#straightfromthetorch Frame building photos

This is it built. Top tube was 545 in the end. Seat tube 72 (lol). I ride a 530 top tube and 74 seat tube now, so you can imagine how well it fitted.

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Yeah, I used to have a Brew jig, and you could swap that around as well. One of the things with the bigger jigs is no matter how well they are designed, back side access is always a pain in the arse.

My first bike was an absolute shitter as well, I managed to build a cross bike with no clearance whatsoever and the back end wasn't even remotely straight! I still raced it for the full cross season though! I need to get a better method of fixturing than using the tube blocks and extrusion, I'd love a jig but for now I think I'll just plow on using what I have and put the money towards tubes!

This is the finished version of the bike on the jig

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Couple of straight from the torch -shots. Literally.

Oooooof

back side access is always a pain in the arse.

Tidy fillets there. I'll post some of my less refined ones later. Still, they all look the same after a bit of filing.

I really really really do not miss filing fillets. The mess and time I've made and spent doing that over the years. Time I'll never have back

So far I've found it quite therapeutic, a bit like wheelbuilding. No doubt the novelty will wear off quickly.

Time is money etc etc...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/36707747@N07/albums/72157644929695775

Lots of argon for 953...

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Good clean welds there. Ever tried TIGing Titanium? I'm about to have my first go at welding the WonderMetal itself. I got a huge box of titanium scrap from Enigma, so I reckon it's about time I gave it a go.

It was a totally unnecessary level of clean for application, but was just pissing around finding max flow before arc blowing.

I haven't welded with ti for a few reasons. I've never personally been a fan of ti bikes when I've ridden them, they just leave me a bit cold. Also, having worked in the cycle trade for long enough I've seen so many cracked ti bikes I just don't want the hassle. Finally, having had glimpses of how other industries maintain clean welds (bubbles, chambers etc) I just don't think I'm capable of doing it properly without horrendous outlay. Finally finally, sourcing reliable well made ti is an arse.

(I am not saying there aren't people making good ti bikes, just that I won't be one of them).

Such a long time ago! Workshop so much fuller now, so many more mills...

I'm clearly incapable of NOT making innuendos.

Out of interest what thickness tubes were enigma using?

On the chopped up frame bits I've got?

Assume it's either plain guage or they gave you butts (lol)?

The main tubes seem to be mostly 1mm wall thickness. Mostly plain gauge, but some look internally as though they have butts. Fnar.

Coldharbour - the pics have been viewed a lot, nearly 550 times for the set.

I used the 'lugged bicycle construction book' and MAPP gas and made a lot of it up.

Googling MAPP gas and framebuilding just took be down a rabbit-warren of links and gets me wondering about a few things I could get done myself. If I understand well you'd use silver rod for lugged frames and it from reading it seems it's hard/impossible to get brass to flow. Would you use brass at all? perhaps in a fillet brazed frame, possibly finished with silver? or does it need to flow between the tubes there too?

Do we need a Framebuilding 'Ask any (stupid) question' thread?

Brass rod flows fine in my very limited experience, just heat the lugs up enough to draw it through. I did the dave yates framebuilding course and I'm pretty sure I used brass for the BB shell (the rest of it was fillet brazed).

Edit: Mind you it was a few years ago and a lot has happened since then, so I could be mistaken.

You need to look at temperatures. Silver flows at ca. 550 degrees Celsius and brass ca. 870. Your flame needs to be hotter than this so it can bring the steel up to these temperatures.