Simple tools

[Curt Goodrich]

I've been around a lot of frame shops. Some were heavily stocked with machines. Some had virtually no machines. And plenty of shops were somewhere between these two extremes. What all of these shops had in common is they all had some simple tools. You know the ones the builder made out of whatever materials were around at the time. These are the types of tools that sit under the bench and are pulled out for a certain task and then put away. They usually aren't pretty and often are specific to the techniques of the individual builder. Simple tools that make the job of the builder just a little easier and/or the job more repeatable and accurate. What I envision is this thread would be a repository of pictures of these simple tools. Think of it as a lending library. Feel free to copy it but give something back in the form of pictures of your own simple tools. Everybody's got them. Noobs to old crusty pros. This is the framebuilder's forum so let's treat it as more than a place to court customers. I dig the smoked out and Friday night lights but lately it's been feeling like the only reason folks are showing up is to post pictures of what they did during the week. If that happens too much this place will get stinky. Before some of you decide to hold back remember everyone of us got where we are by and through the help of someone. Also, nobody here is doing anything that hasn't already been done. We're just making bikes. Okay enough of that. I'll start. For those of you new to bikes, that little thing on the head tube is a pump peg. The simple tool holds the peg the perfect distance away from the top tube so the pump will be parallel to the top tube. Quick, easy, and repeatable.