PhilDAS learns to glue (mostly) metal

You know what you need for this Phil? A nice Enve fork.

I've got one I could sell you, great price.

You're a bastard. How much?

tapered headtube?

No, thankfully. Am I saved?

You are. I've got a straight-through fork you can have gratis if you don't have something in mind?

Oh sweet, what is it? No I don't have a fork for it at the moment
Thanks!

Would you like the Marin Pine Mountain frame that’s languishing in the shed?

It’s the one on this photo, but stripped down of all components except headset cups. It cracked clean on the dropout/stay so you can either play about welding it back together or cut it up for more fun.

Can either post or bring it with me to London some time.

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This could be the cargo bike donor I've been looking for <3

Pretty much what I was saving it for! It’s yours.

Oh actually on that note I also have this matching Diamondback bmx frame and forks (minus headset bearings etc - stripped it for parts). You can have that too before it gets scrapped. That is assuming you’re going down the classic mtb-bmx frame route.

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I'm sure some of it would be useful if only the front end.
Thanks!

Yup that’s what I was thinking - if you were doing the typical 20” front end then bmx fork and head tube area is the go-to DIY, and the other tubing is close enough it’ll be easy to cut for whatever trail angle you planned.

If not I can chuck em.

I think postage probably costs the same as a National Express coach ticket, so depending on your desires I can come to London and hand over in person.

Looks good but doesn't look like the filler has flowed evenly in places.

You can use the torch to draw the filler, rather than using gravity. It's also worth cutting some of your practice joints in half, so you can check how far the filler has penetrated.

Good luck and let's see more photos!

Yes I know, I didn't see the gaps until it was all cooled and cleaned. I may heat it up again and see if I can't get it to fill the gaps but overall it looks to have come through the majority of the way around so I may leave it.

You could probably fix it when you're brazing in the downtube.

If it was me, I'd braze it with the BB downwards and put more heat into the BB shell, feeding the filler rod in from the lug lines. Any excess will fall into the BB, which isn't a problem as you'll be cleaning up the threads anyway, before you build.

Finally, give the shorelines a lick of the flame at the end and it will give you a nice 'wet' shoreline!

It was a long evening

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I decided fuck it and drilled a hole either end of the top tube. Intending to run internal brake cable to the rear.
Ended up with a 6mm round hole each end when my drill finally died it’s long awaited death. The hole needs to be 7mm and oval.
I didn’t want that to be it for the day so I brazed the whole thing together and I’ll struggle with the cable routing while it’s assembled.

Badass. I am gonna see if I can chuck the frames into the gf’s car next sunday so they’re in london ready for you. I’m guessing there’s no rush.

Fishing line and a Hoover has worked well enough for me in the past. To guide a brake outer through that is.

I’m going to braze in a brass tube so that I won’t need the hoover :)

Even better!

Its just easier to feed the tube through the hole and back out of a hole on the same side of the top tube before its brazed into the frame so that you can see down the ends of the tube and help guide it through but I didn't want to hang about so I've made it more difficult for myself

Went for silver to braze the chainstays in, just to try it since I have the materials and wow, it’s so much nicer to use with lugs than brass. I think the next lugged frame I do will definitely be all done with silver, despite the extra cost.
Well it can now stand on its own and it’s pretty damn straight.
Things left to do:
Notch, mitre and braze the seatstays
Cut the seat tube for the clamp
Braze on cable stops and brake bridge
Finish drilling out the top tube routing, braze in brass tube for the internal brake cabling.
File and sand the whole thing.

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I might also go over a few of my earlier joints and reheat/tidy up before I declare it finished.

Gear cable stops on the downtube or barrel adjuster stops on the headtube? I have both but can’t decide

Silver brazing is much kinder to the tubing, as it flows at a much lower temperature.
You get less of a Heat Affected Zone and less softening of the tubes.

I think the next lugged frame I do will definitely be all done with silver, despite the extra cost.

It might be specific to the flux I’m using for silver (Johnson&Matthey Easyflo) v what I use for brass (Sifflux) but the silver stuff soaks off so much easier that i find it easy to forget about the cost.