Pro-Level Drillium Work
 

I realize the best work with drillium was DrilliumDude. I had a few pieces machined by him as well. Lovely.

Anyway, are there any other players out there who do equal-level quality in such a discipline?

https://la-vie-velo-classique.webflow.io

also cycloretro.com or cyclo-retro.com

I see panto, but no Drillium.

https://www.cycloretro.com/drillium

There are a few, Curtiss Odom does hubs and DD"s mentor was Jon Williams of Drillium Revival, sadly Jon passed away a while back, he was the gold standard in a league of his own.

And Drillium stressing quantity over quality.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...reduction.html

good question....

It does make you wonder if there is still a demand for this sort of ornamentation and is there anyone with the interest in developing this sort of demanding and specific skill?

Personally, I have no idea.
I suppose the best source of info might be someone like Jim Merz or Mark Bulgier, since they have a deep history with the hobby and are skilled machinists too.

It's certainly a shame that Jon Williams passed away... about 6 years ago? The 2018 Classic Rendezvous gathering did a remembrance of him, and folks brought their bikes that were fitted with parts that Jon had modified. One that stood out was Dale Brown's bike that was built by Brian Baylis. It had quite a few parts that Jon had worked on.

Here's a shot of the Campy NR derailleur that Jon had heavily modified...

https://live.staticflickr.com/7402/2...7f510e_b_d.jpg


Peter Weigle had included a subtle message on one of the bikes he had displayed...

https://live.staticflickr.com/1729/4...6c4b62_b_d.jpg


Jon William's flickr pages are still being maintained, and you can see his photos of the work that he did on Dale's Baylis bike:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/546162...th/26108758731

Steve in Peoria

I really miss Drillium Dude’s participation. His departure was a huge blow to the forum.

Can confirm.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7d47952e2f.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d9e77584e4.jpg


And while Jeff is unfortunately not on this forum anymore, he is still among the land of the living - he still may take on new work at his discretion.


I made a jig for trying out drillium and turnium (engine turning) on chainrings, but not planning to make a career out of it:)

I think I will eat a salad five days a week and save pounds that way...

I already have a few pieces that were drillium treated and have one last component that I would like to have done.

It is ALL for aesthetics results only, NOT for any weight reduction. I do not labor under the lightness thing at all.

Anyway, the quest continues…

SpeedofLite (I think??) posted an article a while back from Bicycle Guid or Bicycling Magazine that had some great examples. Maybe he could repost or post the link?

Instagram user the_campagkid does , though I suspect mostly in service to his own restorations. For instance, he's been working on a recreation of https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/alfengers's special 70s time trial bike.


Edit: Sorry this is so messed up. I blame the forum software. I tried multiple times to fix the crappy formatting and broken links.

I did not know that DD had left the forum. Do you know why he did so?

I only recall that I missed the precipitating event and only learned of his departure after it happened. Whatever the incident, there was a failure to recognize that he gave way more to the forum than he received..

It was a self imposed ban, not surprising knowing the high standard Jeff holds himself to.

Nothing short of a great loss. :twitchy:

He was always adamant with me that he would not do any aside from personal only for himself.

May have been just me but I never even actually asked.

We didn't always see eye to eye but we did always manage to sort it out. ;)

Ha, don't mention me in the same breath as Merz. As a machinist I'm a self-taught shade-tree tinkerer, nowhere near Merz-level skilz.

Has this thread mentioned Frank Spivey yet? He was an American who was heavily into drillium in the '60s-'70s. He made elaborate drilling jigs that were time-consuming to make but then they made drilling multiple parts identically pretty easy. Lots of pics here Velo-Retro: Peter Johnson
and also here https://bikeretrogrouch.blogspot.com...ium-style.html