Dave Kirk 

Hey -

I haven't shared any builds in quite some time and have a bit of time this morning so thought I'd post a few photos of a frame I just finished. It's of course a steel frame and it fillet brazed. It's built with a mix of Reynolds 853 and Deda tubing and is set up for disc brakes.

It heads off for paint today and I'm excited to see it once done.

Anyway - thanks for looking.

dave

Cynikal 

That really is beautiful.

Italuminium

stunning work.

tuz

Those fillets are unreal! Very nice.

kaisersling

Awesome, big fan of your road bikes. I visited my sister in Bozeman in august but unfortunately my schedule didn't allow a visit to your shop. Next time, it will be on my must see list. Your JK special is on my lust list. I may now have to add this 29er.

Dave Kirk 

Thanks all for the kind words. I really like working with fillets but seem to spend more time working on lugs these days........but nothing can look so organic, so seamless and clean as fillets can.

And next time you are in town get in touch and arrange a visit. I have an open shop and welcome visitors with just a bit of notice.

Thanks again!


dave

triitout

Everything old is new again. Viscount aerospace road bikes, imported from Trusty of England in the mid to late 70's, had very nice, clean fillet brazed lightweight frames.

1TrentVelo

looks great

ftwelder

wow, very nice!

hueyhoolihan

i think, if it were me, i'd have it clearcoated.

FMB42

The phrase "suitable for framing" comes to mind.

Seriously, that metal workmanship would make an interesting and very attractive display at an art show.

And I too would clear-coat that frame.

Thanks for showing us some of your work!

Dave Kirk 

Thanks for the kind words.

I too wish that a clear coat was a viable option but it never looks like one would expect and/or hope it would and it rarely looks even that good for very long. So it will get paint - super bright signal green paint and I'm looking forward to the snow in the mountains melting and getting this thing up high in the mountains where it belongs.

Dave

Doug Fattic 

I was having this discussion about clear coating over a bare frame last week when Herbie Helm was preparing a fillet brazed frame he made to exhibit at the Detroit bicycle show. A clear only still changes the way a bare frame looks. It becomes darker and more like a blah gray instead of shinny silver. You guys can try it yourself by wetting a section of bare tubing with water. It still allows the beauty of fillet itself to be seen but the darker appearance definitely makes it more boring looking.

A clear coat without a primer doesn't stick very well to bare metal. It doesn't take too long before water gets through and starts to create visible rust worms under the paint.


By the way I’ve been forever thankful for an important brazing tip Dave gave me some years ago. I noticed he had no porosity whatsoever in his fillets while I always had a few. He said I had to really clean the brass rods just before using. I hadn’t realized the importance of this. That wasn’t something they taught me when I was apprenticing in England when Dave was in grade school. Now I sand or Scotch-Brite and then use a liquid cleaner on the rods as preparation before brazing. Now I get porosity free fillets too. Thanks again Dave!

Dave Kirk 

Very cool - I'm glad it works for you.

dave

bwilli88 

I wonder what it would look like blued like a gun? That fillet would jump out of the bluing

calstar 

Beautiful work Dave. Did/do you use a dyno-file on your fillet frames?

thanks,

Brian

unterhausen

I'm sure Dave is better with a dynabrade than I am, but I would never use one on a fillet. Too easy to undercut. That's why my goal for fillet brazing is to not leave an edge

Dave Kirk 

Hey -

I almost never use a dynafile on fillets. It's just to easy to eff things up. If I'm doing some really large and open area I might but I always 'break' the belt before use. By this I mean I install a 1/4" belt and then use my fingers to fold the belt over the narrow wheel it runs on so that the profile of the belt is no longer flat and square but instead has a soft curve. This keeps the edge of the belt from digging on and making the curved fillet a series of short flats and corners.

That said I use a dynafile so rarely on fillets even talking about it makes too much of it. I didn't use one on the bike pictured, the bike before it or any since.......so that gives you a better idea of how it's usually done.

I do a bit of file work on the parts that need it but 90% of the work is with emery cloth and nothing else.

Thanks for asking.

dave