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Can you take a tech school class in welding, or even go to talk to the local high school shop teacher about it. If there is a motorcycle shop for chopper guys near you go see if you can hang out, guys there have lots of skills and somebody might think what you are trying to do is cool.
 
Sure. I just wanted to give it a try. I was thinking, once this is gonna be my first bike, maybe I should use a donor bike to extract some parts I may find difficulty in making myself. Such as the place where the pedals go, the front fork and the rear place for the wheels. What do you think? Is this gonna turn out well?
 
Re: Bike from scratch?

OK, I think it would be easier, to use a donor bike to extract from it some parts I may encounter difficulties on making.
That includes the pedal part (can anybody tell me how is that thing called???), the front fork and the part where the rear wheels go.
Would I need to do the same for the tube where the seat goes just to be sure? Also the steering wheel? Or is it easy enough?

Speak, bike gurus!
 
I'm soorry gcrank1, it may be my english but I don't understand what you're saying. Paraphrasing? Please?
 
'Mark I (as in 1)', the first version
'Mark II, III, etc.,' subsequent versions with modifications, but the same basic assembly
The use of this helps denote the progression of developement, but is a bit formal, I suppose.
:D
 
OK gcrank. However, I only have only one scetch. So, only MarkI existing? I guess you consider planning to use a donorbike as MarkII. So yes, I may need to change some angles where I will weld the ready parts.
 
OK, I have a new Idea, tell me if I'm right. Like in the first scetch I posted, the tube where the seat goes will actually begin from the pedals. This way the distance between the seat and pedals could be adjusted to fit any riders liking. Is it a bood idea or will it turn out hard to reach the handbars?
 
The part on the frame where the pedals/cranks go is called a bottom bracket :lol:
and i would recommend getting yourself a donor bike and take the head tube (place where the forks slot through) forks, bottom bracket and rear drop-outs ( little slots that the back wheel slots into)
these are the basic corners of your bike ,kinda :)

so you can have these parts and then do whatever you wish with the tubing in-between them! also measure your self (arms, waist to shoulders and legs) the try to draw yourself onto the bike you want to build and make estimations of how long the tubing should be :) if you do get it wrong first time you can re-cut and weld again!
best of luck
 
"Is it really important to have welded before?"
Well, considering that the welds are what holds your frame together, keeping the the bits in place and from you doing a header into the pavement, yes, it is. Welding is a learned and acquired skill. Ive seen some naturally talented people catch on pretty quick to the basics, but nobody Ive seen has done really well without some training and practice.
 
gcrank1 said:
"Ive seen some naturally talented people catch on pretty quick to the basics, but nobody Ive seen has done really well without some training and practice.
Well that must make me NOT naturaly talented and certainly needing more practice :(
I've been stick welding for decades and still make a monkey of it :lol:
An automatic darkening welding helmet has helped me a lot. A bit of an investment but it was worth it.
Unfortunately not in your budget build plan though Herku.

I think you are getting closer to a realistic plan by taking parts off a donor bike.
Nick's list is a good place to start.

Kevin
 
Kevin, Just about the time I thought I was getting the hang of it, I would blow the bead or even a hole through the stock. Peck and tack I would get 'er done, with a few nice runs. Eyes felt gravely a few times too......so I envy your auto-dark helmet. Now I only do some small thing occasionally, and if it is really important, I pay a real welder!
 
Use mild steel tubing to make a frame, or black pipe if you have to. Galvanized electrical conduit is meant for the unstressed routing of electrical wires, not for the building of bicycles that take the hard stresses of the road. There is a reason you don't see people building from conduit, it's because its the worst option from a strength and health standpoint. How many people here would buy a custom made frame from from someone if they said it was going to be made out of electrical conduit :shock: ? Conduit is risky cheap material for the ultimate in bargain basement crappy bike building.................. Ask me how I really feel :lol: .
 
To tell people that conduit is a good material to build bikes with is bad advise. Some people may use it, but that does not make it ideal, or something to advise others to do casually. Professional welders avoid it at all costs. No reputable custom frame builder would ever use it or advise its use. Conduit is for the "unstressed" routing of electrical wires. Atomic Zombie has made some interesting bikes on a budget, but that still does not mean that conduit is even marginally good as a general bicycle building material for everyone to use. I would like to hear from Brad if he recommends the regular use of conduit in bicycle frames, and whether he thinks its ok for novices to weld it. Conduit is the worst material to build bikes out of, and it is never used for any kind of commercial bicycle use. A lot of those old Marty Eden bikes were made out of conduit too (remember Marty Eden? from CB.net?) his conduit bikes looked pretty good but a number of people who got frames from him had them break at the welds.

No reputable custom frame builder would ever use conduit, its a joke!

Dorian
 
Re: Bike from scratch?

herku1004 said:
OK. I'm new to this site. I've however decided to give a shot on creating my own bike from scratch (seriously. I've got ABSOLUTELY nothing).

Not exactly RRB but a lot of info for somebody starting out on the cheap. Check out the tutorials for tips on reclaiming /recycling bike parts. http://www.atomiczombie.com/ A fair place to start, and of course you've already found this place to ask questions. Tons of brains to pick here.
Good luck,
Gizmo
 

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