vintage fork weird unfinished welding dropouts

https://ibb.co/Bq075yj
https://ibb.co/rxN47np
https://ibb.co/1mK286q

I bought this Rossin fork on eBay..might have screwed up this time.

You guys reckon is this safe to ride? it seems they gave up the job of welding it properly and sanding it?

Aesthetically i don't care, it s for a super ratty fixed gear. I just wonder if this is actually safe.

Thanks a lot

That looks even worse than my brazing

I would not feel safe riding those. Send it back.

That looks really shit. Defo send them back.

Send them back, it's ridiculous

ok guys, thanks for the advice i appreciate. I sent an email to the seller and he said that he was told it just needed to 'rack and paint'. Not sure what 'rack' stands for (english is not my first language).

He told me that I can return it but he suggested that I bring it to a bike shop for repair and he ll pay me the repair. Maybe tomorrow I'll pop by my trusted bike mechanic and ask him.

Thanks anyway

Don’t mess around. Just send it back for a full refund and forget about it. You have eBay buyer protection for a reason - item not as described - full refund, done and dusted.

Dodgy forks are not worth messing about with. It’ll be your teeth that need paying for when you go over the bars as it folds up like a deck chair

ok....it pisses me off so bad, i ve been looking for a straight blade unpainted vintage forks for so long arrghhhh

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That seller looks to have bought up the entire factory stock.
For a while he had lots of panto'd parts too.
Lugs, fork crowns, dropouts, decal sets....
The OP should send his fork back. It won't be straight, and it might not be properly brazed.

Maybe they meant 'track' instead of rack, as in align the dropouts to correct any distortion during the brazing process? Either way, it's not finished!

Yes it is that seller. I made an offer for it, and got it for quite cheaper that the price it was originally.

thanks for the info.
Tomorrow just for the sake of it, I'm going to try to see a frame builder (I'm in Italy). but at this point I don't have much hopes and most likely I'll be returning them

Why would the forks not be straight?

Brazing causes the metal to twist, you almost always have to straighten a frame after building it.

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The dropout looks like it is tacked in place and not yet properly brazed.
There is a void on one side.
It may not be structurally sound, and the dropout might break off if you ride on it.

No?...

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Seeing as the dropout's haven't been completed there's also a possibility that the fork legs haven't been correctly brazed to the crown and likewise the steerer to the crown. It's an accident waiting to happen.

Fat City, Indy Fab, Merlin and Seven all check(ed) alignment and straightened frames as part of the finishing process.

I know Peter Mooney also does and used to have to align a lot of imported frames in the 80s.

I've been to several Italian builders and they all check alignment frequently throughout the process.
They all had alignment tables that they used for every frame at the finish.
Not checking frames is insane.
I saw Doriano De Rosa work on a ti frame freehand that he had tacked in a jig. He did check the alignment after.

/\ pretty sure Winston told me this is what he does too.

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I think the is a difference between Cold Setting and aligning or tracking.

A frame, or a fork, will definitely need to be regularly 'tracked' during the build process. In fact, for me, I would say that correct alignment is the most important part of the process. Tracking a frame normally involves applying gentle pressure to the tubes on an alignment table after each brazing operation to correct any movement that may have occurred.

However, I have seen examples (and videos) of builders Cold Setting a frame with a cheater bar, and causing a significant amount of movement to the tubes. If you find yourself doing this, you're doing it wrong.