I recently made myself a pair of zero-drop, barefoot-adjacent shoes for light hiking and "urban trekking" on a sneakers last I modified to fit my feet. Wallabies and Paraboots-style moccasins are a great and comfortable design, but finding them in a zero-drop and wide toe box configuration is not as easy as it seems. No bragging, but I'm pretty proud of the result.
I don't know much about Iran, but I certainly do listen to a lot of music from the region. About a year ago, I stumbled upon a YouTube channel providing what they call "Persian jazz", basically a lo-fi jazzy version of Iranian popular songs. It's quite relaxing to listen to, but probably AI-generated. As of today, there is a massive amount of AI-generated Iranian songs on the web.
Could someone please explain who is behind that influx? Are these Iranian artists using AI tools? Is there more to it? How popular is it within the Iranian community?
Maybe more floppy disk metal than cassette futurism proper, but there are many overlapping elements and a new album is coming out soon. None of their releases have been less than awesome in the past ten years, so it's time to spread the love once again. Praise the code.
Recently gathered the courage to build my Tele. Things are going well and I'm in love with the finish I achieved. This is a JBR Wood (made in Italy) mahogany body. The rather bland grain of freshly sanded mahogany got the iron acetate treatment. Light sanding again to let the grain pop up, revealing the wavy pattern, then 4 layers of Danish oil. Waiting for the Warmoth roasted maple neck to arrive.
About 15 years ago, I bought this anvil from a retired farrier and blacksmith in Franche-Comté, Eastern France. At the time, he told me that it was a US made anvil, delivered to France around 1915 to help with the First World War effort. Can't prove it, can't disprove it... I'm currently moving my shop and quickly took a picture to post it here. It weighs about 80kg (180lbs) and has no markings apart from that large T. I mostly make modest tools for woodworking: chisels, drawknives, plane blades... Nothing fancy like y'all, but this beast has served me well and will continue to do so for the years to come until another smith carries it into the future.
The recent Sony MD post reminded me of my first Minidisc player, bought in '99 or 2000, most probably with my first summer job paycheck. There were better and more compact players available at the time, but that big rotary knob made the young me feel things...
Building my first Partscaster and while the woodworking side of things is not a problem at all as I have years of cabinet making experience, the electronics terrify me.
My plan is to build a Tele with two Jumbo MFD pickups. These are single coils. Therefore, are standard Tele wiring diagrams applicable to any single coils, Jumbo MFD included?
Secondary question, would 250k pots suit these pups? I've read here and there that 500k pots may be a better match. Not that I even exactly understand the difference between 250k and 500k, but...
I was visiting a cute little Roman festival in Switzerland with the kids today, and amongst reenactors, food carts and craftsmen of all trades, I stumbled upon a stall explaining everything about "caligae" and other types of Roman footwear. It happens that the stall was run by shoe history buffs and one lovely lady there is an amazing researcher who wrote two books on the matter (the first volume being her PhD thesis). We exchanged words and she told me that they also run a small non-profit museum (https://shoemuseum.ch/) in Lausanne (Western Switzerland).
Anyway, the lady's name is Marquita Volken and her books are absolutely fantastic, and very relevant for us shoemakers. I've read my fair share of books on shoemaking, but never had I heard of those. I warmly encourage you to give it a look if you have any passing interest in historical shoemaking, from prehistoric to Modern times!
I'm currently modifying a last to fit a pair of cupsoles. How much material should I remove at the toe to account for the thickness of the lining + toe puff + upper? Is it a simple addition of the overall thickness of the leather going there (in that case 1mm + 2mm + 2mm) or is there more to it? I currently have a 2.5mm gap all around with just a bit more room at the heel.
Not super jazzy-looking indeed. I was in the market for a simple no-frills guitar that I could play "silently" at work during lunch break. I was thinking cheap Tele or something (and certainly not an HSS configuration), but this popped up second hand for a very decent price. Well, this is actually an excellent piece of hardware for jazz. I'm not exactly sure about what the 5-ways selector does, but on the second top position (2 single-coils together?), the hum is gone and the clarity is fantastic. If somebody has info on what that selector does, I'm curious.
I've been a hobbyist shoemaker for several years now. Mostly stitchdown chukkas until now, so making a pair of sneakers is a first. I have to admit that I used to look down on the cupsole construction. In retrospect, that's actually a pretty neat and quick way to build shoes. Anyway. What I'm particularly proud of is that this is my first very own design. Pattern-making has terrified me for a long time and Etsy is full of readymade patterns. My recent read of Marcell Mrsan helped me overcome that fear. Fantastic books by a fantastic guy.
Holy crap! I made my own patterns! This is awesome!!!!!!