ECHO

Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum

Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I love seeing all the ingenuity on this site! Very cool truing stand idea.

And that wheel! Beefy and glamorous. Like a 'plus sized model'. :bigsmile:
 
Loved twisted lemon,and thanx for the tips on the trueing... I norm use a zip tie but this is far better.
 
I love seeing all the ingenuity on this site! Very cool truing stand idea.

And that wheel! Beefy and glamorous. Like a 'plus sized model'. :bigsmile:

If there is a bike related question, this site always seems to be the best source for an answer.

"Beefy and glamorous", midwest corn-fed.
 
Frame Start

So far the frame has been putting up a fight. This is a fairly simple design with no place to hide mis-aligned or crooked tubing connections. Wasn't until I had everything final welded and was putting the frame into the fixture that I realized the bottom bracket centerline was off. Ended up having to cut off the BB and re-weld. Got it the second time though!

01_tubingCut.jpg


03_frameCenter.jpg


02_weldCloseup.jpg


04_fixtured.jpg
 
Chain-stays

Originally I started out trying to bend the chain-stays from 3/4" tubing. Was struggling a little till I realized I had a donor frame with basically the same bends I was trying to make. After separating the existing chain-stays I sleeved and added extensions to the front and back of them. Diameters are a little different but I'll be able to blend them together later.

01_assembledChainstayInProcess.jpg


My welds are still looking like I'd make a better cake decorator than welder. I'm getting good penetration so I'm confident they will hold. They just don't look very pretty.

02_chainstaysFixtured.jpg


03_weldDetails.jpg


04_fixturedWithChainstays.jpg


Tire and crank clearances are close to what I had drawn out. I'm using temporary tabs for the dropouts because I'm not sure of the final angle of the cantilever tubes yet. With the final dropouts I'll have the flexibility to move the tire back a little for more clearance if I need to.

05_crankClearance.jpg


06_tireCrankClearance.jpg


07_frameOnWheelsLessCantiTubes.jpg
 
a caveman like me would add to my clearance with this modded visegrip. It crimps nice dimples into the tire area of the stays. I've made some wider tires clear a middleweight Schwinn easily.
vgripmod.jpg

Carl.
 
Looking good!
Don't worry about messy welds, as long as they are strong: "A grinder and paint make a welder what he 'aint"...

Very true. I just have these crazy dreams of one day creating weld beads that will hang like jewels around each tubing connection. I love seeing the craftsmanship of those that can pull that off.
 
Seems like it has been forever since I last checked in and posted. There has been a little progress...

Cantilever Tubes

Started with the gradual curve by tacking the two sides together and running them through the tubing bender. I don't have any in-process images of making the smaller bends. Just image running around trying to find adequate leverage any / everywhere I could to get them to bend.

01cantitubes.jpg


02cantitubes.jpg


05cantitubesWelded.jpg


Cut and capped the front ends.

03cantitubeEnds.jpg


Welded up in and out of the fixture.

04cantitubesWelded.jpg


06onWheels.jpg
 
Rear Drop-outs

Decided to go with a chain guard and modified the drop out a little to flow better with the guard.

Cardboard mockup.

07dropoutChainguardMockup.jpg


Putting it into metal.

08dropoutDrillAndShape.jpg


I intended to get a shot of just the finished drop outs but forgot. Here they are mocked up on the frame. They actually have a tab that slips about an inch and a half into the frame end for added strength.

09dropoutTestfit.jpg


The seat stays curve in toward the seat post. I wanted the drop outs to hit the middle of the seat stays. Added a bit of a bend to make that happen by placing the drop outs in a vise and giving them a strategic whack.

10dropoutBend.jpg


All welded up.

11dropoutsWelded.jpg


13dropoutsWeldedCloseup.jpg


12dropoutsWelded.jpg
 
Great stuff :thumbsup:

Is the chain guard mounted yet? If not, are you going to line up the top rear of it where it meets the seat stays with the top of the drop out? I did it in photoshop to show what I mean...

View attachment 87415

Glen.

Thanks. Plan is to line the top of the guard with the top of the space at the center of the dropout. The cardboard mockup shows it a little better. I'll also add some metal to the back of the guard to fill the space in front of the seat stay. Something more like this (I adjusted the bright spot on the guard a little and "smoothed" the weld too to help show what I mean):

14dropoutsWeldedPSmod.jpg
 
Thanks. Plan is to line the top of the guard with the top of the space at the center of the dropout. The cardboard mockup shows it a little better. I'll also add some metal to the back of the guard to fill the space in front of the seat stay. Something more like this (I adjusted the bright spot on the guard a little and "smoothed" the weld too to help show what I mean):

View attachment 87421
I like the lines following through from positive to negative at the rear but the front is bugging me a little. Maybe I'm just being OCD but I like seeing the radius of the chain guard centered with the BB.

It does look good as it is though, just a minor observation.:nerd:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top