Happy Holidays

Ron's frame just needs cable stops and into the paint booth.
Cheers,
Hub

Rear Triangle

Bent and mitered the rear triangle, and it is all ready to be welded up. It doesn't look like much, but it took most of the day. With 16 3/4 inch chainstays, the bend needs to be just right to clear the 2.2" 29er tire and triple chainring. I'll get back on it Monday. More pictures then.
Cheers,
Hub

Ron's front triangle

First picture is Ron's front triangle loaded up in the frame jig. The second picture it is all welded up and waiting for the rear. Planning on putting in some more hours tomorrow, so next post should have the stays installed.
Hub

Ron's 29er hardtail

Quick post with pics. I was able to miter up the front triangle for Ron S's 29er hardtail. Things went smooth, just need to wipe everything down, tack it in the jig and weld it up. Hoping to have the rear started by lunch tomorrow. I'll post more pics later.
Cheers,
Hub

Odds and ends

Sorry for the lack of posts, things have been busy and production slow. I had high hopes for the week, but a sick kid had other plans. Looks like a trip to the doctor in the AM.
First picture is of the rails to trails TI 29er hardtail. I know you have seen this bike before, but I had a request for a picture from the side. It still needs the Thompson seat post.
Second picture, I'm checking the radius on the seat tube to make sure the gap between the tire and the tube is consistant.
Third picture shows the tube in the frame jig. This frame will have an effective seat tube angle of 73 degrees.
In the paint booth: Jim's Fat frame and fork, and Jake's Willits fork.
On another note, I just found the spam folder on my e-mail, so if I have not responded to your mail, try again and I will respond.
Cheers,
Hub

Dumpster Fat Resto

OK, Here is a picture of the new glass bead blasting cabinet. Inside is Jame's Fat Wicked. In the second picture is the big one inch fork to go with the frame. Still need to install the paragon canti's and the silvered tabs.
Hub

Mom's Rails to Trails

Here it is all built up. Still waiting on the Thompson seat post and the f der. I shimmed this one just to give it a test ride. The Reba is just to get her by until I have time to do a rigid fork. She is worried about weight, so I think I might give a go at a TI fork. I'm still kicking around a few ideas on dia. and wall thicknesses. I want to make sure I engineer a well handling fork. I'll post pics with the new fork as soon as it is done. Don't ask!, Not yet. Notice the new head tube decal for the non steel frames, also have them in baby blue.
On another note, I made a run to Millbrook NY to pick up my new glass bead blasting cabinet. I was up at 5 and drove 5 hours up and 5 back, I was so excited I had to hook it up tonight and it works great. My camera needs to be charged or I would have posted a picture of it as well. Will post again soon.
Cheers,
Hub

Head Tube Badge

Took a couple of hours today to build a tool that fits in my press to roll the stainless steel HCs that get silvered onto all my steel frames. I used a couple of shoulder bolts as guide pins to keep the bottom and top die in line. The hardest part is remember which side is up, I have one or two that look nice if you are looking in your rear view mirror. Happy to say it works really nice, it rolls it perfect for the silver job. The badge will get a quick sanding between each coat of paint, and polished before the final clear. This one will be going on Ron S's hardtail 29er.
Cheers,
Hub

Nothing to do with bike frames

Every once and a while you need to slow down and look around. I'm not big on sweets, so this was my dessert tonight.
Cheers,
Hub

Dumpster Fat

My friend James of the north happen to find this Fat Wicked in the trash. It has a couple of issues, but all and all, there is something to work with here. Rody says I should post stuff like this on my blog, so this one is for him. First issue, Deore XT steel post was froze in the seat tube. If it had been an aluminum post I would have drilled it out on the lathe, as seen in another posting. However this is 10 times harder to do with a steel post without running the drill though the side of the seat tube. Plan B:
1. Cut post a half inch from the top of the seat tube.
2. Weld 1/4 plate to end of post.
3. Strap clamp the plate to left side of mill table.
4. Throw large tractor chain over main beam running through the center of the shop.
5. Attach chain to all thread and spacers running through bottom bracket.
6. Lower mill table until the whole milling machine is almost hanging from beam.
7. Apply just enough heat with propane torch to burn the paint.
8. Wiggle frame by head tube.
Post out! Still undefeated.

