Blank lug supplies have been pretty sparse for years after European stamped and welded lug manufacturers died out in the 70’s. The Haden company in England used to make a set until they went out of business about 15 years ago. I was lucky that Ellis Briggs (where I apprenticed in Yorkshire, England) had a number of blank sets they gave me when I left in the 70’s.

The Nikko company from Japan just happened to be at a industrial trade show in Chicago because their bulge forming process can be used in many industrial applications. I asked them if they still did lugs and they said no but still had the tooling. Eventually they agreed to make me blank lugs in standard and oversize sizes and also some spearpoint lugs similar to old Cinelli lugs. I liked to use Cinelli lugs because they had a little more real estate on the lugs to do cut outs. I often liked to put the owner’s initial in the down tube lug. That gave a bit of distinction without being over the top. Nikko lugs are easier to alter angles than investment cast lugs.

Because of limited blank lug supplies, most modern builders use a “bilaminate” method of making a fancy lug. This is when the tubing Andy already mentioned is brazed together to make a lug. Claud Butler was famous for making his frames that way in England after WWII. Since .058” walls are pretty thick it really helps to have a machinist thin them down on a lathe to around .040”. The advantage of this bilam method is that there are no restrictions on angles. However fillet brazing a sleeve over a tube is more challenging than many less experienced builders can do well.