Bicycle Mechanics - Frame Parts

Hello everyone. I am talking a welding course in highschool this year in gr. 9, and for one of the projects, you have the chance to make whatever you want. And well., ive decided i want to build a bike frame. Steel is obviously going to be used, I just wanted to get an idea on what frame builders go through when making a frame. I have researched on the net, and I have books on frame specs, metals, tubing, and joints...but i know i cannot make a bottom bracket or head tube.....can i buy these from a store or something? I would want a threadless head-tube, and not a euro-style crank.....i just want to get the basic idea...try it out......see what happens. If anyone has ANY info...id really like it if you could share....im really looking forward to builinbg this...it would be a great experiance......thanks

Give www.novacycles.com a try.

but i know i cannot make a bottom bracket or head tube.....
Why not. They are just tubes of metal, faced and tapped. The fancy cast bottom brackets are for brazed construction, not welding.
You can get a local bike shop to tap the thread.
See henryjames.com for info, esp on alignment jigs, which is the hardest part of building a frame.

If yo have a mill and lathe you can make head tubes and bottom bracket shells. Of course if you know to run a lathe you should be able to set feed and cut to make threads.
I would prefer not to cut threads into a BB esp a steel one. The tap maker does not reccomend it and they, the taps, cost about $50 to resharpen

go to www.henryjames.com for tubing and other stuff... they even have plain (as in no lug sockets) bottom bracket shells...

http://www.gaerlan.com/bikeparts/bike.html

has frame parts and tubing

Jay,
Don't mess around, follow this URL and get
yourself on the Framebuilders list, talk to the likes of
Grant Peterson, Richard Sachs, Brian Baylis, Peter Weigle
to name a few. They might have the post in digest form
(one e-mail instead of many throughout the day)

http://www.phred.org/mailman/listinfo/framebuilders

Marty

Wow......hey lotek, thanks a bunch for the address, im sure it will be helping me out a ton. :D