im going ot make a steel hardtail, just wanted to know what size tubing and what wall thickness to use.
Building a steel frame help with tubing
- Thread starter Mustang85
- Start date
Wide enough to get barelled and thick enough to break your board... oh sorry wrong forum.Mustang85 said:
Werd up on that one.ncrider said:Wide enough to get barelled and thick enough to break your board... oh sorry wrong forum.
It all depends on your needs, but .049 thickness is always a good thickness. .035 is ideal for weight, but much harder to weld. Tubing diameters should vary, generally thicker such as a 1 3/4" Downtube with like 1 1/4" TT and ST with 3/4" round chainstays is what I used. It makes a fairly light frame for straight gauge 4130 but still really tough. I recommend straight gauge 4130 because of its durability and you dont have to very carefully plan your mitres like a butted tube, thats easier to do once you have experience, which i don't. PM me for some more info if you want some, I made my own 4130 hardtail 2 years again and it was an awesome experience
hey dude i have a custom steel frame pm me if you wanna check it out
Well, I generally use 049 on my downtubes.
My XC bike is 035x1.5 down tube and a 028 x 1.375 top tube.
My downhill bike has 049 x 1.5 pretty much all around.
The new short travel 4x bike I'm building will be mostly 035.
Unless you want a super burly ride, I generally say 049 is plenty.
Quick top: For your head tube, 1.5od with an 085 wall is perfect. The ID is all set for the headset. Just use a lathe to face off the ends.
My XC bike is 035x1.5 down tube and a 028 x 1.375 top tube.
My downhill bike has 049 x 1.5 pretty much all around.
The new short travel 4x bike I'm building will be mostly 035.
Unless you want a super burly ride, I generally say 049 is plenty.
Quick top: For your head tube, 1.5od with an 085 wall is perfect. The ID is all set for the headset. Just use a lathe to face off the ends.
yeah i have a bunch of 2in, 1.5in, 1in, and 3/4in cold roll but with a .120in thick wall, i guess that would be to heavy eh? lollanman said:
Thanks for all the tips im going to go buy some steel tomorrow
HAHAncrider said:Wide enough to get barelled and thick enough to break your board... oh sorry wrong forum.
Hey man seeing that we both have sexy VP-free's if you want I'm going to have a ton of tubing left over and nothing to use it for, so if you want i could build you a frame too...of course both would be set up for 8in travel forks :evil: seeing that im to poor to buy new parts. And i would only charge the cost of materials so like 40-50bucks
Check this place out:
http://www.wicksaircraft.com/catalog/product_cat.php/subid=1185/index.html
They have plenty to choose from and the shipping is quick - I placed and order sunday night, and it'll be here today (thursday). The prices arn't bad either.
www.henryjames.com for seat tubes and bottom brackets.
http://www.wicksaircraft.com/catalog/product_cat.php/subid=1185/index.html
They have plenty to choose from and the shipping is quick - I placed and order sunday night, and it'll be here today (thursday). The prices arn't bad either.
www.henryjames.com for seat tubes and bottom brackets.
Spitfired said:
Thanks for the links. I'm going to try and fab everything myself, and i get 40% off everything at my local metal supply shop thats only 25min away from my house. Only downside is you have to get 10ft or 20ft sections of almost everything.