Respect you for your honesty and clarity. Beautiful work mate. So happy you not sold out a welder manufacturer and spend whole video gushing about how good their welder is.
Yeah! Another pithy bikes video! I can't wait to see the finished bike. Your videos, as usual, are always top notch. I would have never guessed this is your first time. You express skills, ingenuity, and creativity that I would expect to see only from the most seasoned frame/tool/fixture builders. I can't say thank you enough for what you do. You're an inspiration to many, including me. I would pay to watch this series of videos. Thank you so much for making them free for all. I know you have a day job and a family to support so I understand the long waits between videos. So I must say thank you to your family as well for granting you the free time needed to make these videos happen. So please don't stop! Again, if you ever need anything CNC'd let me know! Free of charge of course. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Kevin! Wow man, you're too generous both with words and your time. It means a lot to me. Don't worry, I won't stop. I've got so many more things to do with this project and future ones.
Thanks a lot for sharing these welding settings! It really helped me understand how to set up pulse settings, and makes it a lot easier to produce uniform welds than without pulse! (I am in the planing process for my second bike frame)
I haven't been able to watch TH-cam videos, I work for a local TV station and we've been inundated with work, what with the Presidential campaigns, and the elections in November, building campaign sets and custom lighting frames. So I've been binge watching your vids, I have to say your welds look like stacked nickels, clean and tight and the frame looks great, pristine. Keep up the great work. I did see Jody, of weldingtipsandtricks, channel use a swiveling tig head that seems to help get into tight places, although it would seem you don't need one, but I figured I put it out there. Man those [seat stay] end caps look awesome
Thanks man! Still got a ways to go, I want to keep improving my welds. Only more practice can do that. I feel like now that I've finally found some settings I like, I can focus on technique with these base settings. Before I was really floundering between settings and technique. Be safe and work healthy :)
Love all your video's!! had been building with fillet braze and hand filling my tubes, decided to try TIG and found the channel, some serious dedicated watching, re watching, and some cash dropped on new equipment, and i'm flying along now!!awesome channel, mainly cause you show where you make mistakes, more learning from those!!but hole saw mitres, saved years off my life, from hours per mitre to 10-15 minutes, why why was I so slow in taking this up!!
so happy it's working out for you. I'm really glad the videos helped! Stories like yours make all this video making stuff worth it. :) keep on trucking
good job mate! don't listen to all the people whinging about how long between vids or burning your arms, at least your'e getting it done. bloody jealous of your workshop by the way
Is there part of the series where you make right chain stay with flat part? Any reason for doing it that way? was it harder to make it than bending the left one?
I've been brazing frames for several years, but I want to try welding them now. Is there a reason to choose 0.045" filler rod instead of 0.035"? Is your choice different for the stays than the main tubes or do you use the same for all?
this parametrers are for welding aluminium? or cromoly? thanks very much, I love your videos...Me encantan son una pasada, intento aprender ...Gracias!
I'm doing some Custom Fabrication on my bicycle that requires cutting parts of the frame off of one bicycle and Welding them onto another. I did not realize until I already start it that one frame is aluminum in one frame is steel. I'm not very experienced with welding to begin with, almost welding is mostly bed frame gauge steel. Usually modifying bed frame material to make whatever I need. The welder I have is just a 110 wire welder I inherited from my father. I do know he has used it for different kinds of welding. I don't know the difference between Mig and Tig, I don't know what gas is he used to make what kinds of whales. I've only used it for straight wire welding with steel. Can anybody tell me what I need to make this wire welder work welding aluminum to steel?
congrats amazing work looking forward for your next video.what was the reason you made a hole ? i mean since you had your parameters set according to the mtb forum article, what went wrong ? would a test weld (prior of starting) to some same thickness tubes would help ? i ask cause my tig welding sucks so much that i can hardly succeed any consistency :(
+BisdremisKostas the hole occurred because when I tacked it, the arc was on the side of the seat stay at the moment when I pumped the pedal. Ideally the arc is on the thicker tube (seatstay). I think tacking is very tricky on thin wall bike tubes. Only way to improve and blow less holes is with practice. :)
May I ask you some couple questions? What a different between old-school flat concave seatstay vs TIG welded seatstay? Why most small frame that have short head tube have top and down tubes welded close together? please look at 4:03, that normal size frame for normal height people, they will have nice gap between top and down tubes, I think its look more aesthetic that way. For small/short people like me, most small frame would have top and down tubes close together. Hope you get what I meaning. I just don't understand why they just not move down tube to lower edge of head tube more? I would be really appreciate your answer!
