Revenant

[us56456712]

To sand the two skim coats I’m using 320 grit reinforced mesh strips. These are tough, and if the frame is anchored well in a work stand you can really pull, it won’t break the mesh. You have to keep it moving up and down the tubing as you pull around the tubing, otherwise the mesh will leave a pattern in your skim coat. Then 400 wet dry before final paint. This is a very fast way to smooth down the initial coats to get rid of low spots from slight pitting.

The mesh conforms to the tight spaces but I cut the mish into thinner strips for real tight spaces. This is hard on the fingernail tips, quick manicure.

 

[OddJob]

Boy, for a back woods kind of guy, you're really 'going to town' on this one!

 

[us56456712]

The rear track style forks are much straighter now. I bent them using the threaded rod and the old axle. When they seemed parallel, done.

 

[us56456712]

The original rotted cork grips are being replaced with cut down rubberized cork grips. I can’t sand the profile to match the fore and end caps as it’s like trying to file a tire. The pedals and grips are tiny, kid sized. The original grips didn’t stick out from my grip. I made the replacements as long as possible, any longer and the fore cap would follow the bar curve and look crooked dumb. I used cotton string to extend the grip area so my hands don’t swallow up the grip.

Original grip in my hand, and I’m 5’7”.

 

[BartRidesEternal]

The tubing for this old beast was made buy the Hamilton Tube Company, Hamilton Ohio. There still in business but there is almost no information available on their 1800s Sinfret brazed seam tubing. This was very thin, light and oversized tubing. The method of seam brazing was low phosphorus so it didn’t bleed through the paint. All the tubing on this bicycle is made from Sinfret. Hamilton perhaps started making this tubing in 1888. This was a high end bicycle and expensive compared to others at the time. Depending on the model, racing Monarch bicycles were advertised as weighing 22 and 23 pounds. That’s probably advertising hype as it’s all steel except the seat, tires and rims. There is another 1890s brand that I found where the advertised weight was 20 pounds. Arthur Zimmermann wouldn’t use these lightweight bicycles. They were too squirmey and sapped energy and speed so he rode heaver bicycles. I’m thinking tubing technology wasn’t advanced enough to make a light stiff steel frame.

View attachment 199372View attachment 199373
The tubing on the fork.
View attachment 199380
The tubing on the stays.View attachment 199379
The main frame tubing.View attachment 199378
Art Zimmermann, former world champion track cyclist.View attachment 199384

Awesome, thank you for that.
Last picture of art: that geometry and seating position though...

Great (re)build so far, love the details and history

 

[us56456712]

Awesome, thank you for that.
Last picture of art: that geometry and seating position though...

Great (re)build so far, love the details and history

Yes, they were still influenced by the tall wheel riding position. Zimmerman raced both safety and high wheelers early in his career. He was timed in the 12 second range in the last 200 of a sprint. They struggle to get 13 with all the modern up grades. This is disputed because they didn’t routinely time that distance back then but according to a book on Zimmerman I read he was timed at that distance by British officials. Did they not know how to use a stopwatch back then? They estimate that if he was close to 13 seconds, given his wheel diameter and gearing he would be spinning at about 170 rpm, some say faster. He had no clips but according to one source he did invent a type of toe cage to keep his feet from bouncing off the pedal. Japanese Karen races can get this rpm with no clips. According to period accounts you could not see his feet during a final sprint. I tend to think he just had phenomenal leg speed. I don’t necessarily think under 13 was impossible for him. He had a pro trainer and he won over 1000 races worldwide. Perhaps the greatest bicycle track sprinter of all time.

 

[us56456712]

The skim coats are all wet sanded and wiped down with solvent. Time to erect the poly paint booth tent.

 

[us56456712]

I started erecting my poly tent paint booth. I got the floor tarp down before the heat made me quit. It’s god awful 77F out, too hot to do anything. I’ll have to finish in the morning when it’s cooler. I don’t live up here for heat, I want 67F, that’s perfect. I’m sitting in front of a fan. No use spending money on air conditioning, you only need it a few times a year. A fan works perfectly. I hate heat.

