SoreFeet

I've inherited some money. I'm very much dreaming of being a frame builder. I see that the Ant program is way beyond the UBI or other building programs. I'm not seeing dollar signs when I could be losing as much as 40,000$ or more on the start up costs.

There is a lot of stuff to consider. I'm realistically thinking that I could possibly only break even after a full year of frame production.

Ideally I'd see the only way to make a living doing it is to eat ramen and day old bread for a couple years. Do we have any success stories of frame builders here?

I'm not ready to pull the plug on such a high cost. But the fact that the program covers the equipment and really teaches rather than be held by an instructor makes me very interested.

This venture would be an all or nothing for me. I suppose I could buy the tools myself but with no idea what I'm doing the cost of the Ant program seems like a rather intense but honest cost no object program. For instance I'm a fantastic chef but I could likely make the same lousy wage working just as many hours making bike frames.

Somebody out there throw me a bone and prove that there is hope for the aspiring frame builder. If I do this I will never recover the money back, if I don't work at making frames my investment is lost and I'll likely only return half of my investment or less.

My main concern is the math involved in drawing frames. I'm awful at math, failed my drafting class in school. Perhaps somebody could do the math for me and I could do the work myself...I don't know.

mudboy

You don't need to do the math.

tuz

I'm just a hobbyist but from what I've read and understand, to be a good framebuilder you need to be a) a good framebuilder b) a good mechanic and wheel-builder c) know how to fit someone properly on a bike and d) a good businessman. It seems to me the ANT course would do well in teaching you a).

Don't know if that helps.