Wooden bicycle build

[BartRidesEternal]

Seatstays are laminated and cut to size. After securing the steel eyelets, they will be sanded and rounded.
Very happy with lamination: no gaps or pockets of air:

 

[One-eyed Sailor]

 

[BartRidesEternal]

Hi guys,

Some lasercut parts came in. I will debur, hammer and file them eventually so they look like or they seem old / antique.

But first preparations on the seatstays and some sawing:

I want the plates IN there, but not cut the specific shape from the plates. Trying to balance esthetics and pragmatic work.
The eyelets can be bend a bit for final assembly.

Good for now.

The wood will be rounded in the end. Its a step-by-step process.

I want to drill them the same radius as the seatpost clamp. That will look clean and good!
I have no idea if I am placing the seat clamps eyelets on the inside or outside of the wood. I try to keep the process natural and feel my way through.

Sloooow build

 

[Ulu]

I thought you’d make thin steel socket connections instead of heavy knife-plate construction.

 

[BartRidesEternal]

I thought you’d make thin steel socket connections instead of heavy knife-plate construction.

Not for this connection. I'm certain this will hold. I am aware that the screws (or the holes) are in the same line, but since this wood is already heavily laminated, I am not concerned for problems. And its a tryout
I will add a strong adhesive between wood and steel in the end. And screw then together.

EDIT:
I have a few more ideas for assembling this. Stay posted!

 

[BartRidesEternal]

Since I have enough length for these seatstays, I'm doing it again and making them completely countersunk:

Measuring and drawing lines.

Cut the outlines.

Slowly drilling deeper until I reach plate thickness (4mm) and remove the rest with a chisel. The little holes will be filled with glue in the end.
I can cut the rest with the chop saw (with very fine teeth).

In the end, the wood, together with the steel will be rounded. I think that wood (see what I did there) look great!

 

[BartRidesEternal]

Happy with the outcome so far. Starting to look really good!
I temporary assembled the parts with wrong bolts, you get the idea.

Time for drilling holes.

Temporary screws.

This looks good! Can't wait for rounding and finishing later.

Still too long.

Very happy!

 

[BartRidesEternal]

I managed to do a quick puzzle and looked at the 4mm lasercut steel plates for the headtube.

It looks great, but I need to think of a few things first:
-Alignment of these before I weld them.
-Alignment of the wooden top and downtube.
-Placement and fixing that top tube on the end of the seat tube.

No holes yet. When the complete stack is ready, (wood and steel) I will drill through it and clamp them with a screw-thread connection.
On the ends, where the plates end in a bal shape, there will be a centered hole.

You get the idea

 

[Ulu]

This is looking nice. Consider the transverse forces.

Also: Look what happens for typical frames.

Tensile Forces at the bottom bracket are very high, and high stress continues far along the tubes.

Not so at all the other joints, where loads will concentrate heavily in the steel.

That high stress region at the BB extends one-third of the way up the tubes, from the bottom bracket.

 

[Thomas]

Hi Bart,
this is a very interesting project that you are working on.
I also built a wooden bicycle last winter. I know, it´s not you stil but maybe it can help you.

 

[BartRidesEternal]

Hi Bart,
this is a very interesting project that you are working on.
I also built a wooden bicycle last winter. I know, it´s not you stil but maybe it can help you.

Wow that bicycle is beautifully made!

What kind of 'woodglue' did you use?
And how did you completely round the frame equally? A combination of sawing and sanding or sanding only?

Are you going to build a fork from wood from this bike too?

 

[Thomas]

Hi,
I'm glad you like it. I used epoxy resin as glue for everything
The frame I rounded with a hand grinding machine/ angle grinder (Flex) with a grinding wheel (look at 3:15) and with hand.
I don't plan to made a wooden fork. Maybe I'll replace this fork with a better quality fork later.

 

[BartRidesEternal]

Hi,
I'm glad you like it. I used epoxy resin as glue for everything
The frame I rounded with a hand grinding machine/ angle grinder (Flex) with a grinding wheel (look at 3:15) and with hand.
I don't plan to made a wooden fork. Maybe I'll replace this fork with a better quality fork later.

Awesome! Thank you.

I will be watching your youtube video a few times more and break it down for my own learning process.

I will make a fork for this bicycle, maybe I can build a fork for you too

 

[Ulu]

If you use epoxy resin you can sneak layers of glass between laminations. Being glass in clear resin they kinda disappear.

It makes up for not having cross plys.

Oh yes, read about laminating resins vs “waxed” resins. Adding things like wax makes the surface set up quickly. Laminating resins stay tacky, so you can build up many coats, without sanding between coats.

Once it cures, you must sand, brush or scrape, to get a good mechanical bond. Otherwise more resin won’t stick tight. It will eventually lift and peel in the sun.

That won’t happen with laminating resin until you add the finishing (waxy) coats.

 

[Thomas]

Awesome! Thank you.

I will be watching your youtube video a few times more and break it down for my own learning process.

I will make a fork for this bicycle, maybe I can build a fork for you too

I'll wait and see how your fork turns out. Maybe I'll recreate it then

If you use epoxy resin you can sneak layers of glass between laminations. Being glass in clear resin they kinda disappear.

It makes up for not having cross plys.

You can't see it in the video, but that's exactly what I did with the seat stays to be on the safe side.
But I don't know if it was necessary.