guy153

Looks amazing, well done!

wsteve464

Nice job Andy. I like the seat stays they look great.

Either that paint is really thick or you did a good job finishing the filets. nice and smooth looking.

Steve

guy153

So is it 1 1/8 TT and also 1 1/8 DT?

Dertam

Rimbrakes!

Andrew R Stewart 

Thanks guys.

Steve- It is thick paint. But I also like the no edges aesthetic of a fillet frame (even though the fork crown is lugged) so there's a lot of rounded edge aspects to reinforce this organic look. I do try my best at blending in the fillets with little/no tube wall undercutting. Of course this isn't perfect. What was further from perfect then I had hoped for was revealed by a comment the painter asked me. Had I changed the filler I used, because there were more pocks spec holes then me usual. I di admit that this frame was done fairly quickly. I guess it showed more then I wanted. What's interesting is I had sand (80 grit garnet)blasted the joints a couple of times each during the build and gone back to fill with silver the ones I found. I guess this is why I suggest lots of practice to others...

guy- Yes, 1 1/8" TT and DT. One of my goals was to stiffen the frame lengthwise. The bike this is to replace had suffered from a tail wagging issue. When weight is on the top of the rear rack (I run an Eclipse HB bag off the seat post) the bike had more tendency to shimmy then I liked. While no real handling problem I still wanted to reduce/avoid this best possible (and not change my bag set up). Hence the stiffer TT. Since this bike will also see some mid length rides I didn't want to stiffen the vertical too much.

Dertam- Yes, why would I want to suffer with a dead frame but with disk brakes? Really rim brakes have worked well for me for over 50 years. This frame will get Shimano dual pivot side pulls so will have about the best clamping ability while still using rims and no center pulls or pivot bosses brazed on. Only detail to follow up on is to reduce the caliper spring's plastic protrusion into the fender space. Andy

3speedcliff

Thanks for the info. Yea that aero section looks pretty stout!

3speedcliff

Looks really nice. I especially like the seat cluster.

Andrew R Stewart 

Thanks. One thing about doing this stuff is that one's aesthetics change over time. In the beginning I was all about long Prugnat S4 lugs with cut outs. Soon it was shorter and tighter cast lugs from Hank. Then about a dozen years ago I tried to split a lug point with a concave shape, a mouth if you will. This as I was also trying fillet joints. Fillets won out since. Or until the lug making project was started. Even here my first go round was rather art deco like and these are more organic.

My stay tops have varied from classic sloping semi wrap caps, to concave caps with sharp fin like edges (don't use this if your thighs are big and your skin is thin...). To full shot in fast backs then what you see here, half fast back half concave. I do like this look.

My second to next next frame will include some concave and some fillet, further trying to tie together the smooth tube to tube flow of a fillet and the curved surfaces of tube ID's turned inside out. Andy

Andrew R Stewart 

Here's a shot before I finalize the set up. The bike rides pretty well, the old bike's shimmy is seriously reduced and I like the cornering feel more. Next is those tiny tweaks, casing trimming, bar wrap and adding the last accessories to the bars. Andy

3speedcliff

Yes, I like lugs too but I often find myself building something I can't find the right angle and diameters for. Your fillets look really nice. I have a hard time getting them built up without having the filler go where I don't want it to. When this happen I spend a lot of time filing and sanding while trying not to remove the steel. So I mostly flow them around and add a little extra where needed.

mikeread

Frame No 3 finished. It is pretty much the same geometry as the last one (pics a few posts back) but I aimed for this one to be a bit more of an all day distance machine. I dropped the seat angle half a degree and used smaller seat and top tubes. This together with a slimmer seat post and non oversize bars (I am sure Deda 215s give about an inch of suspension) should give it a bit more compliance. I have only ridden it up and down the street so far and will report back after some big rides.

