The way that I remember concave/convex is that you go IN to a cave. It's no 'fine fingering' but it's always helped me get it right. Great work as always, you're an artist!
You prolly dont care but if you guys are bored like me atm you can stream pretty much all the new series on InstaFlixxer. Have been watching with my gf during the lockdown xD
Good video, in fact, it rises to the level of great video. I never used nickel silver for forks but I did use it a lot for furnace brazing turbine engine parts in the factory where I worked. For forks, I always used the brass first and then 45% silver solder on top of that for cosmetic reasons. Bicyclers are the only group I've ever known who can judge the quality of a weld just by feeling it. Not only that, the concept that a 24 lb. bike is better than a 25 lb. bike has always baffled me. Nothing makes my skin crawl like seeing a fat guy on a light weight bike racing along to his crash site. Something you can appreciate, I was ridiculed for building a tandem with a 70 degree head angle 35 years ago. Your 69 bike made me smile.
Ah, TIG welding for tacking. I've wondered about that for fillet brazing. I have a quality DC TIG welder, but haven't welded any bike tubes yet. I'm still shopping for a decent brazing torch.
@@paulbrodie Great, perfect! I wanted to ask you the reason for nickel silver for the Romax build? I know you mentioned brake braze ons, but why the fork or any tubes? Is it how it brazes, for additional strength or for color?
@@jimjungle1397 On the Romax build I used nickel silver, bare brazing rod, and silver solder. The nickel silver was used on the brake bosses, and for attaching the seat stays to the seat tube. I use 1/16"rods because that is the perfect size for what I just mentioned.
When you are turning the forks to create the bearing seat you could make up an extended tailstock centre to go into the steering head tube with a small live centre. This would help to stop the flex and runout which causes the intermittent cutting and let you stay further away from the lathe chuck.
That seems like a possible solution, except the hole isn't round (or flat) from all the brazing and filing. I made up a better tool holder and that helped.
I remember that many years ago you could buy fine or course hole saws. Someone seems to have made the decision we only need combination pitch hole saws. There okay for wood, put can be a real pain for metal.
Great video! Somewhere I missed how the tube was threaded. It's one of those little things that seems a mystery to me. All I can vision is a plumber threading a pipe. I assume it is done on the lathe?
Framebuilders buy threaded steerers if that is what the design calls for. Yes, you can thread a steerer on a lathe, if you need to, but it's just easier to buy them threaded.
Splendid work, as always. Question not related to the video: Do you ever do rough bike prototypes? From the looks of it, you never cut any corners. Another one: Have you ever had a frame crack from riding, guessing MTB is exposed to more stress than a road bike. Best from Sweden
Hello Sweden! Do I ever do "rough bike" prototypes? I don't think so. I like to do nice work :) I have bent a downtube (rider error..) but I have not had a frame crack from my riding. I tend not to be hard on bikes.. Other riders have broken Brodie frames years ago.
nickel silver is stronger than a bare bronze brazing rod, and definitely stronger than regular brass. I did not drill air holes. I like to seal tubes, and I know that not every builder will agree with me.
Hi Paul, @ 3:30 in the video, could you make a spacer block instead of measuring each time? I suppose it's only efficient if you were really doing some serious production (time invested in making the spacer block, vs. just measuring each time).
Sir, please answer, when do you prefer braze and not tig weld. I want to understand the reason why and when you choose one over the other. I am watching your videos back to back. Thanks! Hope you will reply.
Hi Pankaj, both fillet brazing and Tig welding are good ways to make a bicycle frame. It just comes down to personal preference. Both are very strong. Tig is faster, lighter, and there is no file up. Fillet brazing is more of an art form. The "blending" of the tubes. I do both, depending on how I "feel". Thanks for watching!
This is a video that gives me a headache :-) Very informative, but I'm not grasping some of the elements..... will just have to watch it again, until I get it.
Thanks! In Framebuilding 101 I always wear gloves to set an example for my students. In my own shop I can do what I want.. Safety Third! I used the gloves on the belt sander because the pieces were still quite warm from the bandsaw..
@@klowilanakastara425 To "narrow the pipe" means tapering the tube. In the bicycle world we never call them pipes, because that is something heavy wall and crude. A tube, on the other hand, can be finely made and very precise. To taper a tube means having a Swaging Machine which is large, powerful, and heavy. I do not have one; I have only seen photos of them. Framebuilders buy tubes that are already tapered. Nova Cycles in California sells tubes like that. Check their website :)
before this video, i would have said unicrown forks are visually mediocre at best. After this, i can absolutely say this statement is hogwash - it was an pleasure to watch this be made. As a non-machinist though, there are several instances that terrify me with regards to safety, including the machining of the crown-race. beautiful work, fantastic videos, keep it up!
