Maietta Cycles

[steve garro]

Funny, someone that I took a seminar from at NAHBS cited your business as an excellent example for new builders to strive towards

aw shucks......but seriously - you take your knocks & you either roll with them or you quit. I think Tony here is doing very well - esp. your paint - don't quit your paint, Tony - it's part of your deelio, I think - beautiful! - Garro.

[edoz]

I agree with Steve on the paint, Tony. It's great, I love the whole graphics package you have going on.

[anthonymaietta]

I think Tony here is doing very well - esp. your paint - don't quit your paint, Tony - it's part of your deelio, I think - beautiful! - Garro.

Thanks Steve. It is my deelio. I have a ton of fun doing it and it allows me to release a lot of creative energy that a lug builder might express with shorelines.

Pegoretti, Weigle and Baylis are the three builders I view as the preeminent builder/painters where them doing their own paint is as much a part of their appeal as the frame (in my opinion). Those three are some lofty goals to shoot for. There are a lot of people building TIG'ed welded steel road and cross frames, so I view my finishes and keeping everything in house (under my personal hand) as a distinguishing feature of business I hope will attract customers.

I agree with Steve on the paint, Tony. It's great, I love the whole graphics package you have going on.

Thanks Eric. I really appreciate it.

[anthonymaietta]

Today I received the heat treated and precision ground D2 components for my granite inspection table. The bottom piece is fully threaded with 1"-5 acme and the rod goes through the entire 10" thick piece of a granite and is bolted underneath. Rock solid is a cheesy pun that comes to mind, but man...that thing is rock solid. The table as mentioned before is Grade A last calibrated in January.

[MarkC]

Hey Tony,

I was thinking about some of your posts and your recent frame offer. Thought I'd toss out an idea and a comment.

1) If in the future you need to move some frames out the door consider a WPI Special Edition. You can price them attractively and build a story around them that is different from your "normal" offerings. Do up a nice frame, use a white and burgundy paint scheme, maybe some sort of homage to the school logo somewhere if that can be done w/out copyright or other issues. As you know there is a strong alumni bond and a number of alums can afford a custom frame set without difficulty. I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to see a young person succeed with his passion.

2) When you post about your day job keep it positive. Your managers, colleagues and friends will be reading your comments and you want to keep your network intact and positive as you never know when you'll need it. When your time to build full time comes around you want to be the great guy they hate to see leave not the guy who was always distracted thinking about something else.

Loved the paint on last weeks FNL.

Best regards,

Mark

[anthonymaietta]

Mark,

Thanks for the idea. I have to admit I tried doing something like this in 2006 when my business was really nothing at all. Maybe they'd be more receptive now...

-----------

Anthony--

Thanks for your message, and the information about your business. It looks like an exciting and creative venture.

You asked about the possibility of using the WPI Two Towers logo as part of an emblem that will appear on your bike frames. I will assume that you are referring to the official Two Towers artwork that was part of the university's graphic identity (on stationary, business cards, brochures, etc.) for many years.

While we no longer use the Two Towers as an official symbol of the university, the artwork is still closely associated with the university and is still a trademark of the institution. We have traditionally not permitted any commercial entity to use our logos and official artwork to avoid the perception that the university endorses their products or is affiliated with the business.

While I appreciate your desire to honor your alma mater through your business, we will have to say no to your request to use our Two Towers artwork.

If I have misunderstood your request, and you are not asking to use the official artwork, but rather a different rendering of the towers, one that is not part of our official identity program, that would be a different matter. I don't think there would be a problem with your using a representation of the Boynton and Washburn towers, as long as it was not the line drawing that was used on our publications, signs, and so on.

