1Kosmos1, this is blatant advertisement I don’t normally do but since we both have a Ukrainian connection, what I am going to suggest I think makes sense. One of your best options to learn how to build frames is to take a one-week class from me at our frame shop in Bucha, Ukraine (about 25km west of Kiev). It is located on a college campus that has a cafeteria and dormitories. There are plenty of places to stay and eat off campus too. Yuriy is the Ukrainian in charge of the shop and of course knows how to build frames and speaks Russian in case English is a problem. We can find interpreters too. You could continue learning from him after I leave for another week or two. The shop has all the tools (including my Ukrainian made fixture as well as an American made Anvil fixture) necessary to build frames and would be a perfect introduction to what you need to do to make frames in Ukraine. This training is not free of course. That one week would cost you $1000 American. Continuing your training a week or 2 more with Yuriy afterwards would be an extra cost but cheaper. The price of the Ukrainian fixture (if you wanted one) would depend on how many accessories you got with it but could be priced.in grivna. In the United States the price starts at $1000. Some of the frame materials (like the fork crown and front dropouts) are laser cut in Ukraine. Those expenses are beyond the cost of the class and vary according to your choices and could be anywhere from $200 to $500. If you just wanted to train instead of making a frame for yourself (to save money) we can build one of our Ukrainian frames in class instead.
It makes sense to fillet braze the main triangle of your frame together with Bronze. That way you could avoid the expense of lugs. However if you wanted to learn how build with lugs instead that is possible. I can bring all the frame materials for you to make a custom touring frame in class.
Just so you know I learned how to build frames in England in 1975 where the master builders were located after World War II. Americans did not yet have a tradition of making custom frames back then. I was a high school teacher at the time and my purpose for learning was to be able to teach framebuilding in the States (where it was a new). I have taught framebuilding classes for over 40 years. We started our charity bicycle project in Ukraine in 2000. I go once or twice a year to continue this project. The frames are made in our Bucha workshop. Let me know if you are interested so a schedule can be arraigned.
