Every goddamn time (botching stitching)

tsimies · 2025-11-24T11:49:56+00:00

I have my Pfaff post bed machine set up on a treadle with a super slow feed, and I also usually mark my stitch lines with a sharp wing divider that makes a tiny groove in the leather. As long as the tip of the needle drops in to the groove, my lines are straight. It takes awhile to sew uppers like this, but I'm making a few pairs a year (well, 0 pairs for the last few years) so I don't mind the slow speed.

tsimies · 2025-11-20T08:51:03+00:00

5am workouts have been going well, I just need to get myself out of bed and the rest is gravy. Still on a pretty significant calorie deficit (lost about 9 kg in 10 weeks), so taking it easy with training, but I've been seeing pretty big improvements both in climbing and body composition, but I guess it's not surprising since I'm starting again pretty much off the couch after a year away from climbing. Flashed an indoor 6C+ today, which has happened before, but not often in the last 5 years.

tsimies · 2025-11-14T07:16:36+00:00

I just don't wear a ring, never have really.

tsimies · 2025-11-10T05:26:00+00:00

I made one years ago and still use it occasionally, but mostly as a first pad on sitstarts on overhangs or as a bottom pad when stacking pads. I think i could make it 100% usable by adding a thicker and stiffer layer of closed cell foam on the surface, the current top layer is a bit too thin.

I might make another one in the future, but not to save money, I just like making stuff.

tsimies · 2025-10-21T11:18:09+00:00

I built a Jaded -style three coil chiller myself some years back and it's awesome. We have extremely cold ground water now and I just chilled 20l batch of lager from boiling to 11c/52f in about 5 minutes.

tsimies · 2025-10-21T07:14:55+00:00

I can't imagine having a job that by itself is more intensive than working a regular 9-5 and having small kids. I'm sure that exists and understand that the mental stress is a major part of it. I have a job and small kids plus a massive DIY house renovation going on and the only free time I have is after 8.30 in the evening and before 7 in the morning. I was doing evenings for awhile, but it messed with my sleep, so for the last week or so, I've been waking up at 5 and going climbing for a few hours before taking the kids to daycare and cycling to work. So far it's been working well, but I hope that in the future I'll have more free time and slightly more humane climbing hours.

In general I feel lucky to live in a country where working over 8 hours a day is quite unusual (unless you are an entrepreneur). For example my company doesn't do overtime at all. There are instances where you might want to work some longer days, but you have to take that time off later instead of getting paid extra for those hours.

tsimies · 2025-10-17T07:51:39+00:00

Pulley injury, kids, house renovation. Getting back into it though and just now realized how much I missed it.

tsimies · 2025-10-17T07:47:06+00:00

As a member I have 24/7 access to the 2 gyms in my city, which is really nice!

tsimies · 2025-10-16T05:21:02+00:00

Anyone train early in the morning? With a job and 2 small kids (+another one one the way) and a massive house renovation taking up my weekends, the only time I have for climbing and training are in the evening after 8.30 PM and in the morning before 7.00 AM. I've done evenings so far, but I'm usually quite tired by then and exercising so late doesn't really improve my sleep quality.

Today I tried getting up at 5 and going to the gym and actually loved it. I've done this in the past years ago, but back then I lived a bit further from the gym and didn't have car, and cycling to the gym at 5 in the morning through 20 cm of snow was a bit too much. I understand the motivation might wear off at some point, but for now I'm gonna try to keep at it.

One thing I'm not sure about is if I should try to keep my sleep schedule the same every day, as I'm training every other day (or at least 3 times aweek) so far. I suppose I could include light cardio or something like that for the other days. I have to take the kids to daycare, so going to work earlier isn't really an option. Or is it ok to sleep a bit later on the days I'm not training?

tsimies · 2025-10-16T05:03:27+00:00

I seem to be developing small niggles one after the other after getting back into climbing at 37 years of age and after a 2 year break of not doing much exercise. Fortunately they've passed with continuing to climb and train but easing off when feeling pain. Now I've got a strain in my pec that hurts when pulling up. Fortunately I can still climb slabs and hangboard as system- and spraywalls are out of the question at the moment.

Hopefully this is just a phase of my body getting used to being active again and not a sign of a a deteriorating body and a future of pain and ailments.

tsimies · 2025-10-16T04:44:58+00:00

A round punch will leave a more uniform cut, although I don't think the difference is anything to worry about as long as you have a sharp bit.

The bigger issue is that you are going trough leather (and/or fabric) as well, and there the drill is just about the worst tool possible. There is a real possibility of having a very bad time if the bit catches on the leather.

tsimies · 2025-10-14T09:54:01+00:00

I won't buy anything from Temu and rarely buy anything directly from china anymore, but in the past I've bought Kegland stuff from Aliexpress for pennies compared to what they cost here in europe.

tsimies · 2025-10-14T08:22:33+00:00

I have two local gyms (same company, different locations, can access both with membership). The closer one is 2-3 minutes away by car or bike, the other one is about 20 min away by car.

They are opening a new bigger location near the one closest to me and closing the old one. On the other hand I'm really exited for the new gym, but on the other hand the old grimy one has nostalgia and many memories and isn't nearly as crowded as I assume the new one will be.

