You are reading a single comment by @Mikenetic and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@Mikenetic
I'm glad you're enjoying the thread!
I was at a loose end this morning, so I did a few hours to complete the second seat stay. Once I was 100% happy with the fit of the first stay I made paper templates of the mitres, and then turned them inside out so I could mirror them onto the second. That made the initial cut and mitre a lot faster.
Then it was into the process of matching them up so that they are perfectly level. I've heard more than one frame builder say that's one of the first things they look at on a bike.
I think my choice of fillet-brazed fastback stays made things unintentionally quite hard, so it took a while. I also made a small mistake, filing a little bit too much away where I thought the inside faces of the stays would touch. In the end, they barely contact.
However, it's only a small gap over a short section of the stay, so the braze will fill it. Fortunately the top of the seat stay is one of the least stressed parts of the bike. If you've ever looked at a seat stay attached to the side of the seat tube you'll see how little contact is needed, so I'll have ample strength through the joint. Just one of those things!
Next week I'll braze them up, then start work on some of the braze-ons. I'll probably leave the soak and clean up of the fillets to the week after, as they'll need time in the water bath to dissolve away the flux from the interior of the tubes.