Frame blocks and a trashed 531 Raleigh Pro
 

Yes, I am the one who bought the damaged Raleigh Pro frame for $35. Not sure what I was thinking at the time and still not sure what I am going to do with it. Such a pretty frame, too. I figured I had nothing to lose by trying to "repair" the frame with a frame block. Also figured it would be a good experiment in the limitations of using said blocks. Not to mention good experience for me.

So we start with the first photo of the damaged frame. And really it does not show well just how damaged it was. The crumpling is pretty obvious, but what seemed worse to me was the way the tubing was ovalized. Seeing that raised real doubts as to the success of this adventure. Even if the crumpled areas could be removed, I had doubts as to the structural integrity of the tubing.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x.../Resized01.jpg

So with nothing to lose, I greased up the frame and the blocks and started working my way along the tube. I started a bit outside the crumpled areas towards the HT to ease things in. Photo below is actually further along, but it gives you and idea of the procedure. Depending on how "bent" the tube, tighten, rotate the frame, tighten, rotate the frame, tighten until the blocks show no crack. Loosen, slide down, applying more grease as needed, and repeat. I should think if you were dealing with less widespread damage you might not need to rotate the frame.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x.../Resized03.jpg

Next photo is after several cycles and you can see I am starting to get into a crumpled area. You can see the crumpling farthest from the head tube is starting to come out rather nicely. Also visible are small "crimps" (for lack of a better term) on the side which are evidence of the tubing being ovalized in that area. These are more visible in the photo after this one

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x.../Resized02.jpg

Photo below is after about an hour of treatment. The crumpled area farthest from the head tube is clearly reduced. The large crumpled area ahead of it is also reduced, but still there. From what I have read, this is not all that unusual. As indicated, the crimping along the side is more visible in this shot. I had not seen anything on this and wonder if it is poor technique on my part. I suppose one could buy several blocks to cover the whole area of damage and not have these appear. But I only had the one and figured the idea is to ease the tubing back into shape. Any feedback in that respect would be welcome. Even after this, the tubing was still ovalized in the horizontal plane.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x.../Resized04.jpg

So today I repeated the procedure and was able to remove most of ovalization. The blocks fit nicely around the TT with no seam showing on the blocks. I wonder if a little judicious application of dry ice might pop out that last dent. Maybe something to try later. Unless someone has some tricks to relay, this is probably the final product. The block worked well, but I think they are more for dents and not a crumpled frame. I do not think I will try to pull the head tube straight as I have my doubts about the integrity of the TT. So maybe sometime in the future, it will get sent to Franklin Frame and have the TT and DT replaced. Kind of hate to do that, but I did one face plant off a bike as a teenager and don't want to do another.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x.../Resized05.jpg

Pretty good :thumb:

That worked pretty good considering. I am glad you posted this as I was contemplating posting a question about this process, but didn't because I have no pictures of my dent. My dent is pretty small so I'm thinking this will work great for me. Where do you get the blocks? This is the most info I have been able to find on this process. Thanks!

Great thread!

Looks like you might've brought one back from the dead.. Good job..:thumb:

Didn't someone on here seal water in the tube then threw it in a freezer for a few hours for a couple sessions? The water expanded little by little and pushed the dent out nicely.

Here is the thread: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...be-Dent-Repair

just a suggestion: take a heat gun to it prior to rolling the dent out again.

I was looking forward to this one, Lynn.

The remaining dent doesn't look entirely hopeless yet - doesn't look as if much pressure was applied in that area; either that, or the fold is drastic enough that the rest of the tube is already close to round. In that case, I'd have it filled with silver and be done with.

-Kurt

Try freezing that mother. It'll be a neat experiment.

Thanks for the photos, its givern me a bit more confidence to start work on a dented frame I have.

Are the blocks wood or metal? If they are wood I could make my own

Very impressive.

Lynn,

Nice job!! Skip the dry ice....

I think the side rippling was due to your technique. As you tightened down the block the leading edge pushed into buldged out area ahead and crimped it in. I've never used frame blocks but I'd suggest either a larger starting gap in the blocks, radiusing the leading edge of the blocks or starting at the widest part of the buldge and wrk out in 2 different directions. Starting in the middle would require several passes.

I'm glad to see this frame being revived. Nice work.

What is the rational behind either/both of these suggestions?

Heat would make the metal more pliable and thus more workable.

Water expands as it freezes, the thought is that pressure from expansion would pop out the dent...similar to how a beer can botton pops out when the can freezes.

I plan on trying this sometime in the next couple of weeks on a couple of small dents on the top tube of my 531 paramount. I will start a thread and have detailed pictures so we can see how well it works on small dents compared to a major dent. I agree that heating the tube will make it more pliable and will probably heat it up a bit before trying. If this method doesn;t work, I may try the freezing method with water in the tube. I have a walkin freezer at work and think that the method will work well as long as I don't leave it too long.

Link for one source. There is another source but these do not seem to be for repair as much as frame building. That is they do not appear as "heavy duty" as the first choice.


I did not start in the middle as I thought doing so might be too large a change. Ditto for not moving the block too much. I thought it best to ease the tubing back into shape rather than "pop it". The chamfering idea is good if one has the machine tools to do so. It would have been interesting to try several blacks together.

The frame still needs to have the head tube pushed back out. One good thing is the bend in the TT and DT now is gentle and not a real noticeable bulge. Maybe I will have the frame straightened. One concern raised when discussing this with Kurt before the TT "repair" was the TT just giving way. Having been crunched, would it be likely to revert on application of force to the HT? If I could preserve this frame with only a TT refinish, that would be the ultimate goal. But as I said, I prefer not to do another face plant.

Comments?

You may want to post about this in the frame-builders forum. I would think the folks there might have some experience working with 531, and be able to advise as to how weak or strong it might be after such a denting and straightening. It looks pretty good now, but I agree with your skepticism re future crumpling potential. If you have to repaint anyway, it may be worth replacing the whole top tube, and straightening the down tube and head tube alignment at the same time.

And it might also be interesting to try the freezing water trick with the blocks clamped in place. That might keep the expansion limited to just getting the tube back to round, without bulging or splitting. But I really have no first hand knowledge of such things. Do keep us posted. I do love this sort of project.

That's dang impressive. Always good to see that people are willing to try to save what others consider trash.