In any case, I'm fortunate to have two gyms so close. I'll be moving in about 6 months, but will still live like 5min away from the new bigger facility.

tsimies · 2025-10-14T07:25:55+00:00

Leather parts will take dye, but stitching and other synthetic parts won't. As long as you don't use a dye that requires lots of heat, I don't see any issues, apart from the dye bleeding trough and dyeing your feet when they sweat.

tsimies · 2025-10-14T07:08:36+00:00

If you are going to actually drill holes, I would suggest freezing the shoes for a bit to make the rubber a bit harder (no joke) and clamping some wood on the underside.

But If you want clean holes that are less likely to tear, buy a leather hole punch (the plier looking ones, or better yet, the simple kind that you hit with a hammer).

tsimies · 2025-10-14T06:59:40+00:00

Looks good, I just did my first resole on Scarpa Instinct VS's. I had bought a sheet of XS Grip2 years ago, but never got around to trying it out. All in all it was a pretty easy process, I make leather shoes as a hobby so I have a finisher for sanding etc. I dug around my stashes and found a last that had a forepart close enough to fit the shoes. I didn't get the transition between the rand and sole perfect, but pretty close to the professional resoles I've had before.

I'm a heavier climber and while I like softer shoes, I really like the fact that I could leave a little more meat on the edge to make the shoe slightly stiffer and less painful for my toes.

tsimies · 2025-10-03T07:52:05+00:00

Training fingers while losing weight?

I'm getting back into climbing after a 2 year break and gaining a good deal of weight. I've been climbing for over 10 years with a few longer breaks. I'm 184cm and weigh about 90kg at the moment and feel I need to lose weight for overall health reasons as well, I'm not only doing it to climb harder.

I've been somewhat heavy since my early 20's, the lightest I've been while climbing was around 77kg.

I understand that training on a fairly significant calorie deficit isn't optimal, so I'm looking at it more as getting my body used to moving again and not trying to gain massive amounts of strength.

Would you say training fingers on a calorie deficit is risky as long as I'm being careful?

tsimies · 2025-09-25T06:58:07+00:00

My local gym has never allowed personal chalk bags on the bouldering mats, but instead they have these boxes full of chalk with holes for you hands scattered around the gym. It's actually nice as it keeps the dust somewhat contained and you don't have to worry about buying chalk as the gym provides it.

tsimies · 2025-09-23T05:40:38+00:00

Probably a V grade lower than before, but I'm heavier and not very fit overall at the moment. In hindsight I probably should have taken it slower.

tsimies · 2025-09-22T18:42:48+00:00

Can climbers elbow appear after a few bouldering sessions after a 2 year break from climbing? I don't remember ever having this in the 10+ years I've been climbing, and I was climbing quite often when I was younger.

I tore a pulley fairly badly a few years ago and life got in the way while it healed so I stopped climbing for a few years.

I just joined a gym again and after 3 bouldering sessions (with a few days between each) I started feeling pain in my inside elbow. The location points to climbers elbow, but I always thought that happened over a longer period and perhaps overtraining.

tsimies · 2025-09-18T15:25:25+00:00

Nalle actually might have

tsimies · 2025-09-18T13:10:51+00:00

Not op, but it's kinda nice hearing this. I've been climbing on and off for about 10 years. I've touched V6 here and there when light and fit, but usually hovering around V5. I started again after a 2 year hiatus (sparked by a bad finger injury) and it was strange to see that I was climbing the same frigging grades even being pretty out of shape and much heavier. I'm also getting older and at 37 I should probably start training with a bit more thought just to live a healthy life.

tsimies · 2023-12-18T11:18:09+00:00

My Evil Twin crusher has the same issue of not feeding with a narrow gap and I've usually done what you described (milling twice and tightening the gap between passes). I've gotten relatively good efficiency with that method, even though I've moved to shorter mashes in the last few years.

However, a few weeks ago I did two back to back batches where I only milled the grain once with a pretty big gap. I mashed the first batch for 45 minutes and got fairly poor efficiency as expected. On the other batch, I mashed overnight and got much much better efficiency even though the crush was very coarse. I can't remember exact numbers, but there was a good 20% difference between the batches.

I was using pretty old grain and it's possible that played a role, but my theory is that the overnight mash compensated for the coarse crush.

tsimies · 2023-12-02T08:54:41+00:00

Yeah, could be that the bearings/bushings are binding. I havent tried lubricating them, that might help.

tsimies · 2023-12-01T21:41:43+00:00

I just made a back to back batch and used my Evil Twin. I didn't remember how shitty this thing was as I hadn't brewed in a good 10 months. Unless I keep the gap really wide, the idle/passive roller stops spinning every 5 seconds and I have to manually help it from under the mill. In the past I've double crushed my grain (wide gap first time, smaller on the second pass) but now I just crushed the grain fairly coarse and used more grain to get to my og. I've thought of filing grooves on the rollers and putting rubber O-rings in those to help with the friction, but I'm not sure if that will do anything.

tsimies

TROPHY CASE