Bicycle Mechanics - Homemade bars

I'm considering making myself some handlebars, since I can't find what I want in this country. My cousin owns a welding shop, he can get all kinds of material, and bend it too (I hope he has the right size dies). I know I need 24mm diameter tube, with a 26mm section in the middle for the stem, but can one buy handlebar 'blanks', or will I have to use a shim or something? I doubt he has the facilities to bulge tubes, and milling a length of 26mm tube down to 24 would be crazy, stupid and pointless (and probably impossible).

What grade of alloy should I look for? 6005? 7000 something? What about heat treating? What sort of temperatures are we talking (could one do it in a home oven that goes up to 300C or so, or could I use an oxy torch)?

What do you want that is not available?

Companies like 3TTT make a huge variety of styles, at very good prices, and they are widely available from good bike shops around Norfolk (Madgetts of Diss, Specialised Cycles in Norwich).
The consequences of a snapped bar are too serious .

I'm considering making myself some handlebars, since I can't find what I want in this country. My cousin owns a welding shop, he can get all kinds of material, and bend it too (I hope he has the right size dies). I know I need 24mm diameter tube, with a 26mm section in the middle for the stem, but can one buy handlebar 'blanks', or will I have to use a shim or something? I doubt he has the facilities to bulge tubes, and milling a length of 26mm tube down to 24 would be crazy, stupid and pointless (and probably impossible).

What grade of alloy should I look for? 6005? 7000 something? What about heat treating? What sort of temperatures are we talking (could one do it in a home oven that goes up to 300C or so, or could I use an oxy torch)?

This doesn't look to me like the kind of project that you can start out half-way and learn as you go along because the price of your mistakes can include dental reconstruction. Not only do I not have answers for your questions, but they also cause me to think up even more questions.

plant a bamboo plant and train it for a few years into the shape you want. When it has grown to the required dimensions, cut it down let it dry a bit, seal it and viola! cool ****!
~Steve

plant a bamboo plant and train it for a few years into the shape you want. When it has grown to the required dimensions, cut it down let it dry a bit, seal it and viola! cool ****!
~Steve


Want some? I have a profusion of bamboo growing in my backyard. I hate it, I want it gone, I keep diggin' it out, the ****e keeps on trucking. What's a poor, dumb, monkey like me to do?