Hi, I'm not sure what you mean about old school seat stays. Maybe you mean fillet brazed vs TIG? The difference between these two methods I think depends on who you talk to ;) Some people like fillet brazed better, some like TIG. Cost wise, I think fillet brazed costs more because it takes longer to do. Mostly it's just a matter of preference I think. I believe both are just as strong. I know what you mean about short head tubes that have top tube and down tubes welded close together. I think the main reason they get welded close together is the bottom of the head tube must be a certain height because it has to sit on the front fork. So in turn, a longer HT will only raise the height of the TT. And that affects stand over for the rider. This is why you generally see mountain bikes with TT and DT welded close together. Because the fork is usually a suspension fork which means its crown is higher. That combined with a DT that needs to be lower and you get TT and DT welded close together. Hope that answers your question. :)
For the build in this video I used a WP9 by Weldcraft torch. It has a flex head and I don't recommend that. It's just not necessary for frame building and adds to the weight and length of the torch head. These days I'm using a modified import WP9 size torch. It's a cheap import because I've been testing a modified shorter handle. Tungsten is 1/16" - 2% lanthanated
What exactly do you mean about finishing? Or it's a secret?) Maybe I missed it somewhere and you've mentioned it, but are you gonna treat the frame with the heat? I mean you've spent pretty much time doing alignment stuff and sometimes you've used just a little push to move the chainstays a bit; but without heat treatment the frame is still raw I guess, and for example if you'll drop from a small sidewalk while riding, or even when you lean bike to a wall, and it will accidentally slide off the wall and fall down - would such things affect the frame geometry? I'm sorry for being sound stupid maybe, but when I had a chat with Marino Bike company (maybe you've heard about them), they highly recomended to order a frame with a heat treatment. By the way, a very nice channel! And it's my first comment here) Not only the process is showed in details but the video quality (I mean the way it's made, "with love" I guess)) is high above mostly anything a single human can do! And also the way you do things and environment in your workshop - it's all kept good; no stuff like "Well, I'll make it somehow, cause it doesn't matter - it's just an auxiliary tool" - No Sir! It's all made on the highest level and that's one of the reasons why it is so pleasant to watch your channel) And at the same time you're making mistakes sometimes and explain what and why you did wrong! And that's like - "Whoa! He's a human after all!"). I'm following your frame making process since december 2015 and it inspires me so much! HUGE THANK YOU!!
Hi! No question sounds stupid :) I don't really know either. I've not heard of frames being heat treated but maybe this is something I don't know about yet. I do know that the tubes I use are already heat treated by the manufacturer. When you see me push the tube into alignment, it may look like I'm not pushing much but I am pushing more than it looks. All frames will flex while riding, they are designed to work that way. And most frames flex right back. Unless they are pushed beyond their limit. You saw me push the frame significantly when I was aligning. But that is a beginner mistake. The idea is to get the frame as straight as possible before all the welds are done. Aligning in the tacking stage is best. I didn't do that because I didn't have a way to align and also I didn't know how important it is to get the frame straight as possible before final welds. Thanks for all the kind words! :)
Thank you for your quick reply) marinobike.com/ Here, check this guys out. In the "Frame order" section as an "Extra frame option" they offer heat treatment. Well, maybe because their initial material was raw...
This might be a little late, but the reason for the heat treatment (mostly on alu frames I guess) is to get tensions out that occur while welding and to smoothen out the change in the material from the welding. Basically you try and "soften" the material just a bit so it can set itself into the form it is supposed to be instead of being under constant tension. You don't necessarily need to do this and you would need to find and oven big and hot enough to put a frame in but it is certainly never a bad idea. I also like your videos. Came across this while doing research because I'm thinking about building my own 4Cross Mountainbike frame and someone recommended on watching your frame build intro. I like how you build a lot of the equipment yourself, but seeing as you mentioned you were on a budget, I sometimes found some of the choices a little off, since for example you could have built a sufficiently precise "tire clearance gauge" from some wood without having to bend, and weld, and and spend all this energy (TIG welding eats a lot of electricity) and material on the one you built. I guess this is pretty much just because you like building stuff (and I can't argue with that, if I had your workspace I would probably not do much else ever, maybe some time I'll have a place with a garage ;)), I just thought I'd mention it. Anyway great work and keep it up, there's a lot to learn from you!
