2009-2011 South Bay Free Methodist Church, Velocipede restoration project for Lomita Railroad Museum

7/11/09 to 2/26/11

 

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2/26/11 Final Velocipede Work Day 35

Roy and Mary Tsugawa, Geoff Watson, Dan Palomino, Paul and Setsuko Kashitani, and Sandie Matsuura

Mary finished the touch up painting during the week

Delivered the fully restored Velocipede to Faith Bilyeu at the Lomita Railroad Museum, along with the old parts, plans, scrap book, and left over paint.

 

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1/22/11 Velocipede Work Day 34

Carol Hamamura, Karl Parsons, Dan Palomino and Karis, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Roy sanded and painted the glove box red

Roy layed out and drilled the seat and rear tray assembly and rails

Carol cleaned parts and greased the bearing surfaces

Dan and Karl helped grease and assemble parts

Karl sanded the brake assembly and assembled it

Roy, Dan and Karl assembled the lubricated drive train and installed washers and cotter pins

Installed front wheel and outrigger wheel

Roy and Mary performed final assembly of the different components

Mary filled the oil holes with melted wax to prevent water from leaking in and rusting the bearing surfaces

Mary touched up some of the bare metal with black paint

Tested the velocipede on jack stands

Roy aligned and pinned the outrigger

Dry fit the seat and rear tray to the frame

 

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1/15/11 Velocipede Work Day 33

Paul and Setsuko Kashitani, Lillian Kitagawa, Geoff Watson, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Mary and Roy made the rails for aligning the Velocipede

Paul and Setsuko painted the handle yellow

Setsuko and Lillian touched up the wheel spokes with red

Roy made the wooden glove box, using box joints and drilled drain holes in it

Geoff, Mary, and Paul assembled the Velocipede drivetrain minus the handle

 

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12/11/10 Velocipede Work Day 32

Paul and Setsuko Kashitani, Cliff and Aaron Rapp, Geoff Watson, Mary and Roy Tsugawa

Mary painted the outrigger yellow

Roy assembled the handle with pinned tenons and glue at all the joints

Setsuko sanded the dowels flush and sanded the handle

Paul and Setsuko caulked the joints between the spokes of all three wheels using GE Silicone II paintable caulk

Mary and Aaron glued the asbestos pad to the brake shoe

Cliff measured the spacing of the rails at the museum – 56” on the inside, with ½” flange to rail clearance

Geoff, Roy, Cliff and Aaron assembled the velocipede frame

Roy and Geoff assembled the outrigger

Roy mortised the frame rails to clear the main crank and Geoff sanded it

 

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11/13/10 Velocipede Work Day 31

Geoff Watson, Mary and Roy Tsugawa

Roy trimmed the top handle bar

Roy trimmed the handle tenons and drilled mortises into the top handle

Roy drilled the outrigger and the handle

Roy cut the groove in the brake shoe and Geoff cut it and shaped it

Geoff cut the metal rod and copper pipe as a bushing and dry assembled the drive train

Mary primed and painted parts, primer, black, red, yellow

 

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10/30/10 Velocipede Work Day 30

Geoff Watson, Tex Hilley, Fred Tanabe, Carol Hamamura, Dan Palomino, Mary and Roy Tsugawa

Roy and Mary sanded the paint drips off and Mary touched up the yellow parts

Geoff and Tex Hilley added a threaded section to the outrigger tension rod

Roy pinned and shaped the outrigger

Roy sanded the outrigger and laid out the holes for the metal parts

Geoff and Mary turned the top handle part

Fred and Carol sanded the frame rails to prep them for final painting

Fred prepared the tension rod for painting and primed it

Dan brought the back wheel back from the museum and sanded the outrigger axle parts

 

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10/09/10 Velocipede Work Day 29

Paul and Setsuko Kashitani, Lillian Kitagawa, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Paul scraped the glue off of the outrigger glue up

Paul, Setsuko, Lillian, and Mary painted parts

Mary and Roy cut apart the turnings and drilled holes through the center of them

Roy trimmed and shaped the outrigger

 

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9/25/10 Velocipede Work Day 28

Sandie Matsuura, Mary and Roy Tsugawa

Sandie and Mary finished scuff sanding the frame rails and the yellow spindles and seat and shelf parts

Mary made two bottom handles on the lathe

Roy cleaned up the half-lap joints for the replacement outrigger and glued the two pieces together

Planed the joints flush and glued the two outrigger halves together

 

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9/11/10 Velocipede Work Day 27

Geoff Watson, Mary and Roy Tsugawa

Geoff and Mary turned a handle spacer and three small spindles for the cargo shelf on the lathe

Roy mortised the top frame rails for the outrigger clamps

Roy cut angled half laps into the outrigger boards

 

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8/28/10 Velocipede Work Day 26

Carol Hamamura, Geoff Watson, Erik McBeth, Paul Kashitani, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Carol primed the velocipede rails

Mary, Carol, Paul and Erik sanded the primer coat on the velocipede seat, tray, and spindles

Carol, Erik, and Paul painted the seat, tray, and spindle parts yellow – first coat

Mary and Geoff turned the handbrake handle and the second handle lever spacer

Roy finished laying out the outrigger and began cutting the straight secions

 

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8/14/10 Velocipede Work Day 25

Lillian Kitagawa, Geoff Watson, Dan Palomino, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Geoff made replacement turnings for the long main lever handle rails

Lillian and Mary primed the cargo tray seat pieces

Dan primed the horizontal and vertical spindles

Roy and Geoff did the final shaping of the frame rails

Mary and Lillian sanded the frame rails

Roy and Geoff made paper patterns of the outrigger and Geoff laid out the main span onto oak stock

 

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7/10/10 Velocipede Work Day 24

Paul and Setsuko Kashitani, Geoff Watson, Sandie Matsuura, Carol Hamamura, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Mary and Geoff turned a replacement vertical spindle

Drilled the new spindle

Roy cut the tail fins and seat boards

Shaped the seat boards on the disk sander

Patched imperfections in the board joints and some of the spindles

Hand sanded the seat and shelf boards and the support rails and the spindles

Drilled the frame rails and thinned the lower rails to match the hardware

Dry assembled the new velocipede frame and located the holes for the hardware that spans the top and bottom rails.

 

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7/3/10 Velocipede Work Day 23

Fred Tanabe, Paul and Setsuko Kashitani, Geoff Watson, Dan Palomino and Micah and Karis, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Roy and Mary glued up boards to make wide planks for the cargo tray and seat

Geoff sanded the glue ups smooth

Roy made blanks for all the turnings

Fred, Paul, and Geoff laid out the plans for the replacement outrigger

Geoff made the seat rails and cargo tray support rails

Setsuko and Dan and the kids sanded the parts

Laid out seat profile onto the planks but did not cut them out yet

 

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6/19/10 Velocipede Work Day 22

Mark Kawamoto, Cliff and Aaron Rapp, Dan Palomino and Micah and Karis, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Scuff sanded the metal parts

Painted metal parts black and wooden dog bones red

Did final checks and adjustments to the frame rail hole layout and center punched the holes

 

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6/12/10 Velocipede Work Day 21

Dan Palomino, Sandie Matsuura, Mark Kawamoto, Geoff Watson, and Roy Tsugawa

Scuff sanded the primed metal parts

Primed a few parts

Painted most of the metal parts black

Laid out the holes for the mechanical and connecting parts of the 4 frame rails

 

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5/29/10 Velocipede Work Day 20

Carol Hamamura, Geoff Watson, Paul and Setsuko Kashitani, Erik McBeth, Mark Kawamoto, Dan Palomino, Cliff Rapp, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Carol, Mary, Erik, Paul, Setsuko, and Mark cleaned the metal parts, treated them with phosphoric acid, and degreased the parts.

Dan, Setsuko, Mark, and Mary dried the parts with a towel and a heat gun.

Roy and Geoff ripped, planed, and trimmed the four frame rails.

Mark, Dan, Cliff, Mary, Paul, and Setsuko primed the metal parts using POR-15.

Geoff and Roy used taps and dies to chase the threads on the threaded metal parts.