Ha,every framebuilder needs a good painter!...well that is fine for most framebuilders. Fact is ,your frames are far too beautiful to cover in paint. So perhaps that is one drawback to creating such beauty! any imperfection simply won’t do!!
@@paulbrodie Yes they are cheap, I do a lot of 4130 and .049 wall and hole saws do not run true enough to make a good cut so the welds have to make up for it. I have even moved to end mills on my tubing notcher for the same reason.
I’m fond of End Mills myself for notching square tube, and also for mitering round tubing prior to welding. Only trouble is end mills get *spendy* once they get past a certain diameter. Then you either use a hole saw, or a *boring bar!*
It is so utterly enjoyable to watch a craftsman perform their trade with excellence. Thank you.
Thank you.
I really enjoy these videos! I'm not even a bicycle person but love working with metal. You are a craftsman!
The way that I remember concave/convex is that you go IN to a cave. It's no 'fine fingering' but it's always helped me get it right. Great work as always, you're an artist!
And for convex, one has a *Vexatious Lump!*
With so many carbon forks on the market today, thank you for demonstrating the tradition of how to handcraft a steel fork. Great job!
You prolly dont care but if you guys are bored like me atm you can stream pretty much all the new series on InstaFlixxer. Have been watching with my gf during the lockdown xD
@Frederick Nixon yup, I've been watching on InstaFlixxer for months myself =)
@Frederick Nixon Yea, I have been using InstaFlixxer for since december myself =)
Love the shirt you are wearing, thank you.
It's a good shirt !
Good video, in fact, it rises to the level of great video. I never used nickel silver for forks but I did use it a lot for furnace brazing turbine engine parts in the factory where I worked. For forks, I always used the brass first and then 45% silver solder on top of that for cosmetic reasons. Bicyclers are the only group I've ever known who can judge the quality of a weld just by feeling it. Not only that, the concept that a 24 lb. bike is better than a 25 lb. bike has always baffled me. Nothing makes my skin crawl like seeing a fat guy on a light weight bike racing along to his crash site. Something you can appreciate, I was ridiculed for building a tandem with a 70 degree head angle 35 years ago. Your 69 bike made me smile.
Thank you!
Looks great as is your standard.
Thank you Craig.
Ah, TIG welding for tacking. I've wondered about that for fillet brazing. I have a quality DC TIG welder, but haven't welded any bike tubes yet. I'm still shopping for a decent brazing torch.
Get a Victor J28 with a zero tip. That's all you need.
@@paulbrodie Great, perfect! I wanted to ask you the reason for nickel silver for the Romax build? I know you mentioned brake braze ons, but why the fork or any tubes? Is it how it brazes, for additional strength or for color?
@@jimjungle1397 On the Romax build I used nickel silver, bare brazing rod, and silver solder. The nickel silver was used on the brake bosses, and for attaching the seat stays to the seat tube. I use 1/16"rods because that is the perfect size for what I just mentioned.
Paul, you got a tuning fork in the lathe, wrap some cut inner tube bands around the forks next time.
Again, nice workmanship.!
Thanks Steve.
whether brazing adds strength to a non-lug connection or just decoration, but to be honest it's very beautiful
Brazing can be very, very strong.
Great video.
When you are turning the forks to create the bearing seat you could make up an extended tailstock centre to go into the steering head tube with a small live centre. This would help to stop the flex and runout which causes the intermittent cutting and let you stay further away from the lathe chuck.
That seems like a possible solution, except the hole isn't round (or flat) from all the brazing and filing. I made up a better tool holder and that helped.
I remember that many years ago you could buy fine or course hole saws. Someone seems to have made the decision we only need combination pitch hole saws. There okay for wood, put can be a real pain for metal.
They work fine for me.
I'm not a machinist but I enjoy the process and finished product. Thank you for posting 👍☮
Thank you Ray.
Great video! Somewhere I missed how the tube was threaded. It's one of those little things that seems a mystery to me. All I can vision is a plumber threading a pipe. I assume it is done on the lathe?
Framebuilders buy threaded steerers if that is what the design calls for. Yes, you can thread a steerer on a lathe, if you need to, but it's just easier to buy them threaded.
I enjoy watching you work and a master tradesmen and a perfectionist thank you .Eric from edmonton
Thank you Eric!
