Bicycle Building

[Smudgemo]

In the spirit of sharing, gaining more access and proving I'm not a spambot, I thought I'd share some of the tools I've made for building bicycles, and a few of the finished products. Having acquired a lathe for my home shop means lots more tools I can build. The tools shown here were made a few years ago at a local industrial arts school.

Fork Jig:
View attachment 42037

Rear triangle checker:


Bottom bracket post (also shown above in use):


My completed mountain bike in the South Lake Tahoe area:

The frame is fillet brazed True Temper steel. It's got four inches of travel, and it rides really well.

My daily commuter at Donner Pass in the Tahoe area:

Also True Temper steel tubing, but this one is of a lugged construction joined with bronze in some places, but silver in most. The lugs were cut and reshaped by hand. One of those items that gets used day in and day out, but I just never get tired of looking at it.

-Ryan

 

[jumps4]

thats the spirit!
nice work on the jig tools and bikes, there are a few bike builders on site
join right in anywhere someone will be happy to help if you have any questions
steve

 

[Smudgemo]

A few other photos to share.
My simple version of a frame jig:

I haven't actually used it yet, and I'm thinking of replacing the particle board with 80/20 extrusions so it's more fire-resistant.

The bike I built for my wife:


And one I finished this summer for my daughter:

 

[Uglydog]

A few other photos to share.
My simple version of a frame jig:
View attachment 42044
I haven't actually used it yet, and I'm thinking of replacing the particle board with 80/20 extrusions so it's more fire-resistant.

Smudgemo,
Have you had an opportunity to develop your frame jig?
Would you be willing to take some additional pics?

Thank you,
Daryl
MN

 

[Smudgemo]

Gee Daryl, I'm sorry but it was taking up too much space and not getting used so I tossed the wood part. I usually build in subsections w/o a jig (other than vee blocks to hold the tubes in plane) so it wasn't really needed right now. I'm happy to help you put something together if you want, though. Try scanning the frame building section of mtbr.com for jig ideas, too. The question of building a jig gets raised regularly, and 80/20 extrusion is a super platform.


-Ryan

 

[Uglydog]

Gee Daryl, I'm sorry but it was taking up too much space and not getting used so I tossed the wood part. I usually build in subsections w/o a jig (other than vee blocks to hold the tubes in plane) so it wasn't really needed right now. I'm happy to help you put something together if you want, though. Try scanning the frame building section of mtbr.com for jig ideas, too. The question of building a jig gets raised regularly, and 80/20 extrusion is a super platform.


-Ryan

Thank you Ryan. I'll check out mtbr.com

 

[richl]

it was thru some ofmyournposts here and mtbr that i started to use vee blocks for my frames, they really had my frames better. i struggled with a frame jig to make dual cantelever frames, and forma noob like me that method just proved to be too difficult. vee blocks got me to where i wanted a bit quicker, still not perfect, but i understandbetter how i will make a frame jig now.

thanks for putting your tips and tricks out there for others to find:

rich