Today we have the privilege of talking with Don Walker, founder of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, and Don Walker Cycles. NAHBS 2014 is opening today in Charlotte, NC and 50 BUILT is here to cover the show. Stay tuned for a full coverage feature of the show and the frame-builders in attendance. Can you give 50 BUILT readers some background on yourself up to this point? I grew up in Sacramento, Ca. and started racing road bikes at the age of 14. After I graduated high school, I went into the work force as an aircraft mechanic while still racing track, kind of part time. I spent 4 years working as a civilian on B1-B and B-2 Bombers. Around 1990 I wanted to take my skillset and make bike frames. It was a a way for me to stay with and give back to the sport…Continue Reading
There are a few products that you encounter that truly feel unique and innovative. Bound custom journals fall into that category. These are truly custom journals, built to your specifications, crafted one at a time by hand in North Carolina. Expensive, you might think, but they are not. For $35 you get a 140 page hard-bound journal made up entirely of pages that YOU need. For $10 you have the same custom options in a smaller 48 page memo book. The ordering process is a great and enjoyable process. The hardest part is deciding what you want your one-of-a-kind journal to be. You can add blank pages, grid pages, a calendar with any duration of your choosing, game pages, address book, to-do lists, maps of major world cities and more! Just add what you need up to 140 pages, in any order, and it will be made. Not only will…Continue Reading
Carved is a company in Elkhart, Indiana that has a serious passion for creating the finest wood iPhone, iPad and Kindle skins. They are highly customizable with a laser-etched process, or they come simple and clean in Mahogany, Walnut, Redwood, Olive Ash, Paldao, Padauk, Purpleheart, Bamboo, Ebony, Sycamore or Cherry woods. A great feature is the price-point for these American made skins. For the iPhone, the basic clean wood covers start at $19 and for the detailed laser etched designs you are looking at $29. One feature, that is a true perk of domestic manufacturing, is the ability to customize your own. For $49 you can send your own artwork and have them create a truly unique, one-of-a-kind skin. The two we are reviewing today have intricate laser-etched details carved into the wood, one of a world map, and the other of a ‘Wild West’ character. The wood grain is beautiful…Continue Reading
Today’s interview is with Joe Hardin of Texas Timber. Joe and his father, Wayland, started Texas Timber back in 1998 and have made a niche for themselves in the custom wood bat market. It’s a great story, keep on reading! Can you give 50 BUILT readers some background on yourselves and how Texas Timber came to be? Sure. I’ll start with my dad, Wayland; he grew up in a small farming community and has always approached life by letting hard work speak for itself. He is one of those guys that can implement anything – from woodworking, to welding, to mechanics– he still amazes me with what he is able to do. He is also the type of guy that if it you can get by on a task with 2 nails, he is going to use at least 4 nails to make it solid. We joke as a…Continue Reading
There are few industries that are as quintessentially American as the Motorcycle industry. Iconic skateboard apparel company, Matix, teamed up Lossa Engineering of California to build an all-American motorcycle from fabrication to upholstery. The motorcycle build was based on the Harley 1200 a company dedicated to American manufacturing for over a century. The attention to detail, paint scheme and the end product is a great example of what can happen when you have the power of manufacturing at your finger tips. Cruise on over to Matix’s website for more on the project. The above video is from Matix’s Vimeo Stream.