puchfinnland

I started last night.

narrow childrens bars are very difficult to find.

since I had at least 6 sets of not valuable drops in the shed I thought I would try something.

the most difficult part is moving the sleeve over on the bar,

this set had a punch dent in the center-this was drilled out.
liberal use of wd40 and th eheatgun and it started to move, I used the stem tightend down on the side of the sleeve so i had something to hammer on.

I soon discovered this is not very effective.

I made some measurements and with the pipe cutter (one with wheel)
I cut off one horn, and then was able to hammer out the other side after carefully bracing the sleeve.

after this everything was easy.

the sleeve I decided needed to be narrowed abit so the joint would be exposed closer to the center line.

I had 410mm and need 340mm
I removed 37mm from one side and the rest from the other side.

after some fitting (sanding and polishing)
I was able to assemble my 340mm bars.

next step

the ID is about 20mm,
I will go to my friend the welder adn find an aluminum pipe that is this OD to fit inside the joint, he will then weld the 2 halves together and I will polish and then epoxy the sleeve in the correct position.
Alan frames are held together with epoxy- I believe this will be a successful and quality job.


Organ donors wanted
If you have a damaged set of bars with a clean center sleeve I would like to have it. hopefully I can build with some cinelli and 3ttt sleeves.
when the first bar is complete I will be happy to do this service for others

RaleighSport

Most impressive... not something I ever would have thought of either. Very nice going.

ftwelder

It looks good to me!

puchfinnland

Frank if I have your blessing then it must be ok!

a qualified aluminum fabricator will do the welding.
Im not qualified.

pastorbobnlnh 

Frank,

Just curious, does Puch need to worry about losing the heat treating when having the bars welded back together? Will the bars be just as strong, or is this not a concern especially since they will be used by a child?

Puch, when she needs wider bars, PM me. I believe I have a few bars that are 36-38cm wide that I'll never use.

rootboy 

Necessity is the mother of invention. Very impressive Puch!

You're going the extra mile for Nelli, and I can't think of any endeavor more worthy.

puchfinnland

Well actually this first set is for Andy Capp! just he dont know it yet!

I have a old set of 34cm 3TTT (for Masini bike number 2) but I had to do some heavy bending to get them aligned,

they are the non sleeved type. during the bending they aquired some dents so they are not perfect.
I may go to the welder thursday at the earliest. so stay tuned.

as for heat treatment I think anodizing is what made them strong- I will sleeve them so there will be 3 pieces at the joint location. Epoxy is quite strong also

MrEss

At first I was horrified at this idea, but then when you said "inner sleeve the joint before welding" I calmed down. Very creative and awesome!

Andycapp

You rock! I work as a machinist. If you want I can make you a drift that should make removing the bar from the sleeve a lot easier. Also if you have any problem finding the rite OD pipe for the inner sleeve I can turn some of that for you as well.

-Andy

puchfinnland

i will visit the welder in the morning-he has 20mm OD pipe 1.5 wall thickness.

YES the drift would be great, but lets get this set together first.

what would be really good to have is a 2 piece clamp for clamping on the bar and pushing against the sleeve so not to do damage to it.

if the pipe dont fit I could want a good press fit center to press in-then weld.

Andycapp

No problem. I'll take some measurements tonight and see what I can come up with...

puchfinnland

WELDING COMPLETE

well the pics are kind of boring- I did not add all the drama this time
use your imagination

20mm pipe is too small for a inner sleeve, so when I was at the welders I saw his lathe...
So I just turned a piece to 20.5mm

imagine an image of lathe turning a piece of aluminum

I then hammered it into one side and then the other,a good press fit.

the welder clamped it down and just welded it together,
imagine an image of a oversize gnome with a beerbelly welding aluminum

and then I polished the weld away so the outer sleeve slid over the weld


and now its ready for epoxy

and then monday its off to Andycapp
or should I make another set as you will need them with the OLMO you will buy?
Organ donors wanted
If you have a damaged set of bars with a clean center sleeve I would like to have it. hopefully I can build with some cinelli and 3ttt sleeves.
the first bar is complete I will be happy to do this service for others
pm me

Puget Pounder

That's pretty adorable.

Andycapp

Oh great, now you've outed me! Guess I have to buy it! Working on the blocks right now. I'll make one at 25.4 and one at 26.0. Those should take care of most bars. Let me know if you could use one at 26.4.

RFC

LOL! I'm glad you grabbed the avatar.

Andycapp

Here's the one for the 25.4mm clamp it fits my SR Road Champion bars on the Miyata that's at the shop. In the background is the blank for another size. I'll take measurements at home this weekend and mill it Monday. Hope it works for you.





-Andy

puchfinnland

andy- the clamps should not the same size as the stem- its the size of the handlebar without the sleeve.

I hope you know this. should I test out your clamps first?

hmm have to dig out the next pair of bars for you today- they will be S.R.

readers- can we get some measurements from your spare bars?
cinelli,3ttt, etc
I need the measurement from the side of the sleeve in millimeters.
thanks

mike

Andycapp

There's two diameters milled into this block. The bigger is at 1.005" for clearance on the sleeve and the smaller is at .94 (my bar measures .935") for clearance on the bar it self. The idea is that should not clamp down tight on either when bolted together but provide a close fit on both, supporting the edge of the sleeve so the bar can be pressed out. If your bar happens to be slightly larger just don't bolt it down all the way. I hope and think it'll work pretty slick. What do you think?

realestvin7

I'll see if I can contribute measurements maybe.

puchfinnland

andy....um.....the bolts....are they metric or inch!!
I moved to europe to get away from inches...they were too complicated!
might not have a inch allen wrench and very difficult to find here!

Andycapp

That thought crossed my mind right after I tapped them at 1/4-20. No worries, I'll drill and tap them to the next size up metric for you.

-Andy

puchfinnland

I can get metric bolts and screws- just avoid m7! its a bastard size and very uncommon

m6 or m8 is just fine.

if you throw in an inch allan key it will be ok, If I strip them out I can tap the metric size myself.
dont worry about it.

you can honestly call it a gift on the customs claim!