Michael W. Dorsey
Director of Research Communications
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609-2280
508-831-5609; Fax: 508-831-5820
Cell: 508-340-8076
mwdorsey@wpi.edu


From: Tony Maietta [mailto:amaietta@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, August 07, 2006 11:53 AM
To: marketing@WPI.EDU
Subject: Question from '04 Alumni

Good Morning,

My name is Anthony Maietta and I graduated from WPI in 2004 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Currently, I work for Simonds International in Fitchburg during the day. At night I build handbuilt custom bicycle frames in Worcester. I was wondering if I could include a logo of the Two Towers on my frames. Circling the Towers would be written "This bicycle was handbuilt in Worcester, MA. Birthplace of American Manufacturing". This would be a computer designed logo that I would have professionally made for affixing to all the frames I build. I would use the standard Garamond font for the text. I am looking for an ititial approval to use the Towers before I proceed with this project, and can submit a draft of the final product before odering a production run. I want to honor the school that I went to, and feel this would be a fitting way to do so. To learn more about my business, please visit my website:

www.maiettacycling.com

Thanks so much!
Anthony Maietta, '04

-----------

On topic two; well noted.

Thanks for the kind words.

Tony

Hey Tony,

I was thinking about some of your posts and your recent frame offer. Thought I'd toss out an idea and a comment.

1) If in the future you need to move some frames out the door consider a WPI Special Edition. You can price them attractively and build a story around them that is different from your "normal" offerings. Do up a nice frame, use a white and burgundy paint scheme, maybe some sort of homage to the school logo somewhere if that can be done w/out copyright or other issues. As you know there is a strong alumni bond and a number of alums can afford a custom frame set without difficulty. I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to see a young person succeed with his passion.

2) When you post about your day job keep it positive. Your managers, colleagues and friends will be reading your comments and you want to keep your network intact and positive as you never know when you'll need it. When your time to build full time comes around you want to be the great guy they hate to see leave not the guy who was always distracted thinking about something else.

Loved the paint on last weeks FNL.

Best regards,

Mark

[MarkC]

Nice response from Mike. They do have to protect the logos but I'm sure a run of bikes built by an alum for other alums would be looked at positively.

Perhaps give it a bit of thought over the holidays and if you want to pursue the idea further we can follow up.

[anthonymaietta]

Nice response from Mike. They do have to protect the logos but I'm sure a run of bikes built by an alum for other alums would be looked at positively.

Perhaps give it a bit of thought over the holidays and if you want to pursue the idea further we can follow up.

Are you a WPI alum?

[MarkC]

Are you a WPI alum?

Yes I am. We have a bit of family history with WPI. I was the first to go and earned my BS in '88, my MS '89 (and a PhD in '94 but not from Tech).

My wife also earned her BS from WPI in '88

We both went to WPI toward the end of the IQP/MQP/Sufficiency days. It was called the WPI Plan and it was very difficult as you were alive or dead based on your individual project. It's morphed quite a bit since then but for a technical education I don't think you can do much better as an undergraduate. My only regret at WPI is that as a biologist I didn't get to take grunge lab.

My wonderful sister earned a dual major BS from Tech in '96 and her husband his BS same year.

I also have a cousin who graduated in '94 or so.

BTW, my wife though the alumni bike idea was cool and she is a tough sell :-)

--Mark

[anthonymaietta]

Part 1 of 2

Over the last few months, while building a few frames, I have conducted a shop improvement surge of sorts and I completed all the goals I set forth.  I have made a personal pact to not move any machines or procure anything new for at least 3 months to flush out the new system and really try to dial it in.  While I still maintain the engineering job during the day I have been outfitting and designing my shop over the last 5 years such that, when the orders reach a certain threshold, I would be able to walk into my shop "the next morning" and be completely outfitted and ready to be a full-time framebuilder & painter. As of yesterday I am 99% there and essentially self-sufficient. I keep a running list of tools I have to borrow or use from Hot Tubes or Mike Zanconato and then, when I stumble upon a very good value on something from the list I attempt to buy it. Here are some pieces I have picked up over the last 2-3 months.

Granite Inspection Table
While killing some time one night in a Manitoba hotel room I found a great 3' x 4' x 10" high quartz inspection table on Long Island (via Craig's List). I fabricated a bottom bracket post and drilled a 1.5" hole through the 10" thick slab. The bottom bracket post is parallel to better than 0.0001" and the granite is Grade A last calibrated in January to 0.0001". Through a shipping accident I received the granite/stand and shipping for free.




