SoCaled 

Frame building Jig - Temecula, CA - $100
https://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/...722873310.html

Not my world (framebuilding), but saw this and thought someone might be interested? (I have purchased 80/20, not cheap)
don't know if it is functional design? but the extruded channel & connectors alone, are worth way more than worth the ask

unterhausen

I don't think the flag and the spare tire at the bb shell are a good idea.

joesch

Wonder if the builder was a BF member?
All that is stated is:This jig is for alignment of tubes for welding. I made it to build bicycles.
Im in that area, maybe I should consider building frames in retirement?
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NOT

unterhausen

The only fixtures I have seen like that were in production places. Not sure why that would be. Too much investment in extrusion for most people, I guess.

bulgie 

Angel Rodriguez made his in about '79, similar window-frame shape but it was all made of heavy structural steel shapes, mostly C-channel for the structure. It was made to be a tandem jig, so we used just the front half of it for singles, with rears being tacked in a different fixture. The thing was a freakin' beast, too heavy to move. I figgered in an earthquake I would climb under it, because it could hold the bulding up.

Hot-rolled A36 steel is not known for extreme flatness or dimensional staility, but he had the mating surfaces machined flat (or maybe blanchard ground?) by someone good. It was all bolted together so no weld distortion. I had no way to measure how accurate it was, other than the frames came off it plenty straight enough. I expect it became scrap steel after Dennis Bushnell moved in with his space-shuttle-quality jigs, they're insane.

I can't believe I never took pictures back then... There's pictures of the Bushnell jig on the web but I can't find a single pic of Angel's '79 jig.

Nessism

If I wasn't so lazy, and had more room, I'd pick it up. I don't have a truck either. That movable support looks like the best part.

Andrew R Stewart 

If the cost for this jig really is only $100 the materials and base are worth it alone. Andy

duanedr 

Is that what they're using now?
I stopped by saturday and there was no one down there so they let me just hang out down there alone for like 30 min. Like my mom taught me, I kept my hands in my pockets, so I didn't touch anything I wasn't supposed to!

unterhausen

Yeah, need that extrusion for my cnc. Maybe use the base for another vise

Andrew R Stewart 

Today I had the urge to have an outside vise. Would have to be on casters or be able to be hand carted around, leveling feet because vise rock is just sad. Andy (rode in 70*F weather today then sanded spots of primer in a basement)

unterhausen

Outside vise would be nice to have. That's one reason I want a work shed, so I can have a porch to work on.

bulgie 

I built a couple Cr-Mo racks with nothing but this pile of junk on a gravel driveway:



I think the top steel plate is over 150 lb. It's the base from a double-sided Park professional bike stand, gifted to me by an old bikie.

The contraption had to be easy to disassemble because I had to hand-carry all the parts back into the shed when done. Can't braze in the shed due to inadequate ventilation. Plus it's small and packed with junk. One time, I was using this claptrap workbench for a while, so I filled the keg with water. Nice and stable, but harder to move when done.

Later I got the driveway paved and put a nice 16' wide awning over this end of it, making a decent outdoor workspace where I can braze, paint and other stinky things without stinkin' up the house. Bolted this workbench to the side of the house:


Original purpose of this pic was to show the task lights on a parallelogram, that we got from Laurie's dad's photography hobby setup when he died. But it sorta shows the workbench too, which is a 1/2" thick aluminum plate, on a frame made of 1-1/2" plumbing pipe. The pipe is also bolted to concrete anchors in the driveway, so it's very rigid. I don't like a vise that shakes when I'm hacksawing.

With shelves and other storage, 2 bench grinders, a buffer and a belt-sander under the awning, plus the workbench/vise and drillpress you see in the pic, life is sweet now! I will be screwed when my awning collapses from snow-load or just age and UV radiation, but for now I'm livin' the dream. Snow is rare in Seattle but one time I did need to go out twice duing a blizzard to sweep the snow off the awning. It was sagging most threateningly with maybe 6-8" accumulation. Permanently-up awnings probaby don't work for those of you with real winter.

t2p

if you live near SW Pennsylvania this plate is available

Henry III

I actually saw that CL post on CustomFrameforum and notified a good friend of mine who lived a few hours away. picked it up. In a roundabout way this all ties back to a one certain BF member who posts regularly in this subforum. I'll let Paul who now owns the jig tell the story and happens to be a BF member. He also puts out a nicely written newsletter every week and a podcast under the same name.

"Bicycle Words Weekly NewsletterMarch 11, 2024 Lucky: In this world where tools become paintbrushes and bikes transform into canvases our creativity is realized in a tangible form of materials that thrives on the structured dance of a riders intentions. Sometime luck and more often knowledge unlocks the harmonious innovations deep within us and the creative journey comes to us due to an interplay of personalities and consequences we’d never foresee unless it really happened to us.