Hi, some day I'll make a fork for this frame. But for now, I'm holding out on that until later. Until then I'm putting a fork that I already have on there.
The holes are so that moisture cannot get trapped inside the tube and cause it to corrode from inside. I believe it will also reduce moisture on the outside of the tube as well. Basically think of a car with the foggy windows, put the window down a bit and the temperature evens out causing the fog to go away. I could be wrong about this but that's how I learned to do :)
Yes, its all about the gap! I noticed too that if the material is super thin, it does help to use wire just as that little extra something to keep from burning out. I have a feeling I will be learning how to tack for a lifetime ;)
Respect you for your honesty and clarity. Beautiful work mate. So happy you not sold out a welder manufacturer and spend whole video gushing about how good their welder is.
Thanks man. But if some day someone Miller wants to give me a free Dynasty, I may have to reconsider ;)
Yeah! Another pithy bikes video! I can't wait to see the finished bike.
Your videos, as usual, are always top notch. I would have never guessed this is your first time. You express skills, ingenuity, and creativity that I would expect to see only from the most seasoned frame/tool/fixture builders.
I can't say thank you enough for what you do. You're an inspiration to many, including me. I would pay to watch this series of videos. Thank you so much for making them free for all. I know you have a day job and a family to support so I understand the long waits between videos. So I must say thank you to your family as well for granting you the free time needed to make these videos happen. So please don't stop! Again, if you ever need anything CNC'd let me know! Free of charge of course. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Kevin! Wow man, you're too generous both with words and your time. It means a lot to me. Don't worry, I won't stop. I've got so many more things to do with this project and future ones.
Thanks a lot for sharing these welding settings! It really helped me understand how to set up pulse settings, and makes it a lot easier to produce uniform welds than without pulse! (I am in the planing process for my second bike frame)
congrats on a major milestone steve!
G
Thanks Gary!! :)
I haven't been able to watch TH-cam videos, I work for a local TV station and we've been inundated with work, what with the Presidential campaigns, and the elections in November, building campaign sets and custom lighting frames. So I've been binge watching your vids, I have to say your welds look like stacked nickels, clean and tight and the frame looks great, pristine. Keep up the great work. I did see Jody, of weldingtipsandtricks, channel use a swiveling tig head that seems to help get into tight places, although it would seem you don't need one, but I figured I put it out there. Man those [seat stay] end caps look awesome
Thanks man! Still got a ways to go, I want to keep improving my welds. Only more practice can do that. I feel like now that I've finally found some settings I like, I can focus on technique with these base settings. Before I was really floundering between settings and technique.
Be safe and work healthy :)
Love all your video's!! had been building with fillet braze and hand filling my tubes, decided to try TIG and found the channel, some serious dedicated watching, re watching, and some cash dropped on new equipment, and i'm flying along now!!awesome channel, mainly cause you show where you make mistakes, more learning from those!!but hole saw mitres, saved years off my life, from hours per mitre to 10-15 minutes, why why was I so slow in taking this up!!
so happy it's working out for you. I'm really glad the videos helped! Stories like yours make all this video making stuff worth it. :) keep on trucking
one of the best video made on youtube... just love your channel.
Thanks so much!!
Una vez acabado, te ha quedado fantástico, enhorabuena por tu trabajo!!! Sigue así!!!
¡Muchas gracias! ¡Gracias por ver!
You did it! well done brother!
+Fair dinkum 👍
the comeback ! nice
:D
good job mate! don't listen to all the people whinging about how long between vids or burning your arms, at least your'e getting it done. bloody jealous of your workshop by the way
Hahaha thanks man. :D It's all good, it's the internets!
Glad to see the proper PPE in this vid. Flash burns aren't fun!
Agreed! :)
Is there part of the series where you make right chain stay with flat part? Any reason for doing it that way? was it harder to make it than bending the left one?
Great Job Man!
