So first frame (not on a course). Fairly basic cromo pipes, in case it all goes horribly wrong, geared roadie frame to replace my slightly well used Kona Deluxe. Initial jig setup was done by putting the old frame in and building to that shape. I was desperately trying to curb the urge just to build something with enough practice and some level of measurement and design. Boy did I warm those tubes up though!

Job (nearly) done. The head angle is an optical illusion courtesy of the iphone (honest). Just need to ream and face it and sort some paint. Roll spring time.

When I got my home brazing gear I needed something to test it with so bought some practice tubes, cut them all in half to make some cute little frames. Half lugged, half fillet brazed. The other one was half fillet brazed, half lugged! This was using oxy/propane which took a little getting used to from practicing with Acetylene. It heats up differently. Well that’s my excuse – just need some practice really.

I love when a box of tubes turns up. New possibilities abound. This is a set of Columbus Chromor for my single speed replacement and some 19mm, 16mm and 14mm tubing for some experimentation in the near future!

This was m,y first frame built on the Downland cycles frame course. I wanted to try as many braze on’s as possible, so it’s got canti mounts, disk mount, bottle bosses and internal cable routing for the rear brake on the top tube. It’s made of Columbus Spirit tubing and weight in around 4lbs.

Next job was to go on the fork course and sort some of those out for it.

I wanted to try a uni-crown disk fork, as the most likely thing i’d want to repeat in the future. Pretty chunky but happy with the look of those.