A Lengthy Insanity
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Thanks a million Pondo. This is a dream build for me. And though it has some minor scars, she’s not hoing to be a garage queen. This is my every day bike.
Tomorrow I am hoping to get it stripped, set up on the jig, and chop the frame a little bit. It needs about 2° more rake to be really hands-free stable, and how I’m going to get it is by dropping the tail a couple inches.
I finally got out and did some welding today, but not on the bicycle, yet. I got my stock rack all welded up and I got my jig attachments to the rack welded in place. I did it all with the TIG welder.
I really needed the practice too, but I’m fairly capable when I’m not trying to lie on the ground, weld up hill in the wind, & work the pedal between my knees.
Fortunately, it was very calm and not too hot in the AM, and by noon (when it got very hot) I also had a breeze that started blowing away my argon.
I will have to do my welding very early when there is no wind at all, plus set up some more welding curtains. I picked up a couple more tarps today for that purpose.
I am hoping that I can cold bend the upper stays and not have to re-weld them at the seat post. The way I’m doing this I shouldn’t have to actually weld on any tubing, but just simple flat bar.
Unless I find out that I can’t bend those stays without screwing them up, and then I’m going to be doing some fillets on the tubing which will tax my abilities.
The seat stays are curvy in plan view, and I’ve already drawn them in a lot. Now I will have to draw them up without kinking the tubing or twisting it out of plane. I’m probably just dreaming, and I’m gonna have to re-weld the stays.
I really needed the practice too, but I’m fairly capable when I’m not trying to lie on the ground, weld up hill in the wind, & work the pedal between my knees.
Fortunately, it was very calm and not too hot in the AM, and by noon (when it got very hot) I also had a breeze that started blowing away my argon.
I will have to do my welding very early when there is no wind at all, plus set up some more welding curtains. I picked up a couple more tarps today for that purpose.
I am hoping that I can cold bend the upper stays and not have to re-weld them at the seat post. The way I’m doing this I shouldn’t have to actually weld on any tubing, but just simple flat bar.
Unless I find out that I can’t bend those stays without screwing them up, and then I’m going to be doing some fillets on the tubing which will tax my abilities.
The seat stays are curvy in plan view, and I’ve already drawn them in a lot. Now I will have to draw them up without kinking the tubing or twisting it out of plane. I’m probably just dreaming, and I’m gonna have to re-weld the stays.
I decided that I was stressing out and needed to ride more. Today I went out on my back up bike and had a nice ride with the wife. I felt a little rejuvenated so I grabbed the Coronas and headed for the boat yard.
You may be thinking of the beer Corona, or cigar coronas, or some other corona. In my case it was a large pair of pruning shears.
As I was pruning, sweeping, cleaning up my work area, and rounding up all of my clamps, I decided that I needed more shade, so I put up another tarp.
This pile of clamps was holding my rack together before I welded off the braces.
I certainly can’t brag about the quality of the welding I did on that rack. The metal was old and used and it had lots of corrosion and inside the tubing was rusty as well. No way was I going to try and backpurge with Argon gas. Too expensive! Plus too many holes in the used tubing.
Anyhow after all of that I am feeling slightly less than motivated to go out there and strip down the Mongoose, but I will.
As much as I consider my Chinese Schwinn to be a fake Schwinn, I should probably refer to this mongoose as my fake mongoose. But I don’t know if that’s the case or not. Were mongooses ever built in America?
If every mongoose came from China, then I guess there’s no such thing as a fake mongoose here.
You may be thinking of the beer Corona, or cigar coronas, or some other corona. In my case it was a large pair of pruning shears.
As I was pruning, sweeping, cleaning up my work area, and rounding up all of my clamps, I decided that I needed more shade, so I put up another tarp.
This pile of clamps was holding my rack together before I welded off the braces.
I certainly can’t brag about the quality of the welding I did on that rack. The metal was old and used and it had lots of corrosion and inside the tubing was rusty as well. No way was I going to try and backpurge with Argon gas. Too expensive! Plus too many holes in the used tubing.
Anyhow after all of that I am feeling slightly less than motivated to go out there and strip down the Mongoose, but I will.
As much as I consider my Chinese Schwinn to be a fake Schwinn, I should probably refer to this mongoose as my fake mongoose. But I don’t know if that’s the case or not. Were mongooses ever built in America?
If every mongoose came from China, then I guess there’s no such thing as a fake mongoose here.
