When starting out framebuilding there are plenty of challenges. Having a space to work, tools, brazing gear, frame jig, the list goes on. Having made made own way along part of that journey it was nice to be able to help Chris out with the loan of some space and gear whilst offering the occasional bit of advice along the way. It was useful for me as he was building a crossbike Ritchey Breakaway fixture and flat mounts which meant I could build a jig for that too. Turned out nice.
I was making some truss fork dropouts and having some issues with the way the boring tool was mounted. I’d 
been using shims to get the right height but it was never very satisfactory so finally got round to making a tool mount. I can’t tell you how much better it was to use. The tool was much more stable and so much quicker to use, all for 20 minutes of making the post mount, result. Time spent making tools is time saved in the future. Lesson learnt, again!
Lisy needed a rack for her Mixte so it was a chance to make a stainless one. Got a new Ridgid tube bender, some 10mm tubing and 4mm plate and bobs your uncle. I’ve tried using cheaper tube benders before but this made the job much easier. Solid handles, with flat sides to easily lock in the vice. Angle marker made it much easier to get the angles close to that desired.
After chatting with Oli from DMO frameworks at Bespoked in April, I made some changes to my tube bender. Basically milling the slot deeper to try and reduce the amount the tube flattens. The initial test looks better so i’ll give it a further test and then look to recreate it in aluminium
Most important tool in the workshop primed and ready for action.
As soon as that’s finished, i’ll move on to finishing frame number one to get it ready for the powder coaters:-)
I wanted some forks to go with the first frame so made a jig and went for some straight bladed jobs (to save having to bend them – well it was the first set!).
Having checked out the price of commercially available jigs I decided to build my own to help with trying to get things straight. RS components stock these aluminium sections. I made the attachments to hold the bottom bracket, seat tube and head tube on the lathe. Lots of adjustment for frame size and angles.
