A new Retro 'Classic' in the making....

Hi Shaun,

Yeah, I'm a beginner as far as brazing is concerned... That little hole in the braze is no problem it's just in the surface so can be ignored. If I was bothered I could just flash the torch back over it to melt it closed.

Painting isn't part of the course but I'm happy with a spray gun so I'll prime or and paint it when I get home.

I'm thinking of doing the whole thing in eggshell blue, the same colour as K5054, the prototype Spitfire. I've always liked the colour. Then it'll get a decal or two once I've decided what to put on the head tube and downtube followed by a few coats of wheel lacquer to harden it off.
 
oonaff":33ahpyog said:
augh i see that makes perfect sense...

I must say that jig looks a nifty bit of tool making, functional not too expensive but an absolute must of course the finer the tolerances with that baby, the better the frame ! forks are prob straight forward when you know how.eh! tell me, is this an all out business venture ? or part time venture ?

As you can file and butt joint, 853 must be on your mind or even titanium. the bioracer diagram i have has heaps of info on it .even the h bar stem 11.5 & cranks 172.5 are given. pm me when you are ready! :cool:

Yeah, the jig is central to the operation. The place I'm learning is just about to upgrade all their jigs so I'm probably going to buy the one I've been using.

To address your questions - yes it's part of broadening my horizons, I'm interested in bikes and steel frames so I thought it high time I knew what you had to do to design and build them. I may well see if I can turn it into a side line so that it at least pays for itself or maybe (hopefully) returns a bit of a livelihood.

853 is certainly a possibility but I need to get better at brazing first. 853 a lot less tolerant than 631 to heat so it's easy to burn holes in it. Practice makes perfect though! I'll make a few more 631 frames, experiment a bit and then perhaps dive in.

Spent today filing and setting up the rear end of the frame today - went well and is now ready for brazing. Yay.

IMAG0124.jpg


Cheers for now...
 
yeah the seat post sleve is ok cause you drilled diff size holes , good snaps but want a close up of the wrap around.hows it tackled ?
i googled one course some where else they said something like " you get to make a real frame for some one who needs it ! " ha ha . i see d yates is fully booked till 2015 as he only teaches 2 at a time.
do you reckon i am right in assuming that a lugged frame build is a lot easier and quicker[with plain lugs]
than butt joint brazing. i know 631 is a good tube set because ricky feather uses it, so no fears on strength there !i congratulate you on your achieve ment.frame no1.
 
Apologies I'm bringing an old thread back to life but I went back to finish the frame and make the forks last week and I thought you might be interested to see the result.



I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and have made loads of notes which will enable me to make a better job of it next time.

Speaking of next time, I also bought the jig that I used to make the frame so this could be the first of many. Just need to set up the rest of the workshop now - turns out that you need quite a few tools to make a bicycle frame and there aren't many shortcuts to be taken.

The frame itself is now ready for priming and spraying I've just got to buy a moisture trap for my compressor, oh and the paint. I've decided to build this one up with only brand new modern parts (mostly Shimano 105) which'll be the first time I use such modern (!) things as threadless headsets and non-axle bottom brackets. I'll post a pic of the finished bike if anyone's still reading. As you can see I'll have to wait until it's sprayed and assembled before I take a hacksaw to the steerer tube.

Should be finished in time for some fair-weather spring-time riding.
 
Congratulations...... :)

I see you are thinking of the colour of the original Spitfire, something similar to the Falcon Team of the 70's :)

Shaun
 
hi , hope things are going ok ! hope you got some kind of a workshop lined up ,them farmers
must do ok renting units out !i wonder what sort of premises some of those builders started from? i remember once some motorcyclists lived in a ground floor flat on a housing estate i was working on ,they just drove their bikes straight into the liv room, the whole flat was a workshop!but im not suggesting you do the same... at this
moment in time my proposed hack leans up against the sofa left sti [from cycle jumble]dead ,my lemond and koga in bits in my bedroom and hallway.but my trusty ace card long run of work cometh and naturally all my spare cash will go on s/hand parts and chosen frames.i will pm you . :cool:
 
Back
Top