Custom Staircase

A buddy's Dad wanted a new steel staircase to replace the ailing wooden one down to his beach. He said he wanted it big and burly, we discussed some basic dimensions and he told me to come up with a design.

I used CAD to design the staircase so that I could see how it would look. I wanted to get a sense of how the angles and handrail would all look when built to scale. This way for example I could see how the spacing on the stanchions looks and if it should be tighter or more open to look right.

I had all the steel delivered last week and I'm in the middle of it now. The 12" channel is gonna look super stout and the rough cut Cedar should be really cool as well. The owner wants a naturally rusted look, I'll rust it with natural chemicals (vinegar and hydrogen peroxide) so that it rusts evenly and not blotchy.

Custom receiver for Erik's bike rack

A good friend recently picked up a Suzuki Swift to run from Seattle to Bellingham for the next year and needed to carry some bikes with him. He'll still be able to get his rides in after work and will be getting great mileage in this little car.

Last night after work we went through the brakes and found the front pads we're almost gone so we changed those. The rear pads still have some life left and the fluid looked good so that was an easy brake job.

Then we got to work on a custom 2" receiver for this little car. We set the receiver up with quite a bit of angle to compensate for the suspension sag and to improve ground clearance.

The car is all uni-body so I came up with a large fish plate behind the trunk area and tied into the rear a-arm mounts. The receiver is very stout and will probably stiffen this little pop-can thing up some too in the corners.

Next I plan to swap in a smallblock V-8 with a four-link 9" rear-end. Not really. Well, probably...