+obey2018 TYTY
Forgot to mention:
1/16" tungsten, .045 filler rod, #8 gas lense
5:25 you sound sooooo happy ;)
I am indeed. :)
I've been brazing frames for several years, but I want to try welding them now. Is there a reason to choose 0.045" filler rod instead of 0.035"? Is your choice different for the stays than the main tubes or do you use the same for all?
Where do you install the brakes?
What steel are you using?
this parametrers are for welding aluminium? or cromoly? thanks very much, I love your videos...Me encantan son una pasada, intento aprender ...Gracias!
Great work, I really enjoy your videos.
What's the first song in this video?
Thanks!
The song is royalty free music supplied by TH-cam. I think the name of the artist is anonymous.
th-cam.com/video/WJjkLR0JipI/w-d-xo.html
I'm doing some Custom Fabrication on my bicycle that requires cutting parts of the frame off of one bicycle and Welding them onto another. I did not realize until I already start it that one frame is aluminum in one frame is steel. I'm not very experienced with welding to begin with, almost welding is mostly bed frame gauge steel. Usually modifying bed frame material to make whatever I need. The welder I have is just a 110 wire welder I inherited from my father. I do know he has used it for different kinds of welding. I don't know the difference between Mig and Tig, I don't know what gas is he used to make what kinds of whales. I've only used it for straight wire welding with steel. Can anybody tell me what I need to make this wire welder work welding aluminum to steel?
congrats amazing work looking forward for your next video.what was the reason you made a hole ? i mean since you had your parameters set according to the mtb forum article, what went wrong ? would a test weld (prior of starting) to some same thickness tubes would help ? i ask cause my tig welding sucks so much that i can hardly succeed any consistency :(
+BisdremisKostas the hole occurred because when I tacked it, the arc was on the side of the seat stay at the moment when I pumped the pedal. Ideally the arc is on the thicker tube (seatstay). I think tacking is very tricky on thin wall bike tubes. Only way to improve and blow less holes is with practice. :)
May I ask you some couple questions?
What a different between old-school flat concave seatstay vs TIG welded seatstay?
Why most small frame that have short head tube have top and down tubes welded close together? please look at 4:03, that normal size frame for normal height people, they will have nice gap between top and down tubes, I think its look more aesthetic that way. For small/short people like me, most small frame would have top and down tubes close together. Hope you get what I meaning.
I just don't understand why they just not move down tube to lower edge of head tube more?
I would be really appreciate your answer!
Hi,
I'm not sure what you mean about old school seat stays. Maybe you mean fillet brazed vs TIG? The difference between these two methods I think depends on who you talk to ;) Some people like fillet brazed better, some like TIG. Cost wise, I think fillet brazed costs more because it takes longer to do. Mostly it's just a matter of preference I think. I believe both are just as strong.
I know what you mean about short head tubes that have top tube and down tubes welded close together. I think the main reason they get welded close together is the bottom of the head tube must be a certain height because it has to sit on the front fork. So in turn, a longer HT will only raise the height of the TT. And that affects stand over for the rider. This is why you generally see mountain bikes with TT and DT welded close together. Because the fork is usually a suspension fork which means its crown is higher. That combined with a DT that needs to be lower and you get TT and DT welded close together. Hope that answers your question. :)
Thank you very much! I been wonder for a while :) now i understand the reason now, thanks!!
What tig torch are you using? looks tiny, or you're just using tiny tungstens?
For the build in this video I used a WP9 by Weldcraft torch. It has a flex head and I don't recommend that. It's just not necessary for frame building and adds to the weight and length of the torch head. These days I'm using a modified import WP9 size torch. It's a cheap import because I've been testing a modified shorter handle. Tungsten is 1/16" - 2% lanthanated
hello from portugal really good videos, thanks...just one question please, what material are the pipes made from...looks like stainless steel
+M. Tavares they're 4130 chromoly. thin wall and mostly double butted.
+M. Tavares they're 4130 chromoly. thin wall and mostly double butted.
What exactly do you mean about finishing? Or it's a secret?) Maybe I missed it somewhere and you've mentioned it, but are you gonna treat the frame with the heat? I mean you've spent pretty much time doing alignment stuff and sometimes you've used just a little push to move the chainstays a bit; but without heat treatment the frame is still raw I guess, and for example if you'll drop from a small sidewalk while riding, or even when you lean bike to a wall, and it will accidentally slide off the wall and fall down - would such things affect the frame geometry?
