...downtube. When I pulled the crank on my Colson-built Firestone, I found sawdust in the bottom bracket shell. When I looked inside, I saw the end of the a dowel slightly protuding into the shell from the downtube. It was starting to dry rot, that's were the wood bits had come from. The only way it would get in there is if it was put there during the manufacture of the bike frame. An alignment jig for the downtube? Has anybody ever heard of something like this? Did Colson weld or braze their frames? It's a curiosity more than anything else. But it is odd...
This is the bike:
This is the bike:
