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  • Some would say I'm only asking out of self interest, but would you care to share your process for cleaning back fillets to achieve such nice aesthetic results without accidentally taking gouges out of the frame itself?

  • Yes of course. Short answer is practice and patience.
    My YouTube video making the stem has shots of how I use a powerfile.

    1. Good fillets are easier to file and sand. Improving this take time and/or good guidance.

    2. Sculpt the fillets without digging into the tubes. This is difficult and requires patience. You will become better at reading the shapes with time. I sometimes "matte" the joint with a synthetic wirebrush on a cordless drill. This changes the directions of the "scratches" and reflections allowing me to see the true shape.

    3. Once shaped I start blending the fillets. I have started using the powerfile more and more. This requires that you are careful. I try to orient the file along the tubes. This prevents undercutting.

    I will see if I can find time to do a little video on this.

    But take it easy. Fillets don't need to be perfect. Better to avoid undercuts than having perfect blends

  • Thank you so much, this is all useful stuff.

    I have some practice joints from my earlier brazing attempts which I can use as practice for cleanup.

    One other thing I'm wondering about. I have some silver filler overspill on the frame tubes. Would you recommend going straight to emery paper to clean this back?

  • I was really surprised at how nice a finish a wire brush leaves. I got a few small ones for the dremel and that’s all I ended up doing to my fillets.

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