Since I have a new phone, and it is not the same size as the old phone, I needed to make a new phone tray.
New Phone Tray from Cherry
I made this from some 1/4″ cherry I had around after doing some re-saw work on a thicker cherry board from the Alben Sawmill. The sides are just tall enough to hold the phone, and the assembly is glued and pinned together with no fancy joinery. I left it all unfinished so it can age naturally in the sun. The cut-out at the bottom enables me to plug in a USB cord if I need to charge the phone or connect it to the Android Auto system. It also makes it possible to grab the phone and lift it out of the tray when needed. Can’t press the side buttons, but maybe that’s a good thing?
Phone plugged in via USB
Underneath the tray is a metal clip that attaches the tray to the parking brake lever. The clip is screwed to a wooden block that is attached to the tray with removable adhesive strips. The other wood block keeps the tray level, which was a problem with the old tray that I fixed this time.
Mounting System for the Phone Tray
If you need a tray for your Unihertz Titan 2, but you don’t have the time or ability to do woodworking, you can get this perfect fit plastic tray at IKEA for $3. You will have to figure out a mounting system yourself, however.
I just upgraded my phone, and I could not be happier. Anybody who knows me well knows that I have never owned a smartphone that did not have a physical QWERTY keyboard. I have been using pocket computers since the Palm III in 1998, and I got so sick of not having a keyboard for typing that when smartphones became a thing I bought the best QWERTY phone I could at the time (2010), a Motorola Backflip, and went all in on Android. Palm had already abandoned their original PalmOS and my ~12 years of history, so I migrated what I could and re-typed the rest. I knew that Apple would never give me the kind of device I wanted, and my best chances were with Android.
Who knew that Blackberry would be convinced as well? When the Blackberry branded Android devices became available I had exactly what I wanted. Quality hardware and an open software environment. The Priv is still one of my favorite phones ever. It was a thin, lightweight device with a slide-out keyboard, a great battery, and a gorgeous screen.
The only problem was, the hardware was too fragile for my clumsy habits. I broke two Priv screens and a Key 2 LE before Blackberry would stop licensing their name. When Unihertz came out with their Titan Slim, I had already been waiting extra-long for an upgrade. The original Titan was legendary for its rugged design but its hardware and OS were a little aged. The Slim was a better in almost every way Key 2, with a serious battery and a protective case right in the box. I did not trust them for the Kickstarter, but I have been very happy with my retail purchase for the last 3 years.
When Unihertz announced the Kickstarter for the Titan 2, I was somewhat torn. My ideal plan would have been simply a new model of Titan Slim. I really did want a 5G phone, though. I signed up on the second or third day of the Kickstarter after it was clear they were going to reach their goals. I watched them blow through their stretch goals and prove “the market” completely wrong about keyboard phones. There is plenty of demand for niche hardware, as long as you are not trying to dominate the market. If you are just trying to make phones that a reasonable number of people want, you can probably stay in business. Heck, most of the phones that Unihertz makes are not “for me”, and that’s OK. I don’t need to ridicule them for following a slightly different path, because I have met people who are very happy with the oddball Unihertz phones they have bought. There are already so many “not for me” phones in the world that a few more, even if they are from a company I have grown to trust, do not signify a personal betrayal. The Titan 2, it turns out, is very much “for me” and is basically the phone for which I have been waiting.
With Titan Slim
The Titan 2 is significantly wider that the Slim/Key2 form factor, but it is noticeably shorter. It is also thinner than the Slim, closer to the Key2 in thickness. The new 3.5″x4.5″ footprint means that it does not fit all of the 3″x6″ infrastructure I have had in place since 2018, but it is a small price to pay for the benefits.
The benefits are of course the wider screen and keyboard. The increased size of the keyboard means that the keys are much larger and easier to hit. My Slim’s keyboard has noticeable wear because it was easier to hit keys with my nails than my fingertips. I am typing this whole blog post on my Titan 2 just to demonstrate that it is a comfortable experience.
The wide, high resolution display is comfortable and attractive as well. Some people are put off by its square aspect ratio, but remember that I spent almost 10 years using square screens on PalmOS. Remember that I spent another 6 years using QWERTY phones where the keyboard was only available in landscape mode. Even when I was transferring my data to the Titan 2 and I was physically switching back and for the with my old Titan Slim, the tall skinny display on the Slim began to feel awkwardly narrow and confined. Typing and viewing pages on the wider screen is just more comfortable. If I run a terminal emulator I can get a shell window that is a very natural 79×32 characters, only 1 column narrower and 8 rows taller than the standard 80×24 terminal. Graphics are sharp at about 450 dpi, and I dim the backlight to about 25℅ in most lighting. Even with the on-screen typing suggestions, toolbars, and other interface annoyances, there is still plenty of room to work.
Back, Showing Sub-screen
The sub-screen on the back is a little silly, and I would probably be just as happy without it, but I am getting used to having it. Imagine having a smartwatch embedded in the back of your phone and you will get the idea. It is a bit easier to use the subscreen for a quick time check or notification display, especially in a dark room. You can also use the sub-screen as a viewfinder for the camera, peek at media player status, or show a compass. You can actually use the sub-screen to interact with any application on your phone, though the interface may be awkward at small scale and full compatibility is not guaranteed.
