Good Weather and Hard Work

Lately, things have warmed up here in St. Louis, bringing in the flocks to the shop as well as low electric bills. The bike trails are hitting critical mass, and street lanes are getting flooded with both cyclists and people on bicycles. So in the spirit of last year and commuters dusting off their bikes everywhere, I'm posting the sequel to the original "Do The Test" video. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but share the video with a friend or family member, and maybe raise some awareness. I wouldn't mind hearing a few less honks or choice words on the way to work, but I definitely would like to at least make it to work.



But in other goings on... The weather really is awesome. We were sitting outside a couple evenings ago, and just decided to stay there. So we busted out the tent and some sleeping pads, and camped on our back lawn. Working in my workshop is always more cheerful when I can open some doors and get some fresh breeze in. Justin's frame is coming right along. I even have some H2O bosses on the *correct* side of the seat tube! The fork is done, the tubes are mitered and set to go. Just need to spend a good day prepping and brazing this baby! Then it's some smoothing of the welds, making some chainstays, and a few last details, and she'll be ready for paint. Maybe a couple weeks to go? We'll see how long those last details actually take...

Smoothed out fork crown


Smoothed out seat tube collar. This took a lot of careful filing to get the edges rounded off like this. Trying to keep the lugged crown and seat tube collar matching with the overall smooth filler brazing feel this bike will have.


Tubes all ready to be a frame...

And as always, check out more pics here.

Rainy Vacation, and New Things

The last two weeks have been busy and trying, so the lady and I were going to go for a nice backpacking trip in the rain. We even bought the last couple things we needed for a totally waterproof hike. But the morning that we were scheduled to head out, they were calling for some severe thunderstorms at night. I was all for a good hard rain, but didn't really need to find out how conductive my titanium plate is. So we ended up just pretending, and loaded up the gear and had a good 8-10 mile hike in the rain. I'm not exactly sure, as our map wasn't very good, and the trail wasn't marked very well, so we got lost on a number of occasions.

But thanks to a good compass, and what map we did have not falling apart in the rain, we were able to make it out, and not turn a backpack simulation into a survival trip. And we did get to see some cool things, including deer tracks, a large cat tracks tracking the dear tracks, and what appeared to be either a beaver or a fresh water otter. He took off too fast, and I couldn't get a good look at him. And we stayed comfy and dry the whole time. This whole era of waterproof breathable materials is just too cool. So after we make it back, turns out the whole thunderstorm thing was a bust. But oh well, it was a great hike, and nice to re-charge the batteries.

So with the fresh start, I got to building today with the same outlook. The botched seat tube gave me an opportunity to take a different direction. The dropouts have a double curve detail (that I just hope will show up well after paint), and the *new* seat tube collar will have a curve detail that goes along with the fork crown. I even threw a little "FB" in there for fun. It's still got some finishing touches to go, but it's pretty close. The fork blades are all evened up, so they won't hold the wheel in crooked, and they're drilled and ready for the final assembly of the fork. And once I get done with the new collar, braze it in place, and drill the waterbottle mounts on the correct side, this thing will be just about ready for a big day of fillet brazing. So I might be running a tad behind schedule, but should be smoother from here on out.

It Was Bound To Happen...

...And it finally did happen. I botched a tube. Not even just any tube, a true temper fancy heat treated seat tube with some custom carving and brazing, taking a good solid two days work, by yours truly. And it was a pretty simple way of botching it too. I drilled some holes in it. Nope, it wasn't messing up a miter that had to be spot on to keep the alignment. No, it wasn't messing up and using the wrong butted end, or not inspecting the tube to find where the butting was, or what way it curved. No, it wasn't mis-aligning the re-inforcing collar, or putting it too high or low to reinforce the top tube properly. No, I did all of that just right. I just drilled some perfectly centered, round, and spaced just right for a waterbottle cage holes exactly 180 deg from where I wanted them.

I guess I was pushing too hard, and trying to get too much, too quick. I measured exactly how high up the tube I was going to put the bosses, found my centerline, punched and drilled. And that's when I looked at the collar and noticed it was facing the wrong way. Skip one step and two days and a chunk of cash goes down the tubes (no pun intended).

So unless Justin wants a water bottle mount instead of a rear wheel... It's time to start over with the seat tube.

The miter for the fork dropouts.

The good news, is the fork is coming along nicely.