My garage is too cluttered so I moved the bike vice out to the welding shop.
I got the mongoose clamped up, and all stripped down.
I got some spreaders bolted on the frame and have started working on stanchions for my welding fixture. I’m not able to do any real machine work so I’ve got to either send some stuff out or figure out how to do without.
It was well over 100° out there today and there was a little breeze from time to time but it wasn’t enough. I finally threw in the towel and jumped in the shower.
I’m not sure if that’s a mixed metaphor or just a confusing salad of words. Anyhow there was more than one towel involved.
Just remember not to panic and never forget your towel.
I got the mongoose clamped up, and all stripped down.
I got some spreaders bolted on the frame and have started working on stanchions for my welding fixture. I’m not able to do any real machine work so I’ve got to either send some stuff out or figure out how to do without.
It was well over 100° out there today and there was a little breeze from time to time but it wasn’t enough. I finally threw in the towel and jumped in the shower.
I’m not sure if that’s a mixed metaphor or just a confusing salad of words. Anyhow there was more than one towel involved.
Just remember not to panic and never forget your towel.
Naked goose, and I start dressing a jig.
In for a penny, in for a pound.
Or is it still a euro? I don’t know whether they changed back after Brexit.
Anyhow I decided that it was time to cut the frame. I used the pneumatic cut off tool.
One side is 99.5% cut and clamped and the other side is half through.
Elon musk is reported to have said that engineers spend a lot of time perfecting things they shouldn’t be doing at all.
I shouldn’t be perfecting the bicycle jig until I fix the project car.
Or is it still a euro? I don’t know whether they changed back after Brexit.
Anyhow I decided that it was time to cut the frame. I used the pneumatic cut off tool.
One side is 99.5% cut and clamped and the other side is half through.
Elon musk is reported to have said that engineers spend a lot of time perfecting things they shouldn’t be doing at all.
I shouldn’t be perfecting the bicycle jig until I fix the project car.
It was well over 100°F at the welding shed today by noon. I carried on until 3:30.
There’s a lot of photos here and I’m tired, But here we go.
I got this bolted down as well as possible.
It’s bolted down at the head stock.
At the seat post it’s clamped.
I used steel arms & bolted them solidly to a stanchion.
I had to cover over my messy stock rack so you could make sense of the photographs.
Here’s the mongoose frame clamped upside down on my jig with bolts and plates and tubes and rods and nuts and washers. She is cut and dropped 2.5”
I did some of the bending at the axle and then I moved up my fulcrum and did some bending to the stay tubes themselves. Everything was super solid and I had lots of leverage. The bending went very easy.
Here I am only down about an inch and a half.
Here I am down a full 2 1/2 inches after spring back. I think this is enough drop. I don’t think I will use this plate because it’s not thick enough. I just wanted you to see what I needed to fill in.
I don’t have any piano wire for the line-sighting. I used fishing line & don’t think it will show up in these photographs.
Having two lines stretched from end to end of the jig allowed me to keep everything straight by eyeball, as I was bending it.
They allow me to check it with the calipers before making any last adjustments.
There’s a lot of photos here and I’m tired, But here we go.
I got this bolted down as well as possible.
It’s bolted down at the head stock.
At the seat post it’s clamped.
I used steel arms & bolted them solidly to a stanchion.
I had to cover over my messy stock rack so you could make sense of the photographs.
Here’s the mongoose frame clamped upside down on my jig with bolts and plates and tubes and rods and nuts and washers. She is cut and dropped 2.5”
I did some of the bending at the axle and then I moved up my fulcrum and did some bending to the stay tubes themselves. Everything was super solid and I had lots of leverage. The bending went very easy.
Here I am only down about an inch and a half.
Here I am down a full 2 1/2 inches after spring back. I think this is enough drop. I don’t think I will use this plate because it’s not thick enough. I just wanted you to see what I needed to fill in.
I don’t have any piano wire for the line-sighting. I used fishing line & don’t think it will show up in these photographs.
Having two lines stretched from end to end of the jig allowed me to keep everything straight by eyeball, as I was bending it.
They allow me to check it with the calipers before making any last adjustments.
Attachments
MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
Here’s a better view that shows you how much I moved the frame. It’s amazing how much the plastic paint stretches. If this bike had lacquer paint it would be full of stress fractures from the bending.
If you wanna know where the highest stress areas are on your bicycle paint the whole thing with brittle lacquer and then go ride it on a rough road.
