Originally Posted by
Andrew R Stewart
Many of us did recycle old frames into practice material but the time it took to clean off the paint was taking away from the practice torch stuff time so speaking for myself I suggest raw tubing as a first choice. There are a lot of on line sellers of 4130 tubing. Aircraft Spruce, Stockcar Steel, McMaster-Carr, to name a few on my saved list.
(Relating to another thread: incidentally, another great job for the induction forge is taking off the paint - the tube gets hot first, not the paint, so the paint just boils off. Brush, brush and its clean. Heating the other way cooks it on....anyway, I digress...)
Speaking as someone currently going through this - consider modifying an existing frame. I am taking a 21" and changing the stack/reach to test out the geo I think I want, before spending $400 on new steel. The only thing I purchased is a head tube (20 years ago, actually). For me this is proving to be a low cost way to try out the techniques, figure out processes and experience the joy of a fillet-brazing, where the goal post comes into view very quickly.
For new tubing to play around with, some places have mixed bags and drops for a discount, although at the end of the day the shipping is going to get you no matter what.