Geoff and Roy started the wooden parts inventory and selected the blanks for the main handle lever arm and some turnings.

 

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5/1/10 Velocipede Work Day 19

Lillian Kitagawa, Fred Tanabe, Geoff Watson, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Fred removed the metal brace from the outrigger boom by cutting it out with a saw

Lillian finished sanding the metal parts and sorted them

Fred and Mary stripped the outrigger support rod

Geoff and Roy cut the front wheel rim screws to uniform lengths

Roy shaped epoxy putty to the right contours for the dog bone and a metal flange

 

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4/17/10 Velocipede Work Day 18

Paul Kashitani, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Paul used stationary and portable wire wheels to clean the main drive gear

Mary and Roy made jigs for holding the front wheel for drilling rim holes at 4.5 degree angle

Mary and Roy assembled the last wheel

 

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3/20/10 Velocipede Work Day 17

Carol Hamamura, Paul Kashitani, Erik McBeth, Mark Kawamoto, Geoff Watson, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Paul, Carol, and Erik continued stripping the metal pieces and started sanding the rust off

Mark and Geoff scuff sanded the primed spokes and rim parts

Mark, Geoff, and Mary put the first coat of Red FlexCote on the spokes and rim parts

Roy patched the wooden connecting rod and seat support with epoxy putty

Continued parts inventory to determine turnings that need replacement

 

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3/6/10 Velocipede Work Day 16

Sandie Matsuura, Fred Tanabe, Jon and Edna Yabu, Mark Kawamoto, Geoff Watson, Lillian Kitagawa, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Lillian and Mary finished sanding the front wheel parts

Geoff routed a radius on the rim parts

Fred cleaned up the glued up rails

Jon, Edna, and Sandie stripped metal parts

Geoff and Roy freed the seized brake pivot

Mark, Geoff, and Mary primed the wooden parts

 

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2/20/10 Velocipede Work Day 15

Paul and Setsuko Kashitani, Erik McBeth, Fred and Jan Tanabe, Geoff Watson, Mark Kawamoto, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Paul, Setsuko, Fred, and Jan stripped metal parts

Mark and Geoff sanded and fit wooden parts into the front wheel rim

Mary completed measuring and drawing the velocipede components (handles, seat, and glove box, and brake)

Mary and Roy assembled the outrigger wheel and completed it

 

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1/16/10 Velocipede Work Day 14

Sandie Matsuura, Carol Hamamura, Mark Kawamoto, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Sandie and Carol continued stripping the various wooden and metal velocipede frame and drivetrain parts

Mary took detailed measurements of the Velocipede frame railsThings to do (not all in one day):

Fitted parts of the rear wheel and drilled holes to accommodate Ό and 3/8 inch bolts

Found that the rim holes are angled

Also found that the holes are not completely uniformly spaced

Assembled rear wheel and glued cracked spoke

Touched up scratches in the red and black finish (still need to seal gaps between spokes with clear silicon before putting velocipede outside

Delivered completed rear wheel to Faith at the Lomita Railroad Museum for interpretive display until we need it back for final assembly

 

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1/9/10 Velocipede Work Day 13

Sandie Matsuura, Paul and Setsuko Kashitani, Fred Tanabe, Dan Palomino, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Roy thinned the inner rim parts for the front wheel

Sandie, Setsuko, and Mary stripped metal parts of the frame and drive train, and also stripped the wooden turnings that were structurally sound

Paul and Fred and Dan disassembled the velocipede frame to its component parts

 

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12/26/09 Velocipede Work Day 12

Mark Kawamoto, Paul and Setsuko Kashitani, Cliff and Aaron Rapp, Geoff Watson (and his mom), Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Roy and Mary finished painting the red wooden parts for the rear and outrigger wheels

Roy and Mary and Aaron sanded the shims flush on the new front wheel spokes

Cliff and Mark photographed the details of the velocipede frame

Paul and Mark worked on the start of disassembling the velocipede frame rear tray and front section

Setsuko and Paul began stripping metal parts of velocipede frame

Mark began taking measurements of the velocipede frame

Geoff came with his mother to see what was up and he helped with unbolting front cross members of the frame