If you wanna know where the highest stress areas are on your bicycle paint the whole thing with brittle lacquer and then go ride it on a rough road.
Okay, here is the first mockup. I love this so far & my only problem is I can’t find the other piece of steel I have that looks like this.
The dropouts are 6 mm on this bike which is almost a quarter inch and you’re looking at a piece of quarter inch plate from my dad‘s old garden tractor.
I was planning to put rear facing slot dropouts and ditch the chain tensioner. However I might need it to drop the chain slightly for clearance, & it will add some shine to the bike.
Also it eliminates the need to make slots for the brake caliper mount.
The frame is still inverted. I just flipped that photograph to see how it would look.
I need to go hunt around in my collection of steel. I will do this as shown if I can find the other matching part.
The dropouts are 6 mm on this bike which is almost a quarter inch and you’re looking at a piece of quarter inch plate from my dad‘s old garden tractor.
I was planning to put rear facing slot dropouts and ditch the chain tensioner. However I might need it to drop the chain slightly for clearance, & it will add some shine to the bike.
Also it eliminates the need to make slots for the brake caliper mount.
The frame is still inverted. I just flipped that photograph to see how it would look.
I need to go hunt around in my collection of steel. I will do this as shown if I can find the other matching part.
Mockup number two. I have two of these plates.
Mockup number three
I’m doing these little infill dropouts instead of making new full dropouts, because I did not want to have to remake the little brake mount tabs that you see here.
Yet in fact I may still do this, when I see how the sissy bar works out.
I have a sissy bar that is blank on the bottoms. My plan was to weld tube sockets onto the frame, and drop that sissy bar in them with hidden fasteners.
I’m doing these little infill dropouts instead of making new full dropouts, because I did not want to have to remake the little brake mount tabs that you see here.
Yet in fact I may still do this, when I see how the sissy bar works out.
I have a sissy bar that is blank on the bottoms. My plan was to weld tube sockets onto the frame, and drop that sissy bar in them with hidden fasteners.
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me too, I thought the laying out on the ground was a fabulous idea, i'll be using that on the next project ha ha !
Color me amazed.
Many years ago I took some silver Testors paint, and painted a rubber knife. It turned the rubber sticky and it never dried.
I didn’t think this was going to work at all, because the white Plasti-dip spray smells exactly like Testors model paint.
I sprayed an old tire with this and put it out in the hot sun to dry. Then I read the instructions that said don’t do it in the hot sun. Oh well…
I checked it six hours later and it was dry. It felt rubbery but it doesn’t feel sticky. It did need another coat to cover the black rubber. I sprayed some more on it and left it in the sun.
The rear tire for my bike has a very ivory look to the white wall. I was hoping to spray this white over a gumwall tire and get the same effect.
I bought a very skinny gumwall front tire, and it looks like I’m going to tape it off and shoot it with white plasti-dip.
Many years ago I took some silver Testors paint, and painted a rubber knife. It turned the rubber sticky and it never dried.
I didn’t think this was going to work at all, because the white Plasti-dip spray smells exactly like Testors model paint.
I sprayed an old tire with this and put it out in the hot sun to dry. Then I read the instructions that said don’t do it in the hot sun. Oh well…
I checked it six hours later and it was dry. It felt rubbery but it doesn’t feel sticky. It did need another coat to cover the black rubber. I sprayed some more on it and left it in the sun.
The rear tire for my bike has a very ivory look to the white wall. I was hoping to spray this white over a gumwall tire and get the same effect.
I bought a very skinny gumwall front tire, and it looks like I’m going to tape it off and shoot it with white plasti-dip.
- Joined
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you shed looks like tony starks first apartment LOL. you did well on the huffy, nabbed a great set up there. and that fat tire bike is insane, what a beast!
It is a lot fancier than what I first started out to build. It took more money but I am really pleased with the outcome so far.
The only unfortunate thing at this point is I don’t think I’m gonna have enough time to do a real nice paint job. I’ll be lucky to shoot some silver on the scars and get some clearcoat on it.
I considered doing a really quick psycho paint job just for the contest, but I know that afterwards I’ll end up re-doing it clean.
I’m amazed. The stuff actually works on rubber and it doesn’t turn to goo. At least not within the first few hours.
This doesn’t look great because this was a really crappy filthy old tire. But I’m amazed that it dried and didn’t ruin the rubber.
This doesn’t look great because this was a really crappy filthy old tire. But I’m amazed that it dried and didn’t ruin the rubber.
