mstateglfr 

Since my two girls(13 and 9) have been learning from home these last two months, while my better half and I work from home, we have begun to get creative with some of the school lessons and projects. We work out what the next day’s lessons are during dinner the evening before, and back in late March, my oldest suggested we build up a frame as a project. Sadly, I had a frame that would work out well, but wanted to figure out how to make this more than just a ‘keep busy’ project for them, so it took some time to come up with ways to learn while doing the project. Much of this learning falls under the ‘practical life’ and ‘STEM’ subjects.
goals are...

• Learn to braze
• Apply paint
• Continue to learn how bike components interact
• Lessons on gear ratios
• Lessons on laws of motion
• Practice listening to your father!

We are now in the early stages, call it 30% done, and here is a thread to show the process.

mstateglfr 

The Bike

Almost 2 years ago, I bought an ’88 Schwinn Premis in my size for not much money because the frame was a mess. I bought it for the Shimano Sante components that I could sell for more than the bike cost, and figured the frame could be worked on a bit then built up. Ends up the frame was in a lot worse condition than I first figured- rust inside and out, cable guides partly separated, etc. I shelved the frame until earlier this winter when I stripped the paint and worked on removing rust internally and externally using emery cloth and evaporust baths. It then hung on a hook with no plan.



Fast forward to this proposed project- it would need new cable guides before it could be turned into a bike worth finishing.



The planned build is a modern 2x11 drivetrain.

mstateglfr 

1st big step



I ordered some flux, silver, and 5 cable guides. I took a framebuilding class a couple years ago and attached brazeons, but I ordered a couple extra to practice with since only propane would be used. Propane alone isn’t as effective(not as elegant, clean, or fast) as propane and oxygen mixed. So I wanted to get an idea of how long it would take before handing the torch to my 13yo for her to practice on the frame.

Good stuff!

It took some patience while convincing her that we wouldn’t blow up, she wouldn’t burn herself, and there is no ruining a frame that is already in a state of ruin.

We made a brazeon holder with some wire and washers at each end to hold the cable guides in place, then did a quick sanding to remove any grease and expose fresh metal. Dropped some flux all over, set the cable guide and got started.

Between the colder garage temps and using just propane, it took longer to get to temp than using a proper setup, but the silver flowed and she laid down plenty of it(so much!).



I finished the last cable guide then removed the flux and filed away any excess silver since she saw the process involved in filing and sanding and immediately declined my invitation to join in.

mstateglfr 

Paint



I was going to have them use some spray.bike paint and make it a full DIY, but ended up doing a combo of well don’t and DIY. I took it to a local business which for $125- bought the specific powder color, blasted the frame for prep, and coated it. The results are great. It is thicker than wet paint and so lug work isn’t as pristine and detailed, but the alternative was to have 2 kids go at the frame with spray powder!

Also, it’s a Schwinn Tenax frame…hardly some artisan build. Its perfectly serviceable, but the tubes aren’t mitered in the bottom bracket, the finish at the dropouts is safe but nothing to highlight, lugs aren’t thinned or shaped, etc etc. Powdercoating doesn’t exactly ruin the lug shorelines is what Im getting at.



What I was talked into was finishing the frame with red flake clearcoat. So I we have a can and are now waiting for the weather to be warm and not windy to apply this. The finish wont appeal to everyone, but it was picked out by some kids, so there is that.

Here are pics of the frame with powdercoar, but no red flake yet.
The color is a light gray blue with some silver fleck.

mstateglfr 

Components



I had most of what I need, but had to get some black brake calipers, a large chainring, a cassette, and some bar tape.

Oh, and I decided to use @joejack951’s threadless stem headset product so that was also needed. Very much the most expensive part of the components, but I figured since almost everything else was reused and I could sell the headset for a good bit if the bike isn’t used, then it wasn’t too much of a splurge(the lies we tell ourselves!

For some reason I wasn’t thinking about tire clearance and assumed some 32mm tires I had would fit a late 80s road bike. Obviously that didn’t work, so @bikemig came to the rescue and offered to swap new tires with me since he had some 28m that weren’t needed.



It’s a Shimano 2x11 drivetrain and mixed cockpit build. The drivetrain is 5800, so one generation old.
Shimano 5800 STI shifters
Shimano RS 500 non-series crank that was on my current gravel bike with 46/34 rings. Bought a 50t ring
Shimano 5800 FD and RD
Microshift 11-28 cassette
Tektro R540 brake calipers
Shimano 105 chain
H Plus Son Archetype rims with 105 hubs and 36 butted spokes (overkill for this bike, but the wheelset is from my old gravel bike)
Panaracer GK 28mm tires.