Subscreen with Foobar 3000
I would like to address one last thing. Too many reviewers have classified the Titan 2 as a “Blackberry Passport clone”. The first Titan may have been intended to fill the Passport niche, but it became its own thing and has its own place in the hearts of its owners. The Titan 2 is an updated Titan. That is what it was intended to be, and that is what I think it succeeds at being. It is a communication device that fits in your pocket, although it may need a slightly wider pocket than you are used to.
A while back, I bought myself a pair of overalls. Sometimes, especially when it’s hot, wearing pants with a waistband is uncomfortable, and I usually have to wear a belt with pants, which makes it even more uncomfortable. These overalls had a couple of narrow tool slots on the thigh, and several more on the front bib. I took to carrying around markers, pencils, etcetera in these slots, then started acquiring more tools that were narrow enough to fit in them. Pen-knife! Penlight! Scissors! Soon I had more tools than I had slots, and some of my overalls (by now I was up to three pairs) had fewer slots. I needed a way to organize these tools in my dresser and maybe even pack them for travel. Time to make another tool roll. I went into my fabric stash and found a suitable piece of canvas left over from the Natural Shop Coat project, and got to work.
Tool Roll Closed
Here’s what it looks like all rolled up. You can see that I did not make any effort at all to hide the stitching. I don’t see why I would bother.
Tool Roll Open
Unroll it and lift the flap, and you can see six tools filling half of the twelve slots of the roll. I could also put a craft knife, metal ruler, screw driver, and some other things in there if I want. There’s even room if I acquire more tools. I think the rule is that the tool has to have a pocket clip. I had to add a pocket clip to the scissors so they would qualify.
Tool Roll with Tools Shown
Here are all the tools I have in there right now: drafting pencil, marker, regular pen, folding knife, scissors. flashlight. See how handy this kit is?
Oshizushi is any kind of sushi that has been pressed into shape, similar to the way that onigiri rice balls are pressed to form the rice into a hand-holdable mass. When I was in Toyama back in 2016 for the TV show, Yokkaichi’s mother made masuzushi as part of a large festive dinner. Masuzushi is a specialty of Toyama, and it is an oshizushi made in a round press. The press is lined with bamboo leaves and layered with rice and then fresh trout before it is pressed into a solid “cake” of sushi. The masuzushi is then cut into wedges like a regular cake and served. This dish is so iconic to Toyama that you can buy it in the train station as a souvenir.
Anyway, in order to make oshizushi of any kind, you need a press. I have a plastic press for making onigiri, but it is not good for making anything other than the triangular rice balls. The best presses are a kind of bottomless box, with a lid that slides inside like a piston. It does not have to be super-solid since you’re only applying finger pressure, but it should be fairly sturdy. The open bottom enables you to place the box (“hako” or “bako“) onto a sheet of nori or other flat surface, fill it with rice and other tasty stuff, then insert the lid and compress the ingredients into shape. You can then lift the box from the surface and use the lid to push the oshizushi out the bottom.
I made my oshizushihako from some maple I bought at the Alben Sawmill and machine-planed down to 5/8″ thickness. The corner joints are the large-fingered box joints that I see on most medieval Japanese boxes, and since I didn’t want my food to contact glue I secured the joints with copper nails. The piston lid is a flat piece of maple that is roughly 3″ x 4.24″ to follow the 1 by 1.414 ratio that is commonly seen in Japanese woodworking. This is also a good size for making onigirazu “rice sandwiches”.
Pressed cake of rice on a sheet of nori
Roasted chestnut onigirazu ready to serve
For best results, use hot freshly cooked rice and wet the box and lid thoroughly to keep the rice from sticking.
The first is another white kosode. I’m having to retire one of my old, old kosode because the cotton fabric is failing, so I need a kosode with narrow sleeves that can fit through narrow spaces in older garments. I have modified all of my older kosode to maximize the opening where the sleeve meets the body, but some of them just don’t have a lot of height to the sleeve itself.
White Kosode 2025, from Linen
I only had a few months left to make my white kosode for 2025 anyway. This one is from the nice white linen I have been buying at Pennsic for the last few years. Due to some poor planning, I was not able to use the most au courant sewing pattern for kosode. I also decided to cut the piece for the neck band a little wider than normal, so it would stay more visible when worn under other kosode. This meant that the okumi overlaps are a little small. Oh well.
The next one is more exciting and more interesting. It’s made from a black and white linen tartan fabric I also bought at Pennsic, I think from the same merchant who sold me the linen for the recent green hakama. The pattern is woven in, not just printed on the surface. It’s very nice fabric.
The overlaps are a full panel width! They are joined at the edges of the neck opening! Neither the body panels nor the overlap panels are cut to make them narrower or angled, they are just folded! The sleeves are 1.5 panels wide, but those panels are not cut either! The sleeve ends double back on themselves to make self-facings! If you look closely, you can see I’ve done some clever things at the seams where sometimes the grid matches up and sometimes it doesn’t. I know all that sounds very technical and maybe doesn’t make sense to you, but trust me, I’m very happy with the work that went into this one.