I'm sorry for being sound stupid maybe, but when I had a chat with Marino Bike company (maybe you've heard about them), they highly recomended to order a frame with a heat treatment.
By the way, a very nice channel! And it's my first comment here) Not only the process is showed in details but the video quality (I mean the way it's made, "with love" I guess)) is high above mostly anything a single human can do! And also the way you do things and environment in your workshop - it's all kept good; no stuff like "Well, I'll make it somehow, cause it doesn't matter - it's just an auxiliary tool" - No Sir! It's all made on the highest level and that's one of the reasons why it is so pleasant to watch your channel) And at the same time you're making mistakes sometimes and explain what and why you did wrong! And that's like - "Whoa! He's a human after all!").
I'm following your frame making process since december 2015 and it inspires me so much! HUGE THANK YOU!!
Hi! No question sounds stupid :) I don't really know either. I've not heard of frames being heat treated but maybe this is something I don't know about yet. I do know that the tubes I use are already heat treated by the manufacturer. When you see me push the tube into alignment, it may look like I'm not pushing much but I am pushing more than it looks. All frames will flex while riding, they are designed to work that way. And most frames flex right back. Unless they are pushed beyond their limit. You saw me push the frame significantly when I was aligning. But that is a beginner mistake. The idea is to get the frame as straight as possible before all the welds are done. Aligning in the tacking stage is best. I didn't do that because I didn't have a way to align and also I didn't know how important it is to get the frame straight as possible before final welds.
Thanks for all the kind words! :)
Thank you for your quick reply)
marinobike.com/
Here, check this guys out. In the "Frame order" section as an "Extra frame option" they offer heat treatment. Well, maybe because their initial material was raw...
This might be a little late, but the reason for the heat treatment (mostly on alu frames I guess) is to get tensions out that occur while welding and to smoothen out the change in the material from the welding. Basically you try and "soften" the material just a bit so it can set itself into the form it is supposed to be instead of being under constant tension.
You don't necessarily need to do this and you would need to find and oven big and hot enough to put a frame in but it is certainly never a bad idea.
I also like your videos. Came across this while doing research because I'm thinking about building my own 4Cross Mountainbike frame and someone recommended on watching your frame build intro.
I like how you build a lot of the equipment yourself, but seeing as you mentioned you were on a budget, I sometimes found some of the choices a little off, since for example you could have built a sufficiently precise "tire clearance gauge" from some wood without having to bend, and weld, and and spend all this energy (TIG welding eats a lot of electricity) and material on the one you built.
I guess this is pretty much just because you like building stuff (and I can't argue with that, if I had your workspace I would probably not do much else ever, maybe some time I'll have a place with a garage ;)), I just thought I'd mention it.
Anyway great work and keep it up, there's a lot to learn from you!
Are you thinking in sold many frames that you made?
I've still got a long way to go before I consider selling frames. Thanks for asking! :)
i really love it ! great job!
Hey!! Do you think in make a video when you make a fork?
Hi, some day I'll make a fork for this frame. But for now, I'm holding out on that until later. Until then I'm putting a fork that I already have on there.
Nice!
+Mekhanic1 :)
Do you get sun burn in your fore arms?
+Gentjan Hasani yes I did. But I try to wear sleeves unless I forget.
Tell me, why do holes for welded tube?
The holes are so that moisture cannot get trapped inside the tube and cause it to corrode from inside. I believe it will also reduce moisture on the outside of the tube as well. Basically think of a car with the foggy windows, put the window down a bit and the temperature evens out causing the fog to go away. I could be wrong about this but that's how I learned to do :)
Get a long sleeve t-shirt on when you weld !
Yes totally agree. I sometimes forget though :(
Hi, send me the pulse settings you got.
+redewaan josias hi I listed them in the description of this video. Cheers!
th-cam.com/video/uhf4TZoiKY4/w-d-xo.html
I recommend *NOT* tacking with wire and just make small fusion tacks, this isn't applicable on thin material though unless you have zero gap.
Yes, its all about the gap! I noticed too that if the material is super thin, it does help to use wire just as that little extra something to keep from burning out. I have a feeling I will be learning how to tack for a lifetime ;)
nicce
:D TY