Wanted: Front rack, utility style

http://www.lfgss.com/thread31296.html

Where is the solid. Black for thirty quid? I want solid black...
/not racist/

http://www.hembrow.eu/frontrack.html

After seeing this thread and having not much to do I decided to build a rack a few people asked how I made it so here's a quick guide (sorry for the lack of step by step photos).

How to make a rack 101:

My front rack is made from a combination of 15mm copper pipe, 3mm copper plate and a variety of 15mm end feed plumbing fittings. The design is pretty much a straight copy of the one at the top of the page but this method could be used to make other front racks or rear racks.

Before you start you will need the following:

Blow torch
Emery cloth/sand paper
Flux
Solder
Vice
Hammer
15mm copper pipe (I used about 3-4m)
3mm copper plate (thinner/thicker could also be used and I think brass would work too)
15mm end feed fittings (amount/type depends on the design)
Pipe cutter or hacksaw (a pipe cutter will definitely be worth investing in)
Drill
Cable ties
Rectangle of wood for the base board

The fittings I used were

6x 90 degree elbow
4x 45 degree elbow
13x T junction

Step 1
Draw out your design on paper and work out the positioning of the fittings and lengths of pipe required.

Step 2
Cut all the lengths of pipe and assemble the rack in a 'dry run', this is a bit tricky as the pipe has a tendency to fall out the fittings but you should be able to put it together enough to see that it all goes together ok.

Step 3
Solder all the pipe lengths and fittings together, I built the top half of mine first then added the legs but you can build it in any order you want really.

If you haven't done any soldering before don't worry it's a piece of piss. Here is a guide I found which explains the process
http://www.easy2diy.com/cm/easy/diy_ht_3d_index.asp?page_id=35749917

Step 4
To attach the rack to the bike I used 3 3mm thick copper plates with holes drilled for the axle bolts and a bolt through the front brake hole. To join the plate to the pipe saw a slot in the end of the pipe around 20mm long, if this is narrower than the plate use a small file to widen it slightly. Slot the plate in (it should be quite tight) apply flux liberally then solder it like you did with the plumbing fittings. Capillary action should draw the solder in to the slot and once cooled it should make a strong join. After the plates are joined to the pipe drill holes in them for the bolts to pass through.

The plates which have the axle bolts through are flat but the once which is used on the brake hole is bent to just over 90 degrees, this is easy enough to do with a vice and a hammer.

Step 5
To make the base I cut an old piece of laminate flooring to the with of the rack then drilled 4 pairs of holes which aligned with the 2 struts in the middle of the rack, I then used cable ties to hold the board to the pipe. Bold or rivets could be used instead but cable ties were quick and easy so I went for them.

Your rack is now complete, hazaar!

I sort of made my rack as I went along and worked a few things out along the way, it wasn't hard to make and if you measure everything ok you should be fine (you can always bend it a little if it things don't quite line up as they should).

The total cost for my rack was around £12 but I already had about half of the pipe in my garage.

Here are some photos which should help explain things:

Looks nice, almost a shame you painted it, I think...