DIY forks..your thoughts please.

hiya guys.
since discovering a spare sus fork crown ,the type of which the legs and steerer are removable...the rusty gears of thought started turning as i remembered that the bits removed where indeed 1" chromed steel(legs) and,steel steerer(shimmed with aluminium).so,im thinking how hard would it be to 'manufacture' some rigid forks with crown as a base to start from?
the dropouts is something that wil be sorted much later but i need a reason to get that far... so,i obtained some t-6 aluminium tube 1" outer diameter and 2mm thick,900mm long.the alu tube is very rigid now at 900mm so,at 14" or so length they'll be even tougher.
benefits.....ive loads of scrap shim to make things fit just so,steerer will be exactly the right length for my use(threadless) and overall weight will be low.crown only weighs 220g.
possible drawbacks...(this is where you guys cue in) is 1" alu strong enough for mtb rigours? im no tomac,white,or evel knievel but they have to carry my lump! is 1" alu ok for steerer duties?all three tubes can be knurled on end to help prevent pull-through as well as the two bolt clamp.
ive posted a pic below,although nothing is cut down to size yet.
worth persueing? or shall be benefactor of my life cover start rubbing their hands.lol.

Not too sure....
Knurling will increase the outside dia of your legs and reduce surface area in the clamp. I don't think I would trust them off road.
Wiggle have reduced a Salsa rigid fork that rides nice, I bought a set two weeks before the reduction

My thoughts:.............

It'll all end in tears, keep your dentists number on speed dial

G

Sits back, rubs hands, smiles and waits for the inevitable........

BTW, knurling the tube will create a stress riser just at the place where you don't want it.

I say go for it.

Lots of forks legs(and steerers) are made with alum. I agree knurling should be avoided, so you may want to put a dab of epoxy on the legs before locking them in.

I would just be careful not to use tube that is too thin. If you measure the steel legs, and double the wall thickness?

Good Luck!

You'll need to know the design of the fork originally or at least figure out the rack the crown is designed for so you know where and what style of 'droppour' to fit. Is is inline with the tube or positioned forward and where ?

Many forks use thin Alu for the stanchions (suspension) you can also buy alu forks too.

Couldn't tell you anything else though but why not, have some fun. Maybe for a road commuter to start with though.

FluffyChicken":1wvghqst said:

but why not

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cause you might die :?: :roll:

I've thought about doing the very same thing several times over the years, but was put off by the complications of fitting dropouts and brake bosses.
In theory it should work, but without the benefit of any engineering background or a way of fatigue testing before fitting, I don't think I'd be happy riding on anything rougher than a canal towpath.
Either way I'd rather use steel fork blades based on a bit more comfort giving flex and the belief that they'd bend before breaking.

That looks like an RST crown by the way, which should be a strong and cheap enough crown to experiment with.

Good luck with it.

stew-b":152gbvkd said:

FluffyChicken":152gbvkd said:

but why not

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cause you might die :?: :roll:

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If you're lucky.
Whats more likely is, you will hit the ground chin first

Buy a big bag of straws

dyna-ti":2yptf9l3 said:

stew-b":2yptf9l3 said:

FluffyChicken":2yptf9l3 said:

but why not

Click to expand...

cause you might die :?: :roll:

Click to expand...

Buy a big bag of straws

Click to expand...

:shock: :shock: :shock: :idea: