I may have BFS bend them or buy a cobra toob bender. Not sure yet.
I am not on social media so can see the IG post
I am not on social media so can see the IG post
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The garage frame building journey
- Thread starter sikocycles
- Start date
Just an interesting tube notching setup.
Oh.... Cobra bender.... Hell yeah! Any cool tube mitering jigs you are considering? Once you are setup it’s going to be so nice going from one process to another and be a pleasure to use these fine tools.
A buddy is building me a steel front triangle currently that I will mate to a carbon rear end from a Scott Gambler. I had to give up the hunt for a 49mm or 44/56mm headtube because I couldn’t find one. I guess I’ll have to run a zs44/ec44 headset and won’t have any adjustability up front. If you have any sources for a cromo 49mm or 44/56mm headtube or piece of cromo tubing I could turn down.
We did try turning down some stainless tube into a headtube but I wasn’t comfortable with a stainless headtube because I thought it might be too soft? Are you going to go with 44mm? That looks to be the only option I can get my hands on around here.
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My last HT had a stainless BB and I think the guys at BTR are using stainless filler wire on all of their frames.
Also, Reynolds has has a stainless tubeset that almost rivals Titanium for finished weight/strength.
Will do a 44mm Headtube.
as for miter jigs I may get the cobra miter daddy and make something.
saw one at firefly that looks good and pretty easy to make.
as for miter jigs I may get the cobra miter daddy and make something.
saw one at firefly that looks good and pretty easy to make.
I went with a 44 as well.
Very nice! Doing it right!
Just deciding on the yoke. PMW or the Lichen Mfd. Or maybe the Konga half yokes
I have been casually searching for a Bridgeport too. Which ones are you looking at?
When do we get to see your frame taking shape?
My buddy is almost done with my enduro geometry steel front triangle. I need to bring him a shock so we can finish the lower shock mount. Pretty pumped. He used to build motorcycles but returned to bikes recently. 78* sta, 63* ha.
I still want to do my carpet fiber cut and paste project to compare. I think it could be interesting.
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I hope to get started in the next few weeks. I need to start ordering tubes and parts.
Part of the reason that Bridgeports are so scarce is that every tinkerer with a few coins in their pocket thinks this is what they need to do x. Then the acquired Bridgeports mostly proceed in being the biggest, most expensive clothes rack in the shop shop rather than a tool that actually gets used.
An observation from the past 10 years.
An observation from the past 10 years.
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There seem to be a decent number of Bridgeports around these parts, fairly reasonably priced too. I've seen them anywhere from $1,200+, depending upon whether they come with vises, digital readouts, etc...
I seeing clapped out Brideports near me starting at $2500 and funny thing is I grew up in Bridgeport and live very close still.
I see nice ones for around $4500
I see nice ones for around $4500
People also buy $1500 clapped out Bridgeports with tons of backlash, loose ways and roached spindle bearings. Their first few parts come out looking like a dog chewed on it and kind of give up.
I've considered one in the past but always accepted the fact one I could afford would require some rebuilding.
I will continue to use one of the few at work until I find the right one.
rebuilding the clapped out one would require yet another Bridgeport... and so the cycle continues
but yeah, for many people’s needs a cheaper, smaller Asian mill would probably do the trick.
want to notch some tubes? Here’s a hand file.
rebuilding the clapped out one would require yet another Bridgeport... and so the cycle continues
but yeah, for many people’s needs a cheaper, smaller Asian mill would probably do the trick.
want to notch some tubes? Here’s a hand file.
If the ways are trashed you need a machine much better than a Bridgeport to regrind. It can be done by hand to a certain extent with scrapers, straight edges, time and massive forearms.
Bearings, screws and most other stuff can just be rebuilt by hand. A proper professional rebuild will cost 5 figures.
you need to find an old retired friend who has had one in their home shop since new.
I have two of those friends, and one sold me his when he became ill.
my Bridgeport is consistently surrounded by aluminum chips
would make a horrible clothing rack unless you like pockets full of chips
well yes and no,
he was a big time mold maker from the end of the manual era a "MILL MASTER"
he had a stroke before i met him actually that retired him (one handed) but he consistently does large projects and still uses his mill one handed for all sorts of things,
getting his mill away from him would be damned near impossible.
It'll be a shame when guys of that era die out. I'm always amazed to see the guys and machines that built the infrastructure of yesteryear.
I used to work in the CNC industry and back in the late 90s spent a few months in Brazil working in a large installation at a Ford plant. On days I had no work to do I would go see other customers in the country. Went to a Krupps plant in the middle of the Amazon that had a bunch of really nice modern EDM and CNC machines for mold making. But they also had a bunch of shit from the 1950s and still made some of their molds the old school way. Lots of sheet metal profile and wooden templates on hydraulic copy mills and hand grinding/finishing. I was fascinated by the process. As cool as it was a modern machined die is so much more accurate than the old school stuff.
that’s a bit macabre
That's great. I'm also clearly not referring to you!
I’m not sure. He used Columbus Zona tubing. I’m going over there today to help finish it.
where you at @sikocycles? i grew up in a tiny western ct town...
In the end he used 0.9mm straight gauge cromo tubing from Ceeway in the UK.
@sikocycles What tubing are you going to use?
I’m unsure what BFS means.
I’m trying to get familiar with butting profiles and what could work for an enduro/DH usage. Do you have any idea of what could be a good wall thickness for a frame that will take some abuse? .8/.5/.8mm? I kinda want to get some Columbus XCR tubing for my next front triangle. It looks pretty strong for a stainless steel but then again I know almost nothing about this stuff and it is 4x the price. I wonder if the new stainless Starling is made with the xcr Columbus tubing?
I’m leaning towards a Columbus Zona TT & DT for the next one. .8/.5/.8mm.
Sorry BFS is https://www.bikefabsupply.com/
Will probably use this down tube since it is long enough for the frame I will build.
www.cycle-frames.com
Seat tube will be a BFS curved seat tube with a weld in collar for 30.9
TT is still deciding on. https://www.cycle-frames.com/250110-2340-velospec-air-hardened-31-8-x-0-8-0-5-0-8-x-690mm-dt.html?category_id=1560
Will probably use this down tube since it is long enough for the frame I will build.
Nova Cycles > MAIN TUBES > 250130-2320 VeloSpec Air Hardened Down Tube 44.5 X 1-7-9 X 850mm
VeloSpec Air Hardened 44.5 x 1.0/0.7/0.9 x 850mm
www.cycle-frames.com
TT is still deciding on. https://www.cycle-frames.com/250110-2340-velospec-air-hardened-31-8-x-0-8-0-5-0-8-x-690mm-dt.html?category_id=1560
Wow! Very nice!
Tubes are ordered. Will start the build once I get them. Need to order some heat sinks first. Got some ST heat sinks from Kris at 44 bikes.
