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RichL said:
20131018_124739_zpsc31912ec.jpg
:D Cool!

Luke.
 
Hey onehp! Im feeling this frame concept far better than the previous attempts, never liked any of the other builds from this thread... No point in building something you dont like :shock:
Luke, that is how i picture you :mrgreen: smiling from ear to ear and tearing into one of your custom frames

Lots of customs partsplanned for this, triple tre based on the felt design, hopefully handle bars, hand grips, and other parts for the drivetrain.... I have lots to learn about making tooling for my machines, and some of the things i will need can be pretty pricey, so i am trying to lowbuck it while i learn :roll:

More to come soon.

Rich
 
Slow progress while i contemplate a no headtube build. I have access to some machining equipment, and i have seen this done by others.
Decided to place the front fork rake at 45 degrees for a more aggressive stance.
Not much different than the other pics but all the small pieces from the mid section back aremin place
20131020_171231_zps2585fc3b.jpg

:shock:
 
That's a great looking shape you've come up with, did you use a tube roller for the upper chain stays? I'm looking forward to seeing how it all goes together with no head tube, just bearings top and bottom? I just bought a JD2 model 32 bender, I'm wondering what radius die you used for the chain stays, (and other bends) would it be 1" x 5.5" radius?

Looking forward to more progress shots :mrgreen:
 
OCD said:
That's a great looking shape you've come up with, did you use a tube roller for the upper chain stays? I'm looking forward to seeing how it all goes together with no head tube, just bearings top and bottom? I just bought a JD2 model 32 bender, I'm wondering what radius die you used for the chain stays, (and other bends) would it be 1" x 5.5" radius?

Looking forward to more progress shots :mrgreen:

The harbor freight tubing roller for the top tube and down tube, the jd2 for the little kink bend on the chain stay and the 180 degree bend as well as the front forks. I have 2 different 1" dies, one gives me a 4" (inside measurement) diameter and the other is around 6" (not positive, i need to measure it). Strongnword of advice... They get expensive, know exactly what you are going to bend BEFORE you start buying the dies. For the harbor freight roller, swagoffroad sells dies for the unit in all kinds of profiles now, theynare a handy resource to know if you do not have the tools to make your own.

As for the no headtube, correct, just going to make some bearing mounts. No seccrets from me, put it all out there :lol:

Hth
Rich
 
Thanks for the die info. The JD2 dies come rated according to the centreline of the bend. I bought 5.5" radius which with 1" tube should give an inside radius of 4.25-4.5", so I think I've got the same set as you, just haven't had a chance to bend anything yet. I've been doing a lot of work on the exterior of my workshop to prepare for winter. Hoping to complete a few projects by spring. Looking forward to seeing more progress, especially your headset holder.

Alan
 
The jd2 dies have 3 critical points to be aware of. ?.
1) 90-180 degree, that one is easy
2) as you pointed out the radius
3) this can be the gotcha one... The gauge of the metal, we want the. 058 gauge dies, the bigger gauges work on motor bike frames and heavy stock builds great, they kink the lighter gauge tubes...
#3 has bit me pretty good, my 1 1/2" die is for heavy gauge tubing, i did not know better at the time.. Because my frames tend to be made with1" and 1 1/4" tubing i wish i had a 1 1/4" die at times.... Just part of the learning experience though. Be careful and dont let that one bite you also. Look into making or buying a tubing roller, they are more important for making custom frames than the jd2 unit.

Id love to see your work when you get around to making some frames :D

Thanks for stopping by lucas!

i will be waiting a couple more days for monies to clear, i gotta bring the build inside to the machineshop, waiting for some tooling and material. Hopefully i will continue in the next week. :D

Rich
 
RichL: I know you can buy JD2 dies for tube and pipe, difference being tubing is measured by the outside diameter, pipe is measured by the inside diameter. I don't believe it has anything to do with the wall thickness, afterall 1.5" DOM tubing can have a 0.25" wall thickness but is still 1.5" O.D. Unless I'm mistaken.
 
