rickpaulos

I've made a couple of these. Start with 6 1-piece crank arms, weld them, stuff them into a frame tube cut from a oversized tube steel frame. By chance a standard 5-gallon plastic bucket fits perfectly in the stand. On the first I made I added pedal axles for extra stability when used on solid surfaces. Those aren't needed if you stick the lower cranks into the ground like in your flower beds. Or add a table top of your own design. There is no shortage of cheap 1-piece crank arms at your local bicycle recycling center. I prefer the cranks from Roadmasters as the arms are straight and once welded, fit into the vertical tube well. There is nearly no market for used 1 piece cranks. Just the time it takes to remove them from the endless trash stream of roadmasters, pacifics, mongooses and other junky box mart bikes. It helps if they are all the same length, especially the upper 3 if you plan on using a bucket. The sprocket pins would need to be level with each other. I used radiator hose clamps to hold the 3 arms for welding. My welding didn't come out nice because my current 110v welder is too whimpy for that thickness of metal. A 1.5" od steel frame tube works but you will need to use a bit of force to make it fit. The tube will bend as needed to fit over the 3 lobed shape of the crank arms. A 1 5/8" tube fits loose but still works, just don't expect to pick it up as one unit.

rick

BobbyG

Nice!

JanMM

Very interesting.
(I have an old Workmate portable bench like that.)

grout

Very cool