Being in lockdown it made sense to have a go at spraying this frame myself. I used 'Spray Bike' paint and made a half decent job of it - as long as you don't look too close! Like everything you learn a lot first time and if I did it again I would make far fewer mistakes. Overall I would recommend the stuff with slight reservation about durability. The finish was very fragile during the painting process, but I am yet to see how it will hold up now it has been lacquered and had time to fully harden. The good thing about spraying your own frame is that it doesn't cost an arm and a leg for a complicated paint scheme.

Most of the components for this build were stripped from another bike, we have no space for any more bikes, so I now have a "one in - one out" rule. The problem I now have is that all my bikes are my own builds and I am already planning the next, so at some point I will have to decide which one has to go! How do I do that!

I am considering carbon for the next one -- back to the start of the learning curve

Thanks for looking and once again thanks for all the generously given expert advice from this forum.

helixbikes

I just finished my 3rd bamboo frame. I used a kit from Bamboo Bee, and the Brew Bikes Jig for this one. The inspiration for this frame came from child-hood memories of rding the 1-speed Swedish Military Bicycles built in the 1930's-1940's, that you can still find roaming around the islands of Sweden today. I decided to go upscale from there, so I opted for fancy British leather accessories rather than a drab green. Lugs were made out of fluffy hemp and a ton of Entroy CLR resin. I probably spent 100 hours on this build.

I intended for shiny silver wheels, but cheaped out and stole the set from a road bike.



I've posted these two in a separate thread, but here was my last build - based on a road bike kit from Bamboo Bicycle Club. I used their terrible DIY jig made out of pressed cardboard, which was cut inaccurately. Getting the thru-axles to line up properly stole an immense amount of time, as did lining up the flat-mount brakes after bending the aluminum dropouts to match the seat stay angle. Lugs were made out of 2-3 layers of flax, plus a couple of layers of stringy hemp. I guesstimate 150 hours for this build. Entropy CLR resin coat. SRAM AXS cut down on the cabling.

I'm still not happy with the cuts I had to do to provide clearance for the crankarms. My initial measurements didn't account for frame flex when pedaling hard.



Here was my first build, from a Calfee Kit, which I probably put 120 hours into. I used fiber-glass casting tape for the rolls, JB weld for tacking, and varnish. Many many mistakes were made in cutting and assembly. After a year (~500 miles) of riding, the poles came loose from the lugs, so I've stowed the frame as a testament to failure. I did have to make some intense cut-outs into the wood to fit larger tires with straight poles and 130mm dropouts, but they were at least reinforced well.



I'm currently planning a proper MTB build. Hope to share a photo of it in January-February.

guy153

Very cool look you've got there with the latest build. Kind of old-fashioned and cartoony but modern at the same time!

v2505

a lot of really cool stuff. looking here to learn a lot. my first build was a hacked handcycle for my son. hoping to improve build quality and expand to classic lugged frames for myself.

3dvvitch 

That thing is gorgeous! Also, what brakes are those?

Cantona

Thank you!

They are Paul 'Racer' Brakes - expensive, and tricky to set up correctly, but very pretty.

Cantona

This is one from the year before last.

Columbus Life tubes, S&S Couplers. Great for going on aeroplanes (when we used to be able to do that).




And in the wild....

unterhausen

This is a thread about people's builds. Not about sustainability. I am deleting this off topic discussion. I wouldn't mind hearing those perspectives in another thread in a more appropriate forum. P&R, for example.

If you need to vent about this, please don't do it here, send me a PM.

guy153

This was basically a frame replacement for a 1990s Claude Butler MTB I owned since new. It had a bit of a ripple in the downtube, and every other component except the front shifter (which is actually broken, I had forgotten!), the stem, the handlebar, and the brakes had been replaced. But apart from that it's the same Claude Butler. The old frame was lugged and labelled "Reynolds CrMo". No mention was made of butting. So I think it must have been plain gauge. And rather heavy-- the new one plus fork is 1.2kg lighter than the old one was at 2250g frame plus 860g fork.






I might shorten those rear fender stays a bit...

