bikes

Instead of a tube which has a consistent thickness, butted tubes are cut in a way where the center is very thin and the edges are thicker. A good steel frame is actually a bit lighter and much more durable than aluminum.

Quote from: devnill on July 11, 2017, 05:22:58 pm

Quote from: here cums the fuck truck on July 08, 2017, 09:10:58 pm

yardsale bikes are often really good deals, heavy fucking steel frame bikes from the 50s-80s that last forever and have bearings that can be repacked by hand. they weigh a ton, but last forever.

Its really hit or miss. Road bikes started to get really big in the 70s and a lot of manufacturers started making cheap shit to fill a gap. The trick is to look for butted steel tubing: http://www.reynoldstechnology.biz/materials/how-butted-tubing-is-made/.

What's the difference between butted tubing and non-butted tubing? Why do you need to look for it?

I always wondered how they made those weirdly shaped tubes of varying thickness. Now I know!

Hey lads, building my own bike out of steel tubing has been a goal of mine for many years. If any of you have any experience or advice I am down to listen.

Hey lads, building my own bike out of steel tubing has been a goal of mine for many years. If any of you have any experience or advice I am down to listen.

i am so curious why you want to do this! please answer these questions, should only take a moment

- why do you want to build your own frame?
- why out of steel?
- is it a conventional two wheel or something more?
- do you have any steel fab experience?
- do you have any bike assembling/building experience?

Quote from: ThePedalMan998 on April 27, 2024, 09:49:01 pm

Hey lads, building my own bike out of steel tubing has been a goal of mine for many years. If any of you have any experience or advice I am down to listen.

i am so curious why you want to do this! please answer these questions, should only take a moment

- why do you want to build your own frame?
- why out of steel?
- is it a conventional two wheel or something more?
- do you have any steel fab experience?
- do you have any bike assembling/building experience?

I am hoping to start building my own frames because I hope to start creating my own custom bicycles. I am hoping to eventually gain the skill to deviate from the typical bike frame design and build something more exotic, such as a velomobile. Rachel has also given me pictures of exotic pedal powered vehicles seen at Burning Man. There are also facebook pages like freakbikers Unite, which show people making highly exotic pedal powered creations. I have found these pages and resources to be extremely inspiring. I hope to create similar vehicles in the future, but I have been told I need experience building more conventional bikes first.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/freakbikersunite/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/115024628543289

 As for steel fab experience, I do have some limited experience with TIG welding steel, but I am hoping to get more practice with the thin wall 4130 chromaly tubing, which is what I have been told most bikes are made out of. As for bike assembling experience, I recently built a bike from spare parts at a bike store. I also recently attended a bike frame building course held in Colorado by a lad by the name of Walt Wehner. I am very serious about making this happen because cycling incorporates a mix of mechanical aptitude and physical exercise. I am also hoping to do this to gain metaphorical "brownie points" with my friends who are also into cycling, some of which have expressed a desire to make custom tandem bicycles. I would post pictures but I am not sure how the post picture and post video options work on these forums. Anyway, I will also be the first to admit that I still have a long ways to go, but I hope through determination, grit and asking for help I will eventually be able to make custom bicycles.

Also, steel chromaly tubing is also relatively easy to source. More exotic materials like aluminum, titanium, carbon fiber, etc are very expensive and typically not recommended by a beginner, though learning how to make custom bikes from such materials is possible.

Does this answer your questions Mr.Truck?

thank you for answering my questions!

you're not the only one who has difficulty with the images/video thing - there's an upload page somewhere where you can put pics and vids up to be hosted locally - I think its https://wiki.wetfish.net/uploader

out of all the people I've ever heard "I wanna build bikes" out of, you are easily the most prepared and most realistic. It's great you have steel fab experience and knowledge about sourcing! Esp TIG welding!

A long time ago I wanted to build my own recliner for a while but I realized i needed a LOT of skills and practice that I wasn't willing to invest for just one bike!

I don't think there's anything I can do to help you - I know just enough to know what I don't know, and my role in the past has been: buzzkill! IE informing people of the harsh realities and hours needed investing in skills to do what they imagine. This is not really creative or helpful of me.

One tip I can give; i used to volunteer at a bike co-op and we had piles of frames that just weren't worth investing in. I wanted to make art or machines out of em, but at the time I didn't have space or money. If you have a co-op near you, they probably have a similar pile. Can be great for bearings, cranks, etc

Do you have
- a weld fab table (to keep your fabs in square)
- a bender (for precise fab of a specific design)
- a method or jig to cope round tube

of course none of these are NECESSARY and can be improvised with a workbench, a vice, and some hand made tools and a LOT of elbow grease - but I find that people tend to burn out on the elbow grease and exhaust their time before they can get to the creativity

if you're planning on dedicating all your hobby time to it, or actually gonna make money off it - thats probably the only time its sensible to invest in that equipment.

I would LOVE to see your forays into this, I hope to see more of your posts in the future! I'm so excited for you!

Thanks for the encouragement. I feel I have made some progress, but I still have a ways to go. I have managed to figure out how to miter tubes with a lathe and Milwaukee hole saw.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PUhCW4N02cE_jm5dYXO97crU7M-y82zw/view?usp=sharing

I have also managed to create a very simple jig using aluminum extrusion and welding magnets.

https://wiki.wetfish.net/upload/cbaebbed-f7d3-cdf3-4050-ab9c72319b4f.jpeg

I also do have access to both TIG and MIG welding machines through the local makerspace, as well as many people with prior welding experience. I will admit though that finding the correct mandrel for bending tubes will be difficult, but can be fabricated out of wood if necessary. Overall, I do have much of what I need to manufacture a bike, with the largest obstacles right now being development of my welding skills and finding time for this endeavor. Time is an issue being that I am doing this as a hobby/side hustle. I am hoping to do this half because I think bikes are cool and half because I am desperate to impress my bicycle oriented friends. 

Also, here is a picture of my latest TIG welding practice for coped joints. The impression I got from my friends is that this is an OK job, and more practice is required before I attempt to build a bike.

https://wiki.wetfish.net/upload/33c5f6b3-f99a-b4b8-fed7-9771efc6aef3.jpeg

I'm always surprised how much those little bi-metal holesaws can cut! they're so cheap and so HANDY! i've drilled 1/2" of plate steel with a battery drill and a single holesaw (and plenty of oil)

I am sooooo glad you are practicing! I've seen so many people cut and fit material and try to weld it all on the first try!

it's really looking nice!

Hey lads, anyone know who posted this to the uploader? This looks fantastic.

https://wiki.wetfish.net/upload/thumb/150_a8909269-9a06-5920-0d30-780c323997ba.jpeg

Started volunteering at a local bike shop to help increase my knowledge of how bikes are put together. I learned the difference between a threaded and non threaded stem assemblies.

what kind of fixing table are you thinking of using for your frame welding? i'm not a great welder but it seems really difficult to keep steel in one plane without a lot of clamps and a big heavy table

My plan so far is to use this very simple jig tutorial recommended to me by another frame builder. This will probably be more difficult than using a flat plate, but obtaining the materials will not be as difficult.

https://www.suzyj.net/2011/04/framebuilding-without-jig.html?lr=1717964119447