East Hill

Very nice photo documentation!

Alice, you should visit the Framebuilder's forum--there is an awesome thread on building bamboo frames.

If not pink, then how about ummmm....red?

East Hill

Cassave

You're welcome. It's a good opportunity for me to answer the questions I get asked all the time:

No, it's brazed, not welded
Yes, you can buy lugs, tubes the whole deal
The fork blades come straight, I bend'em
It only looks old, I built it last month
etc.

Stay tuned. I'll build the fork in the next few days or so then on to the rear triangle.

East Hill

"It's a classic style of bike, and I am a Keeper of the Flame, thank you.".

East Hill

roadfix

How do you taper them?

Cassave

They come tapered, either through a simple drawing process using rotary dies
or "Pilger" process which uses rotary dies and an internal mandrel which provides better
material thickness control.

I'll be building this one with Pilger blades. Makes for a very nice riding fork.

DaveSANYYZ

Wow, thanks!

If I have the space and equipment, I'll try to learn how to build up my own frame someday.

ronjon10

That's really awesome.

rm -rf

Good pictures, thanks!

I found a page on Pilger mills. The rollers are asymmetrical. This page shows tubing diameter being reduced, not tapered. So a tapered tube would probably need a different roller shape.

twowheeltom

Will there be a 'How to build a jig for a bicycle frame' thread?

HAMMER MAN

probably not the best question, but is building a frame really that hard?
imo it seems to be very difficult and complicated especially with the lugs and angles.

Homebrew01

Depends on your definition of hard. It obviously takes some planning & calculating, but for me it was fun to do. I built a few in a similar fashion to the one here. Made my own fixture from thick aluminum flat plate, clamps, drill press and other basic hand tools. Nothing fancy or exotic required.

Homebrew01

Looks nice, but I was just wondering why so much flux in the non-joint areas ?? Doesn't that require extra cleanup ?

waldowales

White. Unquestionably the fastest!

HAMMER MAN

appreciate your reply.
Always wanted to try and build my own frame but I am not really mechanically inclined and I have no knowledge about welding. Just curious.

Cleave

Hi Steve,

Classic (in every good sense of the word).

Cassave

No. The idea is to flux past the heated zone so that no or little surface oxidation occurs.
The unmelted flux just washes off.

Dunwood

The process is not hard. But it is hard to do it correctly and have the frame last. Its hard to do it correctly, have it appear perfect after painting, size correctly and have it ride and handle properly. The top custom builders in the country have a 5 year + waiting list (Sachs, Baylis, etc.) Even Sacha White (Vanilla Cycles) now has a 5 year waiting list and he is relatively new on the scene (compared to Sachs, Gordon, Baylis etc.).

tinrobot

Seems like there's a lot of demand for custom frames, but not nearly enough supply.

Classic macroeconomic problem.

zzzwillzzz

sort of... it's not that buyers want a lugged steel frame, it's that they want a Bayliss, or a Sachs or a Vanilla. so someone else can't just jump in an take up some of the demand.

questions:
threadless or threaded?
integrated shifting or downtube or bar end or jedi mind control or or or?
looks like you going with traditional seatstays as opposed to fastback
second water bottle mount?
any other custom touches like rack mounts, racks, fenders, pump peg, chain hanger?
looks like you're building general road racing frame, not sport touring or something else

Dunwood

When one owns a frame like a Brian Baylis or Richard Sachs, they have no peer. Kinda like a early 80's California Masi. Or an original Italian Colnago. Owners say there is a certain mystic to the frame, its unique ride and you had it custom made to fit you. With a very limited supply, the price goes up.

One could say that a 70's vintage Ferarri doesn't drive as well as say a new Corvette or Viper. But the price is still high. Anyone with money can buy a new Corvette. But get in line to obtain the latest Euro wonder car (insert Badge name here: )

One of the differences however is that Sachs and Baylis freely share their wealth of information to the other frame builders (they tend to hang out on the various Framebuilder sites). They have a five year waiting list, what do they have to lose? Don't think you'll find Bentley sharing information with Ferrari.
This isn't to say that there are not other competent high quality custom frame builders. Just that its not a Sachs or Baylis.

haimtoeg

This is really impressive. Thanks for sharing.

Cassave

Hey Will;

Threaded,1" quill stem (got lots just sitting around)
Brifters, probably Chorus
Modified fastback stays, like my existing frames
2nd bottle mount - but of course
Other touches - yup, lots most will be polished stainless
General road frame true, parallel 73's, 58 cm.

zzzwillzzz

i couldn't remember if your other bikes had fastback seatstays. don't some seat lugs have caps for the ends of the stays? they're not as graceful with the caps. a girl i rode with back in the 80's had a Cotten frame, with a wishbone seatstay, campy delta brakes and internal cable routing. they drilled a hole or slot in the seatpost for the brake cable to route through so that the cable was inline with the center cable mounting of the campy delta brake. it was/is the coolest and cleanest setup ever.

second bottle mount-i was just questioning it because your other bikes i've seen only have one.

Cassave

Continuing on.....Started the fork.

All the bits needed to make a fork.

The crown and steerer are fluxed and ready to braze...

Fully brazed and cooling.

Cleaned up and now milling the crown race seat to 26.4mm.

A finished fork crown and steerer assembly. Of course the crown will be high polish when it's done......

The fork blade bending tool with a straight blade ready to be raked

Done.

​​​​​​​The raked blades ready for assembly with the tips, then to be trimmed to length for assembly with the crown.

voltman

I just wanted to say British racing green.