I actually converted the original stem to threadless (there's another thread about that in the Framebuilder's forum) and then found I was also missing a cantilever hanger, so made one out of some 3mm plate. I drilled a hole in the plate with a 28mm hole saw. My holesawing always cuts a bit bigger than it's supposed to anyway so after a very small amount of filing it fit a 28.6 steerer very well. Then I cut and ground it into shape and put the two bends in by cutting about half-way through, bending, welding it up again, and sanding down the welds. I then TIG brazed on a cable stop:



The seatstays were interesting. I usually mitre them straight into the back of the ST and weld them on. I started with some Zona single-bend SS which I've used before, and which fit very well that time. But this is a bigger frame and they were so much longer that there was lots of tube after the bend and they ended up much too far apart, as if for a fat bike. So then I thought maybe I could make a wishbone rear end to make them effectively shorter, and it sort of worked, but they were still too far apart. So then I gave up and got some straight Reynolds 525 stays. Ideally one would add a bend, but I found that if I just attached them to the sides the spacing was just right for the canti bosses:



I cut both stays at 45 degrees with a chop saw and TIG welded caps made of 1.6mm mild steel on and then sanded it nice and smooth. They're welded at the bottom but I TIG brazed them to the ST using silicon bronze and made a nice big fillet all the way around. Instead of trying to file it in that tight spot I just smoothed it out with a little bit of car body filler, and also added some around the front for a smooth effect. There's no actual braze under that front section just a real TIG weld right at the bottom and then filler

All the tiddly bits are also TIG brazed on, including the seatpost binder, which I made on my minilathe. But the canti bosses are all welded (although brazing would have been fine).



The paint is spray.bike with 2K clear on top. We'll see how it holds up! I've only ridden it just up and down the road but it feels really nice, very stable perhaps because of the 71 degree head angle. The old front derailleur was completely seized so I got a new one, and I also had to get one new canti as I had enough non-knackered parts from the original two to reconstruct one. But now it looks like neither shifter works very well so I'll have to get some more. I guess might as well convert to 9 speed while I'm at it. Gotta keep up with the latest developments in technology after all.

The pink is "Strawberry Hill" which I've used before and looks really nice in real life. The purple is "Plumstead" which looks a bit like red bean soup. The original bike was a lighter mauve all over so I wanted similar colours.

The tubing is "single oversize" I think it's called: 1 1/8" TT and ST and 1 1/4" DT. The tubes are all .8/.5/.8 except the DT which is .9/.6/.9 because Reynolds sent me the wrong tube by mistake. But I think .9/.6/.9 is actually a good choice. Main triangle is 631 and stays are 525. The HT is actually 853 because they'd run out of 631 HTs. 73 seat, 71 head, 70mm BB drop and 438mm chainstay. 4 degree TT rather than horizontal as a homage to Paul Brodie who, according to the internet, invented the sloping TT and whom we all now love watching on YouTube.

Really pleased with how it turned out and can't wait to get the gears sorted out and go for a proper ride!

Cynikal 

Starting a new build. In a few months it will hopefully be a 650b rando style build.

scooterpants

Here's my Road frame I built in my buddies shop under his advising and helpful eye. I built it for 2020 NAHBS show but we all know how that turned out..... Quite a mix of Columbus SL, Tange Prestige and 3Rensho lugs with a Cinelli BB shell. Paint by the famed Dave Sem. Lots of custom milling and help from my buddies over at Arundel Cycling. Now I'm onto number 2 with a step thru frame for my wife. The Fork is done and now about to put the frame tubes in the jig.

Andrew R Stewart 

What a mix of color, style and components. Kind of attractive in the way too much make up way Andy

unterhausen

That's a nice build, where did you get all those old frame parts?

scooterpants

Freiends and friends of friends. Then being in the bike business for 35 years and the internet....

tuz

Here's a tandem I made a few years ago

Seat cluster. There is actually an internal sleeve (with slight bulge). An improvised repair after I folded the 1st seat tube.

Custom twin plate fork and stem shifters

Adjustable & freewheeling kiddie crank. Cut left hand threads on the crank and adapted a BMX freewheel.

The frame can be split in half (more like 1/3-2/3). Never used the feature but it was convenient when building it in my small shop