The Wicked also needs new canti mounts, a Big One Inch fork, midnight blue paint, and some decals and she will be up and running again.

Cheers,
Hub

TI 29'er Hardtail

This is what my welding table looks like when I'm really work. Sorry I have not been better about posting on the blog. This frame just needs a couple of cable stops and it will be ready for the scotch bright pad. That's right, no paint. The customer does a lot of rails to trails where they load bikes into horse trailers and she was always concerned about the paint on her steel Hubcap. The polished TI finish won't fall victim to chipping and can be easily polished to make it look new again.
Up next, Ron S's Columbus Zona 29er hardtail. Still trying to figure out top tube configuration to achieve a 30" stand over. I have a few options, I just want to make sure we pick the strongest, cleanest option. Ron is planning on riding the Wilderness 101, and would like to document this build for his scrap book, so I plan on shooting lots of pictures of his project.
Cheers,
Hub

Stainless Steel parts

Chad R wanted to see his Henry James drop outs all polished up for the Columbus Spirit build. I also threw in 20 stainless steel head tube badges that still need to be rolled and silvered on to your future frame. Wonder how long it will take to use them up.
Cheers,
Hub

Day of stays

I was contacted by a fellow builder that wanted to build his own press and was wondering if I was willing to share the specs on mine. I e-mailed him some dimensions and said I would post some pics on the blog. So Joe, the first 4 pics are for you, hope they help.
A good part of the day was spent on TI stays. The chain stays started out as Haynes 7/8 dia.x .032 wall. After rough cutting them to length, I load them into the press to ovalize the BB end and make a smooth transition to round on the drop out end.












Once the chain stays are flattened, onto bending. This is the first bend, for tire clearance. I forgot to take a picture of the second bend. I must of got wrapped up in all the excitement.
There is a stop on the bender to make sure that both stays are bent the same amount. I also have a stop for length, although it is not in this picture.

I was so excited I forgot to snap pics of mitering as well. Oh well, maybe the next frame. Here the chain stays are loaded into the jig

Onto seat stays. The pair of stays have been S bent up and loaded into the mitering fixture. The cool thing about this jig is that when I adjust the length, the pair of stays maintain the center line of the jig.

Cheers,
Hub

Jess crankin it out in Truckee

Just a quick post, but here is a picture of Jess at Nationals in Truckee CA. She placed 29th in both the short track and the cross country. Funny it was on a 29er. Maybe I could talk her into smaller wheels.

Great job Jess!

We are hoping to give her frame a flashy face lift for the 2010 season, so I would love to hear suggestions.

Cheers,
Hub

4 More Forks

I managed to miter and weld up 4 more forks. In the pic, 2 Fat Yo's and 2 Fat Big One Inch. I am glad they are off my plate, so that I can focus on a couple of frames that I have been looking forward to knocking out. I have a TI frame that still needs a rear triangle, and then onto Ron S.'s steel 29er hardtail.
On another note, there has been a lot of chat on the frame building forums about frame jigs, and I still feel that I have the best jig for set up, rigidity, and accuracy. If a customer wants a 70.5 degree head tube, I loosen 2 bolts, drop in a pin and tighten the 2 bolts. I can set up any geometry in just a couple of minutes, so that I can spend my time fabricating a killer frame. Most other builders only tack their frames in the jig, and weld it out of the jig. I weld as much of the frame in the jig that I can reach, approx 85%. Others will tell you that creates internal stresses in the welds. B.S. I have done this with 800 plus frames and have never had a failure. I can tell you that post welding alignment is almost never needed. I fear that the guys welding out of the jig have to do so much cold setting to get alignment that the frame is compromised or still has memory and will someday move back to the unaligned state. Just something I need to say here, didn't need a bunch of guys on the forum, who never built a frame, to tell me they know better.
Cheers,
Hub

Metal Lathe, not just for round parts.

