Interviewed about the plein air painting gear on my bicycle

[Andre Jute]

 
Desperate for distraction in the winter? I'm interviewed on the Singaporean arts journal Parka Blogs about the plein air painting gear carried on my bicycle.
Plein air watercolour tools of Andre Jute

[John Saxby]

Nice, Andre. I know next to nothing about the tools of painting and sketching (let alone the technique!) but now I know a wee bit more.

I always enjoy reading about/listening to/watching people who care about quality tools, and the tools themselves. It's one of the reasons I patronize Lee Valley Tools (https://www.leevalley.com/) and read their printed catalogues -- they regularly reproduce hand tools from decades and even generations ago, and reprint books on how to use them.

[Andre Jute]

Lee Valley Tools (https://www.leevalley.com/)

Thanks, John. I know about Lee Valley, as they make hard-to-find vintage box hardware that is equally necessary on modern reproductions.



Since my bike is a reproduction (adaptation really) of a 1936 Dutch bicycle, I reckon my paintbox may as well be a proper reproduction too! (I have a real vintage paintbox box the size of a suitcase that I inherited from my teacher, but it is almost too venerable and nice to use.)

The nearest thing in cycling tools to Lee Valley is VAR, simply because some of their catalogue hasn't been updated since vintage times. Unfortunately, that the tool is in their catalogue doesn't mean you can buy it anywhere. I tried to buy a VAR 425 tyre lever for years but couldn't find a dealer who wanted to deliver it to me. Eventually I wore out all the tyres for which it would have been useful. Now, when it is a decade too late, SJS stocks it:



It's really useful for mounting/demounting obstreperously stiff tyres like the Marathon Plus and the aptly named Bontrager Elite Hardcase.

[Danneaux]

Those VAR tire levers are the bee's knees, Andre. I've had my three since the early 1980s and they've held up fine to the toughest challenges including trying to lever early folding tires with undersized beads onto 27in rims. Not just a tire lever, the other half is a tire jack and still one of the best out there.

They effectively top-out at 32mm tires, however.

Best,

Dan.

[Andre Jute]

Those VAR tire levers are the bee's knees, Andre. I've had my three...

To those that have shall be given. Oh woe! The world is not a fair place.

[jags]

You have some classy gear Andre that's for sure.

[Danneaux]

To those that have shall be given. Oh woe! The world is not a fair place.

Ah, Andre...I paid in advance for the seeming excess of owning three when I had to walk, carrying the bike in the rain for 15 miles to a pay phone, then wait another three hours for a ride when I couldn't get the fool tire off to fix the puncture....

Which is why I promptly bought three when I got home and have carried (and used!) them religiously Ever After when need arose.

Ironically, now tires and rims are made to much better tolerances that don't aggregate against me, I usually use just my fingers to mount and remove tires.

For what it is worth, even the Kool-Stop Tire Jack ( http://www.amazon.com/Kool-Stop-Tire-Bead-Jack/dp/B001AYML7K ) -- a dedicated shop tool -- is not a match for the mighty yet petite VAR RP42500.

VAR's shop tools have often been a bit crude and seemingly unnecessarily heavy, but they'll still be around after the Apocalypse. To this day, I rue selling my cast-iron VAR wheelbuilding stand. My Minoura still serves me faithfully for well over 30 years now, but it lacks some of the VAR's soul.

All the best,

Dan. (...who still things VAR roolz)

[John Saxby]

they make hard-to-find vintage box hardware

Vintage box hardware, eh?  I shoulda guessed/known but didn't -- not about the vintage hardware in general, but about your using it for your high-end wooden paint box. Good choice, Andre. Lee Valley consistently offers quality items, often more expensive than what you find elsewhere, but not always so; and in any case, the quality ensures that the products are good value.

We have a bit of a family connection to Lee Valley: Leonard Lee, the guy who started it, used to be a colleague of my brother-in-law in the 1960s, when they were both Trade Commissioners in Canada's federal department of external affairs. They still stay in touch. Lee left the feds, and set up his own business. I reckon that he found the department's culture and procedures a bit confining, and I'm glad he did what he did -- though I'm sure he'd have been an exemplary representative of our country.

[Andre Jute]

John and I are not surprised at all that you know about the VAR 425, Dan...

And you're right, you earned your three. I'm not so sure it is merely better manufacturing tolerances that make modern tyres/rims easier to match; I think modern tyres, and especially now that they are generally wider on all but road bikes, have more pliable sidewalls than only 20 years ago, except when they don't, as in the case of the wretched Marathon Plus.

John, the main thing about Lee Valley isn't their prices, which are generally short of shocking, but that often they're literally the only place you can find an essential item for sale at all.

[Danneaux]

Nowhere the art-quality of some of the Lee Valley tools, but any tool fondler should know about Eastwood: http://www.eastwood.com/ Tool-specific section here: http://www.eastwood.com/shop-equipment.html

Their selection of polishes and coatings is truly remarkable; I've used their two-part paints for years, as well as their polishing compounds and wheels with my buffers. My hammers and dollies came from them, as have a lot of my metal shaping tools and welding supplies. I can confidently say no competitor's English wheel removes thumbnails as fast as Eastwood's!

Open their online or print catalogs only when you have time, as hours pass unnoticed in the pursuit. Nothing better on a snowy winter's day with the fire crackling on its grate behind the hearth.

All the best,

Dan.

[John Saxby]

Just had a quick squiz at the hand tools & the fasteners, Dan. A man could easily get lost there, never to re-emerge...

[Andre Jute]

Don't distract me; I have my nose in the catalogues from Lee Valley and Eastwood. I'll speak to you guys next week.

[Slammin Sammy]

Gents,

You have distracted me with the OT discussion on tools, and as always when reading your musings, I have learned heaps. I too am a secret tool fondler and aspirational chippy, and when I want to drool over manual woodworking tools, I go to Lie-Nielsen Toolworks https://www.lie-nielsen.com and dream of a project to take on that would justify the purchase! Expensive, but works of art.

[Danneaux]

I go to Lie-Nielsen Toolworks

Ooh! Aah! Toolz, droolz.

I see they have a little different Starrets than mine, but no Mitutoyos. Still, *lots* to keep one occupied; thanks, Sammy!

All the best,

Dan.

[Andre Jute]

I go to Lie-Nielsen Toolworks

Ooh! Aah! Toolz, droolz.

+1!