The fancy seat tube collar that looks like it won't see the light of day.

Gettin Things Done

Man it's been a long week. Things at the shop are picking up big time with the spring weather rolling in, and I've been pulling some late night work hours frame building. Probably not sustainable, but man I've been getting $h*# done lately. Did a little hand painting on Mike's frame to fill in the lug work. That turned out pretty sweet. And Justin's frame is coming right along as well. The chainstays are drop-outed and mitered for the BB shell, down tube is mitered and drilled for H2O bosses. I even mitered the bosses themselves, to sit more flush with the tubes. Sometimes, even I think I take things too far. The top tube is ready for head tube, and I've been working on something different for the seat tube, which is coming along nicely.



Of course, more pics on my Flikr Site

Oh man...

It is really nice out! Worked from get up to the afternoon, then had to sneak away for a couple hours of saddle time. Oh it is nice to feel some miles in my legs again.

Even though it's a week later, NAHBS was great. Went to a bunch of seminars going over everything from metal tubing properties, to fitting, to insurance for a small guy like myself. Oh yea, and there were a couple cool looking bikes that happened to be there also. Everyone has been asking me what, or which one(s) are my favorites. That's like going to an international food fair and saying what was the best thing you put in your mouth. There were so many styles and flavors there; each one as cool as the last, in it's own right. I just liked to see the variety, and the attention to detail pertaining to the builders' own style. I tried to take some pictures, but I figure the photo journalism guys did a better job than I did.

Here.
and Here.

It was cool to meet some guys face to face, pick their brains, bounce ideas off of, and just hang out. Henry James had some great info and tips, and is just a plain nice guy to hang out with. I also meet up with an old aquantiance from Gainesville, FL. Lex of Villin Cycle Works. He's come a long way in the time I've known him, and definately knows his way around frames. A couple pics of something different he did for the show: (he's got his normal stuff on his website)



Aside from that, Justins bike is comming along. Been pretty buisy between nailing down exactly what we are doing with this one, and thing picking up at work. But, the plans are set, and miters are being made. Think it should be pretty sweet. Check in later, as I get more done.

Going to NAHBS

In case you haven't heard: This year (this weekend), NAHBS is coming to the mid west. While I'm not quite ready to get a booth, I will be attending to meet some of my favorite frame builders and suppliers face to face, and go to some of the seminars. If you are also going, and want to meet up, have a beer, whatever, let me know. Otherwise, I'll post how it all went down and put up some pics when I get back. Take it easy, and hopefully you enjoyed the good weather we had today.

One Down, Many to Go! (FB Business Update)

Mike's frame is back from paint, and I think it turned out pretty sick. The white really brought out the details of the lugwork. It's all chased, faced, reamed, turned, and ready for parts. I should be getting those soon, and giving it a personal test ride before shipping this one out. Now on to the next one...




I figure I should also give an update as far as the progress of my business. I know some of you are interested in purchasing my frames, and I've been saying I'm not too far away from hanging the shingle - and I'm still planning on it. I appreciate any interest I've been getting, and I still have your info for when it comes time.

This past year has been pretty crazy for me. A broken collar bone, surgery, a couple good viruses, and trying to plan a wedding have definitely pushed back my schedule more than I wanted. But I do feel that I've been learning exponentially with every frame, and have been getting more efficient at building them. They are turning out more and more aligned, and so far I haven't had any complaints. As it stands right now, I've got four more 'buddy' frames to nail down my methods. After that, I feel like I will be more than ready to get a business license, and start listing some prices and options.

I have five people that have already contacted me, which I will contact to see if they are still interested. So, from this point, I potentially have a build list of 9 frames (possibly with forks). Working a day job of at least 40 hours a week, I've been able to get these done at ~2 months each. Some things have held me back, but things like not building a fork or not getting the bubonic plague should have me ahead of schedule. So being up front, if you're not already on any list, I'm looking at up to 18 months of being busy (possibly less). My aim is weather I'm ahead or behind of schedule, keeping people updated and informed. I'll contact you one to two frames out, so you have time to figure out what you want, and eat enough ramen to afford getting another bike. But, if you have any questions, and I haven't contacted you yet, feel free to shoot me a e-mail. Here's the next few on the list:

Justin - Awesome road bike of stiffness! (with fork)
Eddie - Cyclocross frame (unless you've changed your mind)
Matt - Possibly Cyclocross frame