During my time between jobs while the weather is still good, I have been taking some long walks in the parks and neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. You’re probably familiar with the “Little Free Library” book sharing trend that has been sweeping around for the last 20 years or so. Around the city I have noticed an extension of the movement that has reached into some odd areas of human existence.
Little Free Puzzle Library
This puzzle library is on a one-way street in Squirrel Hill. Sweetie made me tell her where it is so she can offload some puzzles.
Peace Rocks
This library is also in Squirrel Hill. Clearly there is a greater demand for peace than supply. I might start collecting peaceful rocks and restocking these shelves.
Dog Library
Take a stick. Leave a stick. This one has an attached annex for the peoples.
Context for the Dog Library
This two-part library is in Garfield, on a busy street. As in probably any North American City, most of the people you see out walking in Pittsburgh are walking a dog. I’ve seen some very handsome dogs.
Sweetie and I were in a fabric store a few weeks ago, and they had a selection of faux boro fabric in several colorways. I really don’t need another happi coat, but they always come in handy and are a way to add another layer to a basic outfit as the evening cools off at Pennsic. Plus, one of the colorways was “black and gold”, which fits into the aesthetic we have here in the Debatable Lands.
Happi from Black & Gold Faux-Boro Cotton
Happi were some of the first Japanese garments I ever made for SCA wear, and they are still fun to make. They have a partial lining that helps to make them very durable. They are a good use for a a few yards of fabric that would be uncomfortable or distracting to wear as just about any other garment. The pattern I use is based on Folkwear 129, “Japanese Hapi & Haori“, but I no longer really need to refer to the pattern, I can just make one mostly from memory.
I’m going to save this one probably until January, then wear it at our Baronial 12th Night event, which is the SCA’s version of a Winter Holiday party.
We have some big SCA events coming up in the Barony, and our Baronage loves recognizing people for their hard work by inducting them into our Baronial orders. Tradition has it that we give all inductees something they can use to display their membership in the order, and the one thing I can make most reliably is a “belt favor” machine-embroidered with the symbol of that order. Here is the most recent harvest from the fertile fields of my surplus fabric stash:
These are all made from surplus fabric green linen from my recent Basic Hakama project. The red comets are for martial activity, gold for service, blue/silver for arts & research, and green for “friend of the Barony”. The comet on the Order of Copernicus favor glows in the dark!
In our SCAKingdom, the basic level award for arts and research is called the Order of the Sycamore. Almost all of the trees that line our street (Shady Avenue) here in Pittsburgh are sycamores, and they shed branches all the time. When life gives you sycamore, make sycamade! Er, madellions. I mean, medallions!
I had a sycamore branch that had come down in the street in front of the house, and that I had cut up into 2-foot lengths. They’ve been drying in the garage for a couple of years, and it was time to do something with them. I cut a stack of “cookies” from one of the branches, and sanded both side of them smooth. Then, I dipped them in sanding sealer, let that dry, and sanded them even smoother. (somewhere in there I drilled them to accept a jump ring for hanging. Next, I painted the badge of the order on each cookie, and sealed the paint with a couple of coats of shellac. (Did you know that “gum arabic”, the binding agent in water paints, is not soluble in alcohol, the solvent in shellac?). Finally, I braided six cords on the marudai and hung each medallion from a cord.
The medallions themselves. Actually, this was from before the shellac
Some friends of ours who were living right around the corner from us were about to move to Portugal. They had a bunch of lumber that they had been using for storage shelves in garage, and they asked me if I wanted it. Three of the pieces were 8-foot 1-by-12s, so I decided to use them to make three brand-new “Pennsic Chairs“. After this photo was taken, I put a few coats of finish on the chairs, and later wound up giving them away to other friends.
I realize now that for as many years as I have been making these chairs, I never posted detailed visual instructions. Let’s do that now.
First, I planed the lumber smooth, and cleaned up the edges. Mark a middle line 42 inches form one end (for the seat), and 54 inches from the other (for the back).
Next, on the back piece, 12 inches up from the middle line, mark a mortise about half the width of the lumber (so, 5 or so inches), centered, and a little more than the thickness of the lumber.
Then, on the seat piece, starting 12 inches down from the middle line, mark the tenon. It should be a little less than the width of the mortice, centered, and all the way from the start line down to the end.
Using a jigsaw, I cut out the mortise. It’s best to start by drilling a hole, then cut towards the edges in curves until you can cut clean on the line.
You can use the same saw, and cut the edges of the tenon on the seat piece. These are long cuts, so take your time.
It’s easier to cut the joinery with the lumber in one big piece, but now you can cut along the middle line and separate the two pieces. Use files and sandpaper to clean up all the cut edges, and maybe round over the corners a little bit.
Test the fit by sliding the tenon through the mortise and standing up your new chair against the floor. Now all it takes is some finish and waiting.
