I'm looking to build my first frame this winter. My dad does a lot of welding and has torches and equipment that I'm planning to take advantage of. I've talked to a local framebuilder here who has offered to give me some scrap tubing and cheap lugs to practice on.

I was thinking I would build a touring 29er frameset (sort of a Salsa Fargo knockoff) as I already own 3 road frames (a tourer, a winter fixed gear and a 650a conversion). Is this going to present me with undue stress as a first time builder? I was thinking of using this tubeset:
http://www.cycle-frames.com/bicycle-...-X-969-DT.html

I'm presuming that with a lugged frame I'll be restricted to building with a horizontal top tube. Is this the case? Is working with the tire clearance on the rear triangle going to be very difficult with only improvised jigging?

Also does anyone know if it is possible to get a custom fork into the free online version of bikecad? I was planning on just using a salsa fargo fork that I have but am having some trouble getting bikecad to display it even after entering in the dimensions.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.