One of the services that I offer the local bike shops is seat post removal. Something I don't like to advertise, but interesting to look at. I fixture the frame in the tool post and drill out the frozen post with an undersized drill. In the picture, 2/3 of the post has been drilled when it decided to let loose. This is usually how it goes. I am proud to say I am undefeated. Never damaged a frame, and have always gotten the post out. Back to work,
Hub

First Snow!

It is the middle of October and we already have an inch on the ground and it is expected to keep snowing through Saturday. Not very good for the Sunday ride at Allegrippis, but great for production at the HubcapCycles factory.
On the plate, more Fat forks, seat post removal, and rear triangle for a TI frame.
Figured out one reason for the poor quality on recent blog photos, looks like the kids smeared peanut butter on the lense. This picture appears to be better with the new cleaned lense.
I'll post more pics later, gotta get something done. Cheers, Hub

More Retro reproduction forks

Ok, lots of pics, and the quality is not great, but it is late. And they are in reverse order, oh well. Just a few pics of a Yo Eddy fork build. In the last pic it shows the fork loaded in the jig and half welded. Second to last I was trying to show the stack of dimes on the bearing race weld. third and fourth to last is the race being turned in the lathe to the proper dia. after it is all welded up. The first pic I was trying to show the tabs that are silvered on the back of the fork legs.
Fortunately my frame building skills are better than my photography and my blogging skills. Soon I'll be done with this run and i can focus on some frames

Tough weekend

I was hoping to get a ton of work done this weekend. I started by shooting final clear on 2 bars and 1 fork, no problem. Went to do the fusion pass on the front triangle of a TI 29er, no argon for the back purge, problem on Saturday morning. Richard at B and B reproductions was nice enough to hook me up with a cylinder at 10am. Got rolling on the fusion pass, started on the filler pass and couldn't establish an arc. I recalled Rody had a similar problem and it was the torch cables. Thought I was done until Bill called and told me he had an extra set that I could use to trouble shoot. Bam, back in business. So tomorrow is a big trip to the welding supply store to pick up argon, weld mold 880, and a new torch. I did manage to rework Jess's binder bolt in preparation for nationals in Truckee CA. Hope she kicks some butt after winning her last three races.

Paint Booth

Still need to build some fixtures to hold my parts when painting, so almost didn't post this picture, but most builders don't even paint. In this picture is a CW style BMX bar, Grove Innovations Hard Core reproduction fork, and a original Grove hot head bar/stem. They have been primed, sprayed with white base coat, sanded and cleared. Need to be sanded again, decals applied and more clear.

Hard Core Fork

I have a customer who snagged a Grove Innovations X-frame off of eBay. The bike came with an old Scott uni-crown suspension fork, which really didn't even function any more. He was hoping to get the correct fork put back on this vintage bike. Here is the fork loaded in the jig.
The Hard Core fork and the Hot Head bar/stem that came with the bike will get a fresh coat of white PPG paint. I'll post pics when it is all together.
Cheers, Hub

RB Winter

A bunch of us met at R.B. Winter to hop on some single track. The weather was fantastic.

Heading For Ohio

My gas mileage was not normal on my way out to Ohio for the Groovy race.

BMX Bar

I know there is no money in BMX parts, but when you live with your 9 year old customer, you have few choices. Upon returning from the Groovy race in Ohio I was asked to fabricate this CW style bar to finish off the 1982 Schwinn Sting build. Still needs white paint, but I have a fork and stem on the build list that also needs white, so I'll do them in one shot.

Titanium Rails to Trails for Mum

This is the front triangle for my mom's rails to trails TI 29er. (click to enlarge)