Interested in frame building.

[Youngin]

Hi,

I'm a freshman in high school right now, and I am interested in possibly building a frame to get the feel for it and see if I'd like to pursue it more in life. My teacher has agreed to help me find someone to work with if he couldn't, and we have a nice workshop. How would I go about this? Maybe it would be easier if I just listed a few questions.

1. What's the average cost? I'll probably end up doing it next year if I do it, but I'd need to know how much I'd need to save up over the summer (aka get a job).

2. Is there any budget tubing out there?

3. Is it possible to buy pre-made parts like lugs and bottom brackets? Unless a frame builder was willing to help me, it would be difficult to make these without special tools I've heard.

4. If there are premade parts, is it possible to have different geometries with them? I want to make a track bike.

5. How do you do custom fitting? I want it to be a simple track legal bike, but I also want it to be special.

Thank you!!

Chris (Hopefully a frame builder soon)

[Scooper]

Hi Chris,

There are a number of framebuilding supply houses that will sell you tube sets, lugs, BB shells, dropouts, and just about anything else you'll need. Here are a few of them:

Bikelugs.com (Kirk Pacenti) (http://www.bikelugs.com/)

Nova Cycles Supply (http://www.novacycles.com/)

Ceeway (http://www.framebuilding.com/) (They're in the U.K., but ship worldwide)

Henry James (http://www.henryjames.com/) (Henry James also sells the Paterek Manual (http://www.henryjames.com/patman.html), an indispensible "how to" framebuilding manual.)

Aircraft Spruce & Specialty (http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/mepages/4130tubing_un1.php) sells 4130 seamless chromoly tubing.

Good luck.

[rodar y rodar]

Hey, Chris- have you checked out frame forum yet?
http://frameforum.org/forum3/index.php
Most everything I think I know about frame building is second hand (I`m still planning my first build and hope to start cutting tubes this summer), so anything I could tell you about it would be hearsay, but I want to wish you good luck! Take a look at the other forum and ask away- lots of knowledge there.