Easton 90mm 7degree stem
Innicycle threadless headset conversion
Old Kalloy seatpost from local bike collective
FSA Omega compact drop bars
Soma Thick and Zesty bar tape

bikemig 

[QUOTE=mstateglfr;21472552]Paint



I was going to have them use some spray.bike paint and make it a full DIY, but ended up doing a combo of well don’t and DIY. I took it to a local business which for $125- bought the specific powder color, blasted the frame for prep, and coated it. The results are great. It is thicker than wet paint and so lug work isn’t as pristine and detailed, but the alternative was to have 2 kids go at the frame with spray powder!

Also, it’s a Schwinn Tenax frame…hardly some artisan build. Its perfectly serviceable, but the tubes aren’t mitered in the bottom bracket, the finish at the dropouts is safe but nothing to highlight, lugs aren’t thinned or shaped, etc etc. Powdercoating doesn’t exactly ruin the lug shorelines is what Im getting at.



What I was talked into was finishing the frame with red flake clearcoat. So I we have a can and are now waiting for the weather to be warm and not windy to apply this. The finish wont appeal to everyone, but it was picked out by some kids, so there is that.

Here are pics of the frame with powdercoar, but no red flake yet.
The color is a light gray blue with some silver fleck.

snip . . . /QUOTE]

That's a good looking paint job. I have a 1983 Trek 720 that could use a paint job. This is tempting. Your "old" 32c tires would fine on the 720.

tyler_fred

This is such a cool teaching project idea. I think that I’ll use the Schwinn Prelude as a learning project with my youngest nephew.

Russ Roth

nicely done so far. If I listed listen to dad while teaching them my kids wouldn't do better then an 80 on any project. At least I gave them a nice enough display in the wood shop that they take paying attention to the tools seriously.

WireDog

That's an outstanding idea. I'm an elementary school art teacher, working remotely from home. Many students are performing barely above the level of zombies, to include my art stars. So much is lost going through a computer screen, at least with kids that age. They were built to be running around in the actual physical world.

Giving those kids a hands on project like that will no doubt stay with them forever. Awesome. Looking forward to seeing this progress.

mstateglfr 

reerodz down in prole is who did it. 1 week turnaround and really nice people.

mstateglfr 

.
that will be neat. Speaking of- its heading your way this weekend.

mstateglfr 

ha! Its always good to hear others are in a similar boat, right?

mstateglfr 

ElEd art has to be difficult and limiting to teach remotely. This is a big area my kids miss the most- their art classes at and outside of school.

This time at home has been great to teach them how to do things they otherwise wouldn't experience due to busy schedules.
We have rebuilt all our raised bed gardens, built a retaiand wall, replaced the rollers of a sliding door, etc. They have also wasted countless hours playing some tablet video game, so its hardly been all productive!

tyler_fred

Was the Evaporust applied as a spray-on product, or did you submerge similar to an Oxalic acid bath? Also, can you show an internal picture of the bottom bracket after Evaporust?

ljsense

This is an enjoyable thread. I wish the full project were available, like when a Netflix show drops.

I could look at bike restoration threads all day like this.

tyler_fred

-Thank you for your generosity

mstateglfr 

Ha, well unfortunately this project is more like an hbo series thats released each week and inexplicably takes a year and a half per season when there are only a dozen episodes.

noglider 

Good going! My kids are grown. I wonder how I would handle them if they were still kids in the pandemic. I think guiding them through anything, even a hobby, is more instructive than trying to follow the school curriculum. If I teach the stuff I'm good at teaching, it will be a better lesson than the stuff I'm bad at teaching. The fact that they are learning is more important than what they are learning, at least for now.

Andy_K 

What a great project!

Better be careful teaching your kids practical skills, though. They might not want to go back to school.

mstateglfr 

I submerged each tube in a long and narrow trough style bucket. Probably 40min per session for the chainstays, seatstays, top tube, down tube, and head tube. I wrapped the seat tube in soaked paper towels and then stuffed some down the seat tube too.
That removed all the exterior rust and I think removed/stopped a lot of the internal rust.

The bottom bracket doesn't look good in a picture, but its much improved.





Just glad it'll go to someone that will use it! Kinda neat its heading your way since its a Mississippi built frame.

tyler_fred

Can you comment as to what the small raised square sections are inside the chainstay tubes? Is that some type of detent to hold the chain stays in place during the braze process?

noglider 

Forget homeschooling during the pandemic. Teach life skills instead.

mstateglfr 

Still awaiting a couple missing components- headset being a key one.
brake calipers came in today!

Since frame and fork weights are often guessed at around here due to framesets rarely being stripped to the bone, below are the frame and fork weights for those looking in future years to reference.

1988 Schwinn Premis 25" or 63.5cm weights
frame- 2430g
fork- 770g

The frame, like me, will never be seen as gaunt.

Brake calipers are unbranded, surprisingly..

dedhed

I've been a firm believer in teaching my children self sufficiency and life skills.

noglider 

@dedhed, your pictures warm my heart.