Cool thread you have going here. I hope it's cool if I jump in. Here's a few shots of this weeks bike -

Dave


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http://i.imgur.com/e55DB0o.gif http://i.imgur.com/e55DB0o.gif

I've been trying to TIG some scrap 1/2" OD .020 wall stainless I found at work. Figure if I can weld that, I can weld anything. Also, a hairs width away from buying a gasflux model 69 to braze and get artistic with. Anyone have experience with gasflux? There's also a premix, pressurized, solution for running flux down the acetylene line, right?

Also, found this in a dark corner at work, it's useless to us anymore, debating selling it and treating the lab to lunch or something.

http://i.imgur.com/wPSIb2Um.jpg

Here's a fork. 70 mm rake, Mafac bosses, porteur rack and generator cable braze-ons. For a 559x47 wheel.

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That is a very cool looking fork tuz. Couple of questions: 1) what brand are the crown, drops, and blades? 2) what is the ht angle and trail?

thanks, Brian

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...4&d=1365201979

Winter has returned for a few more days... spent the day cleaning and sorting out the shop and tweaking my bikes here and there, mostly in regard to their wheels which were functionally great but needed to get mated up with similar parts groups.

Now the XT / LX equipped bike has XT hubs with rims that are just a little more suited to the big assed tyres and my daily driver has DX wheels that match all the other DX and Deore components and are a good match to the 559:40 tyres.

Now I need to track down some vintage XTR wheels or hubs t build wheels with for another project.

The crown is a Pacenti Paris-Brest. I got the blades from J. Clay and his fancy bender, they are a bit thicker gauge than the Columbus SL. The dropouts are pretty generic double eyelets & 9 mm slot from Marinoni. I'm going for a 72 deg HA, 32 mm trail. Thanks.

Tonight I cold set my Shasta's frame to 135 to accept the new old stock DX wheelset, swapped my front cantis to something shinier, and changed the LX front d for a DX to match the rear and the improvement in shifting quality was remarkable. It curbs out at 32 pounds which is pretty good for how it is equipped and is the reason I will never have to look at a Surly LHT. The geometry is pretty much identical and the triple butted lugged frame is just as stiff, little lighter, and has a much better feel when the bike is unloaded..

Crappy cel pic taken in a dim shop... :)

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...3shastadx1.jpg

Everyone is welcome indeed! Tuz, that is a nice fork. Ill be the ride will be worth the effort.

I had fun on a bunch of odds and ends then by Wed. I was back on bikes. This is a road bike styled after a Cannondale track bike but with internal routing. After the bead is run, I am washing the welds with an electrical "potion" I came up with. Very little filing or grinding will be required.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8381/8...c34f26b2f5.jpg
30 243 by frankthewelder, on Flickr

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30 230 by frankthewelder, on Flickr

You're basically remelting the "dimes" pattern always associated with alu tig, right? I've seen vids of tig beads run by a welding lathe where there is no dime pattern at all, just a completley smooth bead that looks like a cleaned up fillet. My understanding is the dime pattern, although not structurally superior, is what the public/buyers are used to seeing and associate with a quality tig weld, the neater the stacked dime look the better. Be interesting to see if you get any negative feeedback(wouldn't matter to me) with the washing process because it is not the norm.

Brian

:popcorn

I've used both an old Allstate JetFluxer and for a lot longer a GasFlux one. A few years ago i stopped using the GasFluxer. Not because it didn't work but because I wanted to get better without it. The fluxer won't replace paste flux or good clean prep. It will, IME, extend the time that the flux is effective. It will change the color of the flame and of the "halo" surrounding the brazing. It will leave deposits of dried gasflux on your equipment. Hoses can dry out and get brittle if the wrong type are used. The fluxer valves and shut offs can plug up with time. Steam cleaning will be your friend. Insert a 3' length of sacrificial hose off the fluxer to save your main hoses. But I won't get rid of it and will hook it up again some time. Andy.

So Frank- you're creating the look of Cannondale's mungo fillets on aluminum frames?

I christen this the "Portage"... a custom rack I built for my Pugsley.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikes...rack%20(1).JPG

It was built to match the offset in the frame so it needs no adjustable mounts and the install took all of three minutes.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikes...rack%20(2).JPG

Bags can be mounted high or low depending on the riding conditions and cargo requirements.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikes...rack%20(7).JPG

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikes...rack%20(8).JPG

Does not interfere with the disc brake either.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikes...rack%20(5).JPG

^^ Very nice design/execution. Brian

Thanks... will serve as my beta / prototype and hope to be be able to supply these to other fatbike owners who are frustrated by the lack of aftermarket racks that have great carrying capacity.

Feel that by eliminating all the nuts, bolts, and adaptor plates you get with adjustable racks it reduces the points of failure by a high degree.

Now I have to build a front rack... I have all my tubing bent and will build that to the offset in the front fork.

After that, rear saddle bag supports have been requested of me... :)

Yes, I am and the response has been mixed. It's fun to do once in a while.

Wow, cool lug design!

I always wondered how C'Dale did a fillet on aluminum...

Nice way to start the day... a local shop that is also the Surly dealer called me and said they'd like to see the Portage rack.

They have felt my pain and said they'd like to offer their customers a nicer option for the Pug and Moonlander.

I think they did a lot of grinding and sanding because I have seen many examples of serious undercut.

Yup! I've never been an admirer of C'dales huge fillets. The finishing is too inconsistent. I've always wondered what they were trying to hide, or if they really felt they needed so much material too hold that joint together. I've not seen one raw before grinding but I imagine it's a real mess.

Frank- from what I've seen of your work you'll never be able to replicate the C'dale look unless you lower your standards by a huge amount.

LOL. Aluminum isn't very suitable for making perfect fillets. I think one would have to pile it on and grind a lot to get good results. I tried to do most of it with the torch and just finish with a modified clean-n-strip wheel. It's also difficult to make a massive down tube blend with a modest sized head tube without it looking like sewer plumbing. Ill get some more pics up shortly.

Usually I can't get Friday photos posted till Saturday or Sunday. 'Being on time is early in that case, so be it that I offer a film of a machine I borrowed from a local artist, buddy and master sheetmetal worker Mark Goodenough. The film shows a tool I made for planishing copper tinner's rivets to make the head larger. The interesting thing is I used a heavy duty rivet gun that actually destroyed the tooling (fixture) shown in the film. Live and learn. These pneumatic rivet guns are no joke. Plug your ears.

Some bike pics too.



Vid link ---> http://www.flickr.com/photos/frankthewelder/8639271931/
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nokia by frankthewelder, on Flickr

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nokia by frankthewelder, on Flickr

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nokia by frankthewelder, on Flickr

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nokia by frankthewelder, on Flickr

Hey Frank- cool job on the internal cable routes. Do you think the downtube exit slots require any reinforcement, or are they good to go?

Thanks, they will be fine. I am pretty sure I covered the bases when thinking this through.