 

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12/12/09 Velocipede Work Day 11

Fred Tanabe, Mark Kawamoto, Paul Kashitani, Geoff Watson, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Fred, Paul, and Mary scuff sanded primer with 220 grit to accept color coat

Mark applied grease to bearing races

Paul, Mark and Mary painted wooden wheel parts Red

Roy and Geoff made a wheel turning jig for the disk sander

Geoff cut out rim parts

Roy shimmed the spokes

Roy and Geoff drilled and sanded the spokes to fit the front wheel rim

 

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11/28/09 Velocipede Work Day 10

Mark Kawamoto, Mary and Roy Tsugawa

Sanded drips off of primed wooden parts

Sanded and touched up metal wheel and hub and bearing parts with Chassis Black

Used epoxy putty to repair chipped corner of one of the outrigger spokes

Primed wooden parts for rear and outrigger wheels

All finished with black painting and priming of wooden parts for Rear and Outrigger wheels

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11/14/09 Velocipede Work Day 9

Carol Hamamura, Fred and Jan Tanabe, Geoff Watson, Brian  Sinclair, Mark Kawamoto, Dan Palomino, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Nearly completed painting black metal parts, only touch up left to do

Finished stripping latex primer off of wooden wheel parts

Sanded parts

Primed wooden pieces with POR-15

Made full size pattern of the front wheel

Began adjusting new wooden parts to fit the pattern.  Decided to shim the thick rim pieces and remake 1 thick rim part and all 6 thin rim parts.

 

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10/31/09 Velocipede Work Day 8

Fred and Jan Tanabe, Geoff Watson, Erik McBeth, Sandie Matsuura, Paul and Setsuko Kashitani, Mark Kawamoto, Dan Palomino, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Geoff brought the Front wheel spokes that he made

Almost finished stripping and sanding the wooden spokes and rim parts where the latex primer did not stick

Put coat of black paint on the Rear wheel rim

Painted outrigger support rod black

Painted axle parts black

Patched wooden parts with epoxy putty and sanded to shape

Glued up, resawed and surface planed stock for Front wheel wooden rim pieces

Geoff laid out parts and cut them out using band saw

 

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10/17/09 Velocipede Work Day 7

Erik McBeth, Sandie Matsuura, Mark Kawamoto, Roy and Mary Tsugawa

Mary captured drawing of Velocipede frame details and cataloged fasteners

Sandie and Erik sanded and primed wooden velocipede wheel parts using Zinsser latex primer (didn't stick to the oily wood)

Roy repaired cracked parts and filled voids with JB Weld

Roy shaped and sanded the epoxy putty to restore the profile of the rear wheel rim lip

Mark cleaned and phosphated and primed the outrigger support bar, rear wheel rim, and rear wheel axle with POR-15

Mark and Sandie put 1 coat of black paint on the metal parts that had been previously primed, including the outrigger wheel parts, front wheel parts, and bearing holders.

Mary and Sandie and Roy began stripping and peeling off the latex primer from the wooden parts - the latex did not stick to the old oily wood

Roy tested POR-15 primer on the oily wood and found that it sticks well, we're switching to POR-15 for the whole project

Mary prepared a delicious lunch featuring refreshing Gazpacho soup

 

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10/03/09 Velocipede Work Day 6

Roy and Mary Tsugawa, Karl Parsons, Lillian Kitagawa, Cliff Rapp, Paul and Setsuko Kashitani, Emily McBeth

Emily and Mary painted the Keep Off sign red background

Mary and Emily sanded wooden wheel parts

Cliff, Lillian, Mary and Karl stripped wooden wheel parts – all finished stripping wooden wheel parts!

