Steel frame tubing

Hi All,

Bit of a winter project planned, building my own frame.

only stumbling block is finding a tube supplier that sells proper bike specific steel tubing.
Has anyone attempted similar or know where i should start?

thanks

Ceeway[/url] are ace. You are doing well if that stays your only problem 🙂

Oh and Nova[/url] are US based, but useful as well.

Ceeway for tube sets, as above, have a trawl through the “What’s new” section too.

(among other things) you’ll need:

1) a design
2) a jig
3) some tubes and dropouts, etc.
4) some way of preparing the tubes so that they can be joined
5) some way of joining the tubes and stuff.

step 1 is the easy bit.

How are you planning on building it? I’d totally recommend The Bicycle Academy[/url] courses.

I’ve been brazing some frames and really enjoying it.
Untitled by Shaggy John[/url], on Flickr

As above – Ceeway is your friend. One cheap option is 1.5m lengths of plain gauge Columbus cro-mo in various diameters from 12.5mm to 35mm for about £12. If you haven’t got stuff for tube bending then also need pre-shaped chainstays and seatstays.

Also buy your flux there if brazing (Cycle Designs paste).

I rarely buy dropouts – I tend to design them specifically for each frame. Occasionally cut them by hand, but normally get them done by CNC plama direct from a 2D CAD file. Not quite as tidy as laser cut, but perfectly OK after whiz with a file and covered in powder coat. Works out about £4 a dropout.

Shaggy – nice work – that one looks a bit “Julie Racing Designs” 🙂 (one of my big inspirations)

Cheers Mick. I need to email you actually about oxygen generators…

that looks ace!

Design is done, jig is in hand, as are dropout etc.
Building it with a mate who has his own machine shop and every type of welder going, probably Tig welding it up for the most part.

I’ll checkout ceeway. thanks for the pointer in that direction.

Its going to be a long project, so don’t expect to see anything till next year!!

Ceeway are great for stock but Bicycle Academy also sell tubing and all the parts you need, they are a tad cheaper for some bits as well.

Just drop me an email Shaggy.

The oxy-gen is currently buried in my brazing shed – asbestos removal from garage tomorrow so have had to empty EVERYTHING out (into the shed, house etc). When not buried in junk the brazing setup looks like this:-

Hello Mick, is that an ex-medical oxygen concentrator?

Why not buy from reynolds? They sell direct and you will struggle to find a stronger steel than 853 (without going stainless), also pretty easy to braze with. Paragon in the states do some fancy drop outs (like the 12mm bolt through that I used). I used Ceeway for my pre-bent stays.

I do realise my brazing is messy (been told if it was a horse someone would have shot it by now) but I got bored with filing it down and it won’t make it any weaker, probably.

When not buried in junk the brazing setup looks like this:-

A propane brazing setup! How well does it work? I’m intending to do just the same to avoid storing acetylene. Apart from propane hose and bigger torch tips, any advice?

Sorry for the slight thread hijack!

The home friendly brazing setup isn’t as nice as oxy-acetylene bottles but is mostly OK for hobby work (and far safer / more practical without a BOC account and bottle rental).

Totally different mindset to lighting acetylene.

Bigger tips. Tried countersinking them but never found it made a difference (will report back on what size tip I’m using when I can get near my torch). Needs a very small whisper of gas or the flame lifts off from tip and blows out. First 5 mins can be a nightmare with it randomly blowing out then seems to settle down once warmed up.

The Oxy-con is also mostly OK but mine can be a bit fussy – it can trip out / randomly flash the service lights if you work it too hard. Sometimes also does a funny gentle pulsing of the oxygen flow about once every 5 secs (flame changes colour just when you don’t want it). I’m running flashbacks on both gases (been told no need on oxy-con but decided if it worked then no harm fitting one).

Oxy-con is an ex-hire Devilbiss, £235 from Tufnells glass beadmaking supplies. They also do a nice gas hose qr coupler so can disconnect bottle when not in use.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Oxygen-Concentrator-For-Lampwork-Beadmaking-Torch-never-buy-Oxygen-tanks-again-/151438085533?pt=UK_Crafts_Glass_Art_Supplies_CV&hash=item234269cd9d

http://www.tuffnellglass.com/contents/en-uk/d2.html

Thanks. Time to experiment I think.

What’s that crankset you’re running there maxi?

Looking good btw

daver27 – Member

Building it with a mate who has his own machine shop and every type of welder going, probably Tig welding it up for the most part.

PTA?

😈

^^ lol.

Building it with a mate who has his own machine shop and “NEARLY” every type of welder going