Lugs in Process

Lugs start as raw, rough castings. Here is a set of stainless steel lugs, partway through the pre-finishing process. Cutouts are done, and the lugs have been filed smooth as an initial step toward the final polished finish. It's all hand work.

Polished Lugs

This is how stainless steel lugs look before the frame is brazed. Getting to this finish requires lots of time with files, sandpaper and a buffing wheel. They'll be buffed again after brazing.

Mitering

Accuracy is critical when cutting the mating tube surfaces. Measure three times, cut once !

More Mitering

Although not essential for accurate framebuilding, machine tools give repeatable results every time.

Machine Mitering Fork Blades

Mitering a unicrown fork blade for custom rake, tire clearance and blade length, using one of my tubing blocks in the milling machine vise. I also sell these tubing blocks to other framebuilders.

Front Triangle and Fork

For a rough check of progress, the frame is set up on blocks over the full-scale drawing on the bench.

Surface Plate Check

For super-accurate measurement of frame angles, the parts are set up on vee blocks on a granite surface plate, using the drawing and machinist's squares.

Alignment

Checking front triangle alignment with a vernier height gauge on a ground steel flat plate - using this technique I can easily measure alignment to within thousandths of an inch

Tube Facing

A machine lathe makes short work of accurately cutting tubes to length and facing the ends perfectly square if required - for example head tubes.

Stem Jig

This is an example of tooling I've designed and built to make the building process more accurate and repeatable. This jig allows me to make stems of any length, any rise, and for any combination of steerer tube and bar diameter.

Stem Jig view 2

I do like this jig. I offer it for sale to other framebuilders.

Stems

A batch of stems, just back from the plater. One quill type, two threadless, and four tandem stoker stems.

Completed Forks

Ready for paint, two straight blade Columbus Max forks. One is for a 700 road bike, the other for a 650 time trial bike

Adjustable Rake Fork

Although not an item I offer for sale, I built this rideable adjustable fork to test handling for unusual or special-purpose frame designs. Formulas and experience are helpful, but sometimes the best information comes from trying a design on the road before the frame is built.

Polo Bike Fork

An example of a special purpose frame design, this fork was built after extensive competition testing by the rider using my adjustable fork, to achieve the polo rider's ideal handling characteristics.

Polo Bike Fork, Painted

After painting, decals and clearcoat. I do some painting, like this, but for complete frames I work with professionals who do nothing but paint bike frames.

Custom MTB Fork with Right Side Disk Mounts

Even if it's not something commercially available, as long as it's possible I can do it. This fork is for a customer who prefers the disk brake caliper to be on the right side, so that the braking forces don't tend to dislodge the front axle from the dropout.

Custom Carving

It's all done with careful hand work, files and sandpaper. In this case the customer wanted a particular sloop design in the extended head tube.

Track End Retrofit

This customer needed track ends capable of also mounting a rear derailleur. With nothing commercially available for a retrofit, these dropouts were custom made from plate chromoly steel.

Seat Stay Mitering Jig

Another tool that I make and sell to other builders, this jig allows mitering of seatstays where they abut the seat tube. Without a jig, this miter is very difficult to do accurately.

Seat Stay Mitering Jig

In using this jig, the dropouts are held in a dummy axle and the stays inserted (in this case) over the dropouts.

Seat Stay Mitering Jig

The other end of the seatstays are clamped tightly in place for mitering.

Seat Stay Mitering Jig

Here the jig is in the milling maching vise for cutting the miter. It can also be used in a drill press.

Mitering - Close Up

Angle Vise Adapter for Seat Stay Mitering Jig

The crossbar allows the jig to be held in a angle vise on either a drill press or a milling machine.

Retrofitting S&S Couplers

Step 1 is to mark the frame. It's critical to split the frame in exactly the right places, taking into account not only fitting into the S&S case, but also tube butts, water bottles and other braze-ons. Masking tape marks the cut locations. The frame fixture is set to exactly the geometry of the frame.

S&S Retrofit - Step 2

Here the frame is cut in half.

S&S Retrofit - Step 3

Tube ends are cut square using the milling machine.

S&S Retrofit Step 4

It's critical that exactly the right length of tubing is removed. The frame fixture is used to ensure that the two parts of the frame are held precisely as they were before the frame was cut.

S&S Retrofit - Complete

Here the couplers are brazed in place. The retrofit is done.

S&S Retrofit

Close-up of the downtube coupler.

S&S Retrofit

. . . . and the frame in two easily-disassembled and transported parts. Time for paint touch-up.

S&S Retrofit of Non-Standard Tube Diameters

Couplers are available for standard tube diameters. Not all frames use standard tubing. In these cases, it's necessary to fabricate a sleeve to adapt the tube to the next larger coupler size.

Coupled Touring Frame

Here's an example of a frame built from the start with S&S couplers. It's much simpler to do it this way than to retrofit later.

Milwaukee Bruiser Polo Bike Retrofit with Couplers

In this case, the customer elected to go with a DIY rattle-can repaint. Looks good, and it's perfect for a polo bike, which gets ridden hard !

Gitane Criterium Retrofit with Couplers

Many frames can be retrofit. In this case, even with nonstandard metric tubes and an internal brake cable, retrofitting was possible. This gem from the past is headed for a complete refinish and a new life.