 

[us56456712]

Thursday is predicted to be sunny, 70F and winds light and variable. That’s the target day for painting. Rain is in the forecast until then.

 

[kingfish254]

Great work on the frame and grips. Love all of the history you are uncovering too.

 

[Oak Tree]

Love watching the historical build.
Gotta comment on the too hot to work in 77degrees. It’s pretty warm here at 103 today. It’s 8pm right now and we just down to 97. Before you yell at me just know, I couldn’t take the kinda cold you talk about either. I guess humans climatize pretty well.

 

[us56456712]

Love watching the historical build.
Gotta comment on the too hot to work in 77degrees. It’s pretty warm here at 103 today. It’s 8pm right now and we just down to 97. Before you yell at me just know, I couldn’t take the kinda cold you talk about either. I guess humans climatize pretty well.

I lived the winter and summer of 1967 - 68 in San Antonio. I worked at a meat packing plant. In august it was 110 everyday at quitting time. I went to bed and woke up after dark to eat. The heat made me sluggish and tired. I couldn’t even walk outside or slop beans into a tortilla. It was too hot to move. After dark I lived on beans with tortillas, eggs with tortillas and simmered neck bone stew with tortillas. It was too hot to cook and too hot to go to a restaurant or pub. Here I sleep with the heat turned off in the winter with a lot of blankets. The rest of the year the window is open or if it’s above 70 with a fan blowing on me one foot away. I don’t think my body would acclimate, it’s been too many years living in cool climates.

 

[us56456712]

I almost had a heart attack when I looked out the window this morning. All the leaves turned yellow. Whew, it was just the sunrise colors reflecting off the leaves. For a minute there I thought Fall had arrived overnight. Temp. 51F now, high today of 60F and north winds at 8 MPH. It rained yesterday evening with thunderstorms last night. More rain today. The prediction is still looking good for paint on Thursday.

Sunrise today.

 

[us56456712]

I finished rebuilding the pedal with the repaired chip race and melted nylon to replace the ball bearings on the outboard side. New ball bearings are on the inboard side. I used Dry Slide plastic bearing lubricant on the outboard race and it spins like it’s all ball bearings. I hope it lasts. I need to make a dust cover as it was missing.

 

[us56456712]

More information on Sinfret tubing.

 

[us56456712]

I made a dust cap out of a 1/2 inch copper end cap. I cut a slot to look like the other side and tinned it with solder so it looks as crusty as the rest of the bike. I used a little heat to melt it into my nylon bearing replacement. I’ll use some goop to glue it to the grove melted into the nylon.

 

[us56456712]

it‘s calm winds this morning but 44F right now. High of 70F so I’m going for paint. I have to wait a hour to flip the frame. Satin crimson that will need fine wet sanding and a coat of Dry Slide to make the paint look old and dirty.

Here is an old red frame, before and after Dry Slide. This was a test to see what it did to the red.

 

[BartRidesEternal]

it‘s calm winds this morning but 44F right now. High of 70F so I’m going for paint. I have to wait a hour to flip the frame. Satin crimson that will need fine wet sanding and a coat of Dry Slide to make the paint look old and dirty.View attachment 200462
Here is an old red frame, before and after Dry Slide. This was a test to see what it did to the red.View attachment 200463View attachment 200464

My enthousiasm judged too quick seeing that first picture, "Is that a black chainring with shaft lying on the blue plastic sheet?!?" Awesome! That looks great!

But now I see what it really is.

 

[us56456712]

My enthousiasm judged too quick seeing that first picture, "Is that a black chainring with shaft lying on the blue plastic sheet?!?" Awesome! That looks great!

But now I see what it really is.

It’s a cast iron beach type umbrella stand. I use it with a piece of conduit to hold a frame for painting

 

[us56456712]

Out of the elements to cure. My plan is to wet sand and final paint on Monday. They are predicting a slow warm up and by Monday 80F. Should be a good day to paint. Dead calm again today, just took this photo.