

I am B-McKne, this name was given to me by my grandfather. and this is the name I use for myself. It is my "pen-name" I am a biker; road, dirt, BMX, you name it.
also I am a musician. I play the piano, drums, guitar, harmonica, bass, mandolin, and I sing.
sometimes. I am also a swimmer, I swim to stay fit for biking in the summer. competitive swimming takes a whole lot of energy. even for me. it is not just muscles that you need to be a fast swimmer, technique almost has a bigger part. once you have the technique down you get stronger, and faster. I am also a beginning welder.