Paul and Setsuko cleaned rust off of the rims

Roy sanded the epoxy putty in the grooves of the front and outrigger rims and applied putty to restore the rear wheel rim where it was badly rusted through

Paul and Roy washed the front and outrigger wheel rims, treated them with phosphoric acid, and primed them with POR-15

Roy continued priming metal parts with POR-15

 

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9/26/09 Velocipede Work Day 5

Roy and Mary Tsugawa, Geoff Watson, Dan Palomino

Roy and Dan sanded epoxy in lip of front wheel, patched hole and thin spot with epoxy

Roy cleaned rust on outrigger rim and applied epoxy to lip of rim

Mary continued to strip and clean up wooden parts of the wheels

Geoff made replacement front wheel spokes out of red oak

 

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9/5/09 Velocipede Work Day 4

Roy and Mary Tsugawa, Carol Hamamura, Dan Palomino and Micah and Karis

Carol and Mary continued stripping the outrigger wheel parts

Mary, Micah and Karis primed three metal plates for the Keep Off sign

Dan used a rotary abrasive wheel and wire brushes to clean the rust from the front wheel rim

Used phosphoric acid to clean the lip of the front wheel rim and applied epoxy putty to fix holes and seal lip

Sanded POR15 drips from the front and outrigger axles

 

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8/22/09 Velocipede Work Day 3

Roy and Mary Tsugawa, Geoff Watson, Erik McBeth, Paul and Setsuko Kashitani, Dan Palomino and Micah and Karis

Setsuko used Marine Clean, Metal Ready, and POR-15 on the outrigger and front wheel hubs

Geoff made hardboard patterns for the rear wheel, having completed patterns for the outrigger and front wheels

The outrigger wooden parts are all sound and Dan stripped the spokes.  Only the rim pieces remain to be stripped.

The front wheel needs 100% replacement of every wooden part.

The rear wheel needs repair or replacement of only one spoke, the rest appears sound.

Paul and Erik and Roy continued to strip metal parts.

Mary baked and prepared lunch for everyone.

 

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8/8/09 Velocipede Work Day 2

Roy and Mary Tsugawa, Sandie Matsuura, Lillian Kitagawa, Mark Kawamoto, Geoff Watson, Linda and Aaron Rapp, Robin Chan, Dan Palomino and Micah and Karis

Continued stripping of the wheel rims

Almost finished stripping hubs, just touch up left to do on rear hub

Stripped the 4 bearing mounts, found out that they are brass or bronze

Striped outrigger axle and other metal parts

Assessed wooden parts of wheels, found front wheel needs 100% rebuild, outrigger wheel may be salvageable

Began making full sized templates of wheel parts that need to be replaced, about 2/3’s complete

 

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7/25/09 Velocipede Work Day 1

Roy and Mary Tsugawa, Paul and Setsuko Kashitani, Erik McBeth, Mark Kawamoto

Disassembled outrigger and wheels

Stripped Outrigger wheel rim

Stripped Front wheel rim

Stripped all three hubs

 

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7/11/09 Transported Velocipede

Roy and Mary Tsugawa, Erik McBeth, Mark Kawamoto

Picked up the Velocipede from Lomita Railroad Museum and brought it to Roy and Mary’s house

 

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Steps for restoring the Velocipede.

 

  1. Photograph, measure, and catalog every metal  part (nuts, bolts, rods, fittings, pins, axles, rims)
  2. Photograph, measure, and catalog the wooden parts
  3. Remove outrigger and disassemble to components
  4. Remove wheels and gears
  5. Disassemble wheels to component parts
  6. Strip paint off of wheel parts
  7. Clean rusted parts
  8. Use JB Weld to patch rust damaged rims and sand to match original contours
  9. Prime and paint rims black
  10. Blue nuts and bolts as needed
  11. Assess damage to wooden spokes
  12. Replicate spokes as needed
  13. Determine details of further disassembly at this point ………………….
  14. Disassemble velocipede frame
  15. Strip paint off of wooden parts
  16. Strip paint and clean rust from metal parts
  17. Prime metal parts and blue nuts and bolts
  18. Paint metal parts black
  19. Patch, splice, or replace square and flat wooden pieces
  20. Patch, splice, or turn new round wooden parts
  21. Cut mortises in wooden parts and drill holes as needed
  22. Use glue and fasteners to reassemble frame
  23. Prime wooden parts
  24. Paint spokes red, rest of wooden parts yellow, all metal parts black