Be careful there, yes you are correct, you can buy dies for either pipe or tubing, and as you mention they are each measured in a different way, but tubing can have an external dimension, and a wall thickness, this is why you see mention of. 065, or. 035 or heavier wall thicknesses you will see with motorcycle frame, typically. 125 and larger... The difference in the dies is slight, the collar piece that comes with the die on the ligter guage dies has a tighter clearance to the die, otherwise if you use dies for pipe or meant forheavier guage tube, you will get kinks in the pipe... I know from experience... Learned that one the hard way. Go to jd2 site and look for this and you will see what i am talking about. It does not mean as much till you purchase the dies meant for heavier guage tube and try to bend lighter guage tubing with it. A costly error if you can not find someone to take the die off your hands at or near cost :shock:

http://www.jd2.com/p-50-m32-round-die-sets.aspx
The middle column lists the min wall thickness and the max wall thickness, the min is pretty darn close to the limit from my experience, use tubing that is lighter than the min and it will likely kink in the bender...

Not trying to lecture or be a know it alll, just sharing something i learned the hard way. Unless you frequent a forum where there are a number of people using the bender in a wide assortment of applications, that is a pieces of information that is not readily apparent.

Hth

Rich
 
I'm a bit bummed today, I finally got the tooling I was waiting for , I finished up a remodeling job... today a overcast and light rain... so a good day to be out in the garage and test my old 1950's south bend mill on some tubing... unfortunately it burnt up the starting cap...they are only 4 dollars per... but it will be till next week before the replacement s get here.
My lathe is in a similar situation, I need the help of a couple hobby machinist friends to set up the old lathe

It may take another week

Rich
 
Nice project and nice lines....I was wondering how to bend a nice gradual arc in some tubing for my Swing Bike replica and you have answered that question ...A HF TUBING roller it is.(Edited to show the right one..lol) Gotta start saving my pennies now. Some day I will also get the JD bender but not till I can afford some extra dies as well.

I have a nice old Atlas, not a real manly lathe but well worth keeping around. Between that and the 6 x 48 belt sander I can do some serious chipmaking. No mill, however. When I have machining questions, I go to the hobby-machinist.com site.. lots of good help there.

Back to the BIKES! 8)
 
Agreed hobby machinist is a great site. I met some hobby machinists there. They have been patiently getting me thru the learning curve of finding equipment and setting it up... unfortunately older equipment can take some time to work out the kinks... getting there though.

That atlas sounds like a great machine.

Careful the bender is a HF tubing bender, the HF ring roller is another animal. Keep swagoffroad.com on your bookmark page, they make some great dies and mods for the HF tubing roller. ;-) the tubing roller comes with 3 sets of dies 1", 1.5" and 2". I purchased 1.25" rollers from swagoffroad, I'm thinking about another set of 3/4". But as you mention that will require saving some pennies;-)

Rich
 
skulldady said:
Your build here has inspired me to keep going on my builds. Thanks, and keep up the good work. :)

You do some really cool bikes skulldaddy, it would be great to see more of them in the threads. I'm just a beginner hack wannabee bike builder, i learn plenty from all the creative builds i see in the threads here :mrgreen:

On my progress; my lathe is a work in progress, it kinda works, it still has a vibration, which looks to be a gear in the gearhead. It will not stop me from making non critical parts, but i am not able to get mirror finishes on the machine right now... The mill is looking better all of the time, i need to get a few more tools for it but the 1950 something old girl is starting to look like the sexy thing she was meant to be :p
Getting these machines up and running is critical to things i want to do, not absolutely needed for making cool bikes, but i am a bit of a tool weenie :oops: and having cool tools to play with while i mess about in the garage is too much fun! I hope to start up again next week, possibly the week after... I'll be back :mrgreen:

Thanks for watching!

Rich
 

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