There is a peacock bird near your workshop 👍😊
That's Peter. He is my peacock.
Splendid work, as always. Question not related to the video: Do you ever do rough bike prototypes? From the looks of it, you never cut any corners.
Another one: Have you ever had a frame crack from riding, guessing MTB is exposed to more stress than a road bike.
Best from Sweden
Hello Sweden! Do I ever do "rough bike" prototypes? I don't think so. I like to do nice work :) I have bent a downtube (rider error..) but I have not had a frame crack from my riding. I tend not to be hard on bikes.. Other riders have broken Brodie frames years ago.
Thanks for video. Why do you use nickel silver instead of regular brass? Do you drill holes on fork blades before brazing?
nickel silver is stronger than a bare bronze brazing rod, and definitely stronger than regular brass. I did not drill air holes. I like to seal tubes, and I know that not every builder will agree with me.
Hi Paul, @ 3:30 in the video, could you make a spacer block instead of measuring each time? I suppose it's only efficient if you were really doing some serious production (time invested in making the spacer block, vs. just measuring each time).
Yes, a spacer block could work. If it was serious production I would setup the fixture in the lathe and then mitre 500 pairs of fork blades...
can you tell me what is the cheapest and best steel for bicycle frame
Impossible. You cannot have the cheapest and the best. They are at opposite ends of the spectrum. But thanks for watching!
@@paulbrodie So in your opinion is 4130 steel the best?
@@huubang4516 Yes, I like 4130. It is easy to work with, but not the cheapest!
Thank you so much... I learned a lot from you, even though I can't be with you..
Thank you Murat...
Sir, please answer, when do you prefer braze and not tig weld. I want to understand the reason why and when you choose one over the other. I am watching your videos back to back. Thanks! Hope you will reply.
Hi Pankaj, both fillet brazing and Tig welding are good ways to make a bicycle frame. It just comes down to personal preference. Both are very strong. Tig is faster, lighter, and there is no file up. Fillet brazing is more of an art form. The "blending" of the tubes. I do both, depending on how I "feel". Thanks for watching!
Wow 🙂
Thanks for liking what we do😉
👍😎👍
This is a video that gives me a headache :-) Very informative, but I'm not grasping some of the elements..... will just have to watch it again, until I get it.
If you have a specific question, just ask :)
Beautiful job! So you do own some welding gloves you just only use them for belt sanding 🙂
Thanks! In Framebuilding 101 I always wear gloves to set an example for my students. In my own shop I can do what I want.. Safety Third! I used the gloves on the belt sander because the pieces were still quite warm from the bandsaw..
Reducer please share
If you are asking me a question, I do not understand.
how do you narrow the pipe? if you are willing to share then it helps me a lot because I am very difficult
@@klowilanakastara425 To "narrow the pipe" means tapering the tube. In the bicycle world we never call them pipes, because that is something heavy wall and crude. A tube, on the other hand, can be finely made and very precise. To taper a tube means having a Swaging Machine which is large, powerful, and heavy. I do not have one; I have only seen photos of them. Framebuilders buy tubes that are already tapered. Nova Cycles in California sells tubes like that. Check their website :)
before this video, i would have said unicrown forks are visually mediocre at best. After this, i can absolutely say this statement is hogwash - it was an pleasure to watch this be made.
As a non-machinist though, there are several instances that terrify me with regards to safety, including the machining of the crown-race.
beautiful work, fantastic videos, keep it up!
Thank you EK!
Ha,every framebuilder needs a good painter!...well that is fine for most framebuilders. Fact is ,your frames are far too beautiful to cover in paint. So perhaps that is one drawback to creating such beauty! any imperfection simply won’t do!!
Thanks for watching!
Get rid of the hole saw and use a 4 flute end mill to make a proper cut, you wont regret it.
I think on thin wall bicycle tubing an end mill would tend to grab. All the frame builders I know use hole saws. There must be a reason.
@@paulbrodie Yes they are cheap, I do a lot of 4130 and .049 wall and hole saws do not run true enough to make a good cut so the welds have to make up for it. I have even moved to end mills on my tubing notcher for the same reason.
@@1960fl .049" is pretty thick. A lot of bicycle tubing is .031" (.8mm) so I'm very skeptical an end mill wouldn't grab and tear...
I’m fond of End Mills myself for notching square tube, and also for mitering round tubing prior to welding. Only trouble is end mills get *spendy* once they get past a certain diameter. Then you either use a hole saw, or a *boring bar!*