Never say never.........

I swore last year "No more kid's bikes, they are as much work as a big bike and the first thing they do is go run into Dad's truck"(true story, thankfully not my kid or truck!). So, what do I do a year later? Another kid's bike.
Couldn't help it though, my son started BMX racing (he's 5) and his too-small dept store bike wasn't cutting it.

It was a fun project- fitting a 5 year old to a 20" wheeled bike is like fitting a 5 foot adult to a 29er...you end up with a funky looking frame.
This one was done with all scrap tubing: the top tube is left over from Jeff's GDR bike (the kid was adamant about wanting a curved tube!), the down tube is a former top tube that was too short, seatstays are 4 pieces of cutoffs, chainstaye are Zona seatstays, dropouts were made from a plate I found in my Dad's shop, the only new parts were the front drops and BB shell.
Nice lines on this frame, but no room for the skull and bones brake bridge I was planning.
The kid also picked the color...nice, huh? Check out the headtube decal- had to get a skull on this bike somewhere!
Vacation time for the next week, I'll have to post up some action shots when we get back.

Is it wrong to hate a color?

Well, here's Scott's new frame, all pretty, painted, and stickered. It's also my second and third paint jobs! The first color I chose was yellow, and I was told "Well, that's probably isn't the best choice for your second paint job." But do I listen to good advice? Of course not, I plow on ahead thinking "How hard can it be?" Well, it was plenty hard to get the yellow to cover, I got a couple of runs, and to top it off, the primer I used gave it a greenish tint when it dried! Damn you yellow.....damn you.

So, I let the yellow cure for a couple of days and then went back at it with sandpaper and a new color......much better the second time around. I didn't have the downtube decals on hand, but with the others on, I think that might be enough. I'm at odds with the clean look versus my child-like need for attention.

Anyway, here's a shot of the wishbone seat stay arrangement.

Head on shot showing off the curves and fork crown.
And my new requisite parting shot.
Next up...BMX!

Fork's Done!

Big push the last couple days to finish up the fabrication on Scott's bike. Here's the fork needing a bit more finishing, but still pretty slick, wouldn't you say?
Classic segmented fork with .049" crown pieces and .058" "lugs", blades and steerer are Tru Temper offerings. So, what does this fork need to make it even sweeter?
Lightning baby! Check out the inside tangs of the lugs.....takes it all the way to 11! The three P's are next: polishing, primer, and paint!

A little bit better than I used to be.

I'm off the day job for the summer-time to learn a new skill.
One thing that has always kinda bothered me was having to send my frames to someone else for painting/powder. Depending on another person for the appearance of my frames is kinda like having someone do my miters for me.....just doesn't feel right. So, time off+ access to a master framebuilder= I'm going to learn to paint!
So, here it is, my first paintjob. Done under the watchful eye of the one and only Dave Porter. Thanks to Dave's help it turned out pretty damn nice, huh?
It's a blood red metallic Imron over self-etching primer over a whole lot of fillet polishing.
In case you don't remember, this was to be Jeff's GDR race bike but a medical problem means Jeff will have to wait a year to go for it again. Like the previous GDR frame, this one is built for the long haul...I wonder if this one will see 12,000 miles in one year like the last one has.
Lot's of braze ons, huh? You can see the Garro seattube sleeve in full effect here too.

Ah, the beauty of fillets. Tig welding is okay, lugs are interesting, but nothing beats a nice fillet. The BB is the hardest part to finish so that's where I always look first on filleted frames...and where I leave you till next time.

Scott's bike and my second paint job coming up next!

Quick check-in

Max's frame back from powdercoating getting chased and faced. The color is um, different. Reminds me of a stock color I used to offer customers in my shed building days,"seafoam green". Not the choice you'd expect for a bike, but it did come out pretty well with all the metalflake.
The lug shorelines get a little muted with powercoating so it's important to have sharp ones to start with. The top pic shows them pretty well.

Pics of a finished GDR racer coming up next......

One down....many to go......

Well, it took a 16 hour day on Saturday, but the snafu was overcome and Max's frame delivered on time. It's a bitchin' (that's right, I said bitchin) little track bike using a mix of Columbus and Deda tubes, Cinelli lugs (thankas Dave!), Pacenti drops w/stainless faces and a nice flattop crown I picked up over at Coconino Cycles last year. Geometry and look is classic track: steep angles, short (283mm) chain stays, higher BB, and check out the fork in the pic- I just love a tight crown, don't you?

Here's the man with his new frame. Can't tell from the pic, but I think he was happy. ;)

He wanted it unfinished because he has a friend who is a powder coater....lucky!
Ok, now it's back to Scott's 29er. Fillets to polish, cable guides to be added, top caps for the fork and seatstays to made.........a framebuilder's work is never done!

S.N.A.F.U.

Situation Normal: All F'd Up! A little WWII era acronym for ya to sum up how I'm feeling right now. Had to put Scott's bike on a brief hold to do a cool fixed gear for Max. I prepped the lugs and BB, mitered all the tubes, was all set to go and..........doh! The BB shell I got has Italian threading! I sure am glad I saw it before I brazed the tubes in. Got a call into Nova, getting a new shell expedited......nice way to put the pressure on to make the delivery date, huh?

In the meantime, here's a pic of the ht/dt braze after a good wire brushing- it's the only joint I don't need the bb to do.