Tuesday, December 16, 2008

minor set back...

Taking measurements for the chainstays to cut and miter;

Well I cut them to short by about 1 centimeter! DOH! well I had to do an order with Nova anyway so instead of using these and having to let the air out of the tire to install the wheel I will try it again with new stays. I will probably recycle these for a later bike with a steeper seat tube angle.
I am really looking forward to finishing this frame possibly this weekend so I can build it up and ride it. I think I will get it powder coated instead of trying to paint it myself because I want to improve my building skills before I start on paint skills.
I ordered the tubes and lugs for my next frame from Henry James yesterday and will get started on that over the Christmas holiday break. It is going to be a Road/Cross frame so I can go for road rides and hit some of the local fire road trails as well.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Mark, Tell me about some of the tools that you are using. What kind of setup? surface plate? what are you brazing with? Just looking for some insight. Thanks, Wil

Unknown said...

Mark, Tell me a bit about your setup. What are you brazing with? Surface plate? Wondering what works for you. Thanks, Wil

Mark said...

You know I have kept it really simple, I 1st started with a MAP gas setup and then I just bought a oxy/acetylene setup on craigslist last weekend. I don't have a surface plate yet and I am just using a super thick MDF table that is really flat and a piece of steel I found at scrap place to hold the BB. everything else is very basic for me like all cuts are either hack saw or dremel and then I hand file everything or use what ever dremel bits will work.
I have approached the process pretty much exactly like the Paterek manual suggests and I either make a fixture out of hardware store parts or buy tools as I go... The Paterek way is the most simple because you don't need a fixture persay just the willingness to try different things to get you to the correct place. It takes much longer this way but it is good for me now and I have only messed up on one major thing... the chainstays.

The lessons I am learning are amazing and really fun to work out...

The pictures below are the work I did last night, finished grinding the bottom bracket sockets.
Notched out the seat stays to fit the drop outs...
And the big big moment... doing my 1st miter on the seat tube (Tim calls this one the most forgiving miter and he is right)

I think that many of the lessons and techniques I have learned from wood working are carrying over into metal working very nicely.

bottom bracket, right side done (before finshing sanding)

bottom bracket, right side done (before finshing sanding)
the left socket is just starting to get ground, notice how thin the walls of the right socket have gotten. there is a lesson there and you will see in following pics!

grinding with a stone

grinding with a stone
it took a while with this stone but with the tight corners I had to use it because I only have one small sand paper bit left

ooh ahhh... a little sparks flyin

ooh ahhh... a little sparks flyin
That lesson I spoke of earlier is happening in this pic...

Ahhh... oh DOH!

Ahhh... oh DOH!
is that blueing? Yup that is the lesson that I learned on this socket. the grinding stone heats the metal very fast and as that wall gt thinner it started blueing. Bad, bad, bad! so I will have to sand and reshape that wall a little because I even got some chipping around the blue.

Chain stays with the drop outs notched in...

Chain stays with the drop outs notched in...
So this one was a little scary because I wasn't sure if I would get them straight and true... it ended up ok but I can do better.

Notching wasn't to hard but keeping everything even was hard

Notching wasn't to hard but keeping everything even was hard
I decided to try the bevel sides on the notch, I think I can do better so I may do the stays again?

The big moment... my first miter!

The big moment... my first miter!
I should have taken some before during and after shots but this went pretty fast actually. this is the ruff cut, I rounded it out better and got rid of that hump on the back wall

A little different angle... check out my home made tube holder... works like a charm!

A little different angle... check out my home made tube holder... works like a charm!
I am so proud of the wood block tube holder... now I just have to make the other sizes

A quick fit test...

A quick fit test...
Not bad forthe 1st miter and fit check... I only need to file the inside edges to match the bevel of the inside of the BB

Nother fit check after some finishing

Nother fit check after some finishing
still need to angle the inside of the edges then it is done and ready for finihsing before brazing. I also still need to finish the socket wall to clean up any uneven edges or tooling marks