Sunday, January 30, 2011

GRMC part 4-finished

I stole some time this week from the production line to build a new seatstay mitering jig. It took more time than I expected, but was worth the effort. Now the painstaking process of getting the seatstays just right with a file, is a 5 minutes trip to the mill. Nice.

So here's the next few steps in the process.

Fit the chainstays to the dropouts, and check spacing in the chainstay jig.



Next weld the chainstay to the dropout. In this case its a breezer style without a replaceable hanger. Normally on a MTB I'd suggest a replaceable hanger, but this is for the wife, and will mostly see just gravel, so no worries.


Put everything back in the jig and miter the Bottom Bracket junction.




Then weld on the chainstays, checking alignment all the way. It helps to have a perfectly straight wheel to stick in there a couple time during the process.


And here is part of the chainstay jig I built this week. It make a huge difference! Its rock solid.



Notice the tight miters it produces. Makes welding them a snap.



And the finish product with the disk brake mount, chainstay bridge and disk brake bridge installed. All that is left is to ream the seat-tube and headtube, then braze on the bottle mounts and cable stops and its off to paint!

This is bike is for my wife. I don't think anything I've ever made has given me more satisfaction. Most days I couldnt wait until I'd completed a days work, done my "chores", and finished my workout so that I could race down to the man-cave to work on her. My only hope is that it provides her with miles of smiles, and that she enjoys it half as much as I enjoyed building it for her. Love you Kitten!

And that means, ProPam, you are no longer on deck, but up to bat. Better get cracking on that color choice, cause I'm starting on yours tomorrow!

4 comments:

ProPam said...

Can a pink frame come out of the man-cave?

Heavy D said...

I'll pay to see that!

Lanterne Rouge said...

ProPam, if pink is the color of your dream bike, then pink it is. (Although I'm partial to something more subdued and those hot pink Chris King hubs : )

Anonymous said...

Good stuff! Very cool seeing the process. Look forward to Pam's build.