Faux path racer: converting a Falcon 10 speed to single.

Now in glorious Technicolor!
Paint needs cutting back once it has hardened, but the voices are saying it looked better before painting...

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That is perfect don't listen to the voices.

I'm liking all of this. Just like our cycling used to be - mixing and matching parts, frames, wheels etc without spending money (money that we didn't have, no credit cards, so we could not spend).

The oversize rivets on the saddle are a good idea.

The chainline looks good in the photograph.

The saddlebag made from briefcase leather reminds me of cutting the leather fronts off some 'executive' chairs that I found in a skip (always carry a pocket knife) many years ago. Last used to punch out some leather washers under mudguard stays to prevent creaking.

The handmade headbadge - brilliant. Just leave it outside for the paint to bleach a little.

Hope you enjoy riding the 'Falcon'.

Update on badge bodging:
Several coats of paint have been left to harden before cutting back, and it still looked a bit too bright and shiny. At my age I can't afford to wait for the weather to weather it, so I've subdued it with a couple of coats of matt varnish, followed by a coat of gloss lacquer. I'm hoping that the pumice will give the impression of paint fading in sunshine, and the gloss will look like hours of reverential polishing.

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A saddle was contrived from bits of two damaged Brooks, apparently B17 Narrow from the 1950s, reassembled with oversize rivets to compensate for wear around the original rivet holes.

You just made my day. The headbadge work too. Lovely.

just seen this thread.
Over the last few days I have been researching the electro-etching. Good to see your excellent result.
I have designed my badge in Illustrator and plan to spray paint the brass, then remove the area to be etched with a laser etcher owned by someone I know. Then the salt water electrolysis etching. For colours I plan to paint some of the etched areas black and try my hand with jewellers enamelling for a red glass like finish in the remaining etched area.

What thickness was the brass you used to start with?

0.7 mm. Thick enough to stand etching, and much thicker than most of the stamped badges I've handled.

I did quite a bit with Corel Draw and a Gravograph laser before retirement (ex Technology teacher) but it was too long ago to call in any favours, hence the hand crafted approach.

If you can find commercially produced polished brass sheet for engraving, it often has a paper layer on one side to prevent scratching, and a lacquer layer to prevent tarnishing - the lacquer comes off nicely under a laser, and works better as an etch resist than any spray paint I've tried. Admittedly this was resisting ferric chloride in a bubble tank - possibly salt water is less aggressive?

Remarkably similar at first glance! I suspect mine is the more genuine fake...
Encyclopedic knowledge or much time searching?

Different saddle time - another experiment with an elderly (and repaired) B15 narrow, re-covered with three layers of wet formed briefcase leather and oversize copper rivets from a local ironmonger.

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Also, different tool bag straps - fastened 'around' rather than 'on top', so it hangs closer to the saddle.

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Badge is now glued on permanently and appears to be fading / weathering suitably.

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One of my favourite threads: enough to make #buyers everywhere weep!

Agreed. More of this type of thing!

lovely stuff.

I bet that's a hoot to ride.

I though I ought to actually put some miles in before answering, and since then the entire summer has passed. Rides tend to be more a wheeze than a hoot, although I understand Ventolin is no longer regarded as cheating.
It does attract attention (and comments) - some sport is to be found in conversation with club cyclists around the higher parts of the Clee Hills, provided I don't mention that I live there.
However. Either the gears are not right for the local hills, or my legs aren't right for this gear ratio. The solution seems to lie in spending some money: new legs or move house or a different freewheel. If it had been a 'proper' build I wouldn't have started with 48x16 - I can (probably) hide an extra freewheel from Mrs. E. when I get round to buying a more sensible size - I would imagine 18T, but I've yet to read the various gear ratio threads.

I'm pretty sure I have an 18T freewheel in my garage. If I have you can have it gratis.
Edit. It's 16T sorry.

Thanks for the thought - I'd been quietly looking on eBay, which has since grassed me up to MrsE via the 'recently viewed items' list...