Last week I received a text from my friend Henry (he’s also a subscriber to the newsletter!) about a tool he was looking to sell. He was able to unload it online for a handsome sum and he had also come across a bicycle framebuilding fixture that was close-ish to me. I wasn’t really in the market for a fixture but I figured why not, let’s get into it and see what happens. It’s been too many years since I built a frame. I can still imagine the bikes and geometries that are floating around in my head that need to be built. The text from Henry was the impetus to get after it. If you’ve ever done a deal online, Craigslist or Freecycle, you know you’re going to possibly be dealing with scammers or nefarious people that have good intentions of taking someone’s money, just not yours when you really really want to purchase what they have.

So with a roll of the proverbial dice I emailed the seller of the fixture and waited. Within minutes I had a reply and I responded with my estimated time that I could arrive to their area. They responded right away and said that was ok. I asked for their address and got nothing back, no reply, just silence. Here is where I had to sit back and think for a moment. Do I put $60 in gas in my truck and start driving south for 2+ hours or do I wait for a reply? Thoughts were starting to race through my brain at this point. Was the price meant to be so low to get a massive response and just get the cash from whomever got there first? Were they selling it right now and not going to tell me? So I waited 30 minutes. Still no reply.

3 weeks ago I had a potential deal fall through that would have been a windfall for many cyclists in the area, mainly some high school racers that need better bikes. That deal was frustrating to say the least. The person with the bikes wanted them gone. He said to call him the next day. I did, and got no reply. I sent texts and used a different phone number, nothing. I called him from shop phone, no reply. I tried for a week.

This was heavy on my mind as I drove south through some wind and rain. I must have refreshed my email 200 times waiting for a reply. When I was an hour away I emailed again, then again when I was closer. Still nothing. I thought for sure this was a waste of time and I was failing to see what was happening because this was a deal that perhaps was too good to be true. I figured I should eat something and just wait for an hour and see what happens. As I was pulling into a Trader Joe’s parking lot my phone rang. It was a number I didn’t recognize and I had been getting bombarded with political calls so reluctantly I answered. It was a nice lady saying she had the fixture and asked if was I close by. A wave of relief rolled through every inch of my body. A quick chat and she sent me her address and I was on the way. As I pulled up to the house I could see the fixture. It was bigger in person than the photo led me to believe. The nice lady, Susan, came outside and her husband Rick was right behind her.

After a warm greeting we talked about the sheer girth of the base he created that was supporting the fixture at a working height. There was no way we could lift the base into my truck, even with the fixture removed. It was simply too heavy and over built for the purpose at hand. I advised the wife that she could donate it to a metal recycler and it would be gone quickly. I started talking framebuilding with Rick and mentioned I want to a framebuilding class in Niles, Michigan in 2011. With a startled look he exclaimed “So did I!” The conversation continued and he relayed his love of bicycles and how he wanted to expand his knowledge and take up frame building as a hobby. I didn’t see the two bikes he built with the fixture. He was liquidating all of his cycling stuff that wasn’t being used, hence the low price for the fixture. He grabbed a fork blade bending tool and asked me if I wanted it, for free. I replied in the affirmative. We got the fixture loaded up and he went back into the garage and grabbed a height gauge that is used with a surface plate to align frames. The gauge he had was very nice compared to my version which was made with a t-handled allen wrench and some JB Weld. He handed me the gauge and asked if I knew what it was, I said I sure do, he said take it. I handed him the payment he asked for with no inkling of haggling over the price.

His generosity was off the charts already and to grind him now would be uncalled for. A friendly handshake and I was on my way home. Immediately the creative juices started flowing. I could see a custom gravel frame or a randonneur in my near future. A text to Henry letting him know that I had scored an incredible deal was in order. This was the “win” I needed to start off this coming springtime.

As a writer and creative person with a million ideas in my head I feel weird calling myself an artist, but I think that is accurate. With this fixture I can take an idea and make it a reality which is exactly what art is. The result will propel me to places far and wide. A huge thank you to Henry for letting me know about the Craigslist ad. Now it’s time to plan out a frame to build with this mighty fixture. Have a great week my friends. Maybe you’ll get lucky too. Peace, Paul PS if you enjoy this please share it with your cycling friends. Heck, you can even share it with your friends that don’t ride. Maybe they just need a little nudge towards a new bike so they can learn about the freedom we enjoy. Help them subscribe using the linkage below: https://www.bicyclewords.com/contact.html"

unterhausen

Thanks for the it's nice it went to a builder instead of to scrap. Too bad about the base, I feel like I could have gotten it in my prius after some disassembly. Then I would have been in trouble with my spouse.

BronzeSculptor

Hi, congrats on swooping up that jig. I live in the Inland Empire and found it too late- I would seriously buy this from you should you ever feel like selling it!