[bElliott]

recently i have been thinking about fabbing a dh frame. it will most likely be a single pivot built around a 9.5X3.0 shock w/8-9 in travel, 4130 cro-mo. I have access to a tig welder, plasma cutter, tubing bender, and i can mitre tubes.

what im wondering is
a)i need a 1.5 ht, can i find some (?) id tube and just clean it up by taking it to a shop.
b)for the bb shell can i buy one somewhere? do i have to get it turned on a lathe or cnc'd? or can i just tap threads into a tube with the correct id(which is...)?
c)where the heck would you find 27.2 id pipe for a seatpost, or does it have to be bought or turned.

any other tips appreciated!

 

[luelling]

I'd PM BCD....he is the man at fabbin his own stuff.

 

[RD3]

http://www.henryjames.com
They have steel tubing and other stuff you might need.

 

[bElliott]

thanks guys

i was actually considering pming bcd and now that you say so too i shall do that!

also wall thickness for tubing?

 

[bElliott]

http://www.henryjames.com
They have steel tubing and other stuff you might need.

wow thats cool

think the bb shells will stand to dh abuse?

 

[jamesdc]

www.airbomb.com has bottom bracket shells, dropouts, cable braze ons

 

[bElliott]

i think their ws is down?

 

[RD3]

Also check out:
http://www.paragonmachineworks.com/
http://www.brewracingframes.com/
http://www.thickbikes.com/

 

[Lollapalooza]

Just go to frame forum.

http://www.frameforum.net/forum2/index.php?showtopic=623

 

[bElliott]

found paaragon

im gonna look into the others

thanks a bunch tht forum sounds cool too

 

[OGDMFG]

pm me I have some experience with such things

 

[Hougham]

You can get all the tubes new. I should warn you that a lot of the available bike tubes you can only really use gas on. I would recommend going to aircraft T45 as its light and very strong. But the real advantage is it tig welds very well and is very easy to bend. You will have to make a BB shell but thats not that hard. If your really struggling you can make a ITA BB as its more standard. Just use standard size tubing as seat pins are available in just about any size. You can also get carbon tube in off the shelf sizes that can come in very useful if you go for alloy tube as you can simply glue the carbon on to a alloy sleeve. I would recommend by starting with a current bike geometry as then at least you will not go far wrong. Your also best to go to strong to start with just to be safe

 

[OGDMFG]

you can buy bb shells from paragonmachine.com for 7 bucks a piece so yu wont have to turn threads. aircraft spruce has 4130 tubing for pretty cheap, lots of comom sizes.

 

[bElliott]

thanks guys i think im gonna get the bb from paragon

whats the id of a 1.5 ht? i have a vernier i could measure mine with but i dont want to dissasemble my "good" bike

wal thickness somewhere in the range of .05-.01 inches sounds ok?