Anvil Brake Boss Jig
I purchased Aaron Hayes' (Courage Cycles) BBG jig while I was out in Portland on business. Very gently used.


Bench Vise
A classic case of "they don't make them like they used to". Found at an antique shop in Maine for $5.


Wall Wheel Rack
After years of having the wheels I use during building just getting moved from random spot on the floor to random spot on the floor I build a wall rack using Thule Wheel-Ons. There is a road front, road rear, track/fixed rear, cross rear and mtb rear.


Anvil Main Tube Mitering Jig
I was using a setup a designed and cobbled together a couple years ago when I first started to outfit my shop. This a huge improvement in many respects, most notably clamping on v-blocks to maintain centerline height. This was purchased from Drew at Engin Cycles as he transitioned to a Sputnik system. I was able to sell my system to a framebuilder in the PNW who didn't have a setup at all. I was able to get the unit at a very good price and three framebuilders got what they wanted.




BikeCAD Software
I may have been using a friend's copy of BikeCAD more than I should have, and I finally decided enough was enough, so I finally ponied up for the software I should have but years ago.

[anthonymaietta]

Part 2 of 2

CK130 TIG Welding Torch with Gas Saver
Per Carl Stong's recommendation I upgraded my TIG torch to a lighter unit, with a better hose. During my research I also noticed they have a proprietary gas lens system called the Gas Saver. The new setup is perfect and the Gas Saver provides better purge while using 40% less argon; amazing!




Fireproof Paint Cabinet
A necessity to have your paint booth setup approved by the town Building Inspector and just good practice in general. I was able to procure this for free.

Also in this picture is the new location for my Anvil Journeyman Frame Fixture on the welding table.


Air Dryer
This is the primary air drying unit I use and I finally plumbed it in. My step-father helped troubleshoot the electrical issues. I got it for free from a neighbor in my building because it didn't work. Dave's reputation is being able to fix anything, and he didn't disappoint. I re-plumbed it completely with copper.


Dry Air Manifold in Paint Booth
These are the 2nd and 3rd driers (there is a 4th connected directly to the paint gun and air brush each) in my system to provide the cleanest and driest air possible to my paint gun and airbrush. This is my first copper work and I must say that it is quite enjoyable and gratifying to see something manifest so quickly.


Painting Mask
A fresh air full-face paint mask. Conventional respirators really just don't cut it (as I found out). Thank you for the tip Mike Flannigan.




Paint Booth Filtration
I contracted with a local sheet metal business to add the duct work and filtration system to my paint booth. Additionally they installed a drywall floor (fireproof) with a galvanized metal sheet on top.


Because of my eBay sale (9 days left a few open spots left) I have plenty of bikes in the queue and now it's time to build and paint!

Thanks for reading.

Tony

[Craig Ryan]

Great updates and improvements Tony! Seems we're buying some of the same things. It'll be nice to hear how you like the Pro-air system and full mask. I have a similar unit and find it gives me valuable peace of mind. The only down side is I have to use a special pair of glasses I've rigged up which fit under the full mask. Do you have a separate gun cleaning location? Do you plan on any auxiliary lighting for the booth? I'd like to see your paint gun mounted air dryer if you get a chance. Looks like you have a really nice system now. And now that you have the BBG you'll need the finger of god someday.
Craig

[anthonymaietta]

Great updates and improvements Tony! Seems we're buying some of the same things. It'll be nice to hear how you like the Pro-air system and full mask. I have a similar unit and find it gives me valuable peace of mind. The only down side is I have to use a special pair of glasses I've rigged up which fit under the full mask. Do you have a separate gun cleaning location? Do you plan on any auxiliary lighting for the booth? I'd like to see your paint gun mounted air dryer if you get a chance. Looks like you have a really nice system now. And now that you have the BBG you'll need the finger of god someday.
Craig

Nice new blog btw.

FOG? Got it. It's awesome! It's used more than the canti boss studs, so I keep it installed on there. You can see it hanging on the wood bench against the brick wall:


I haven't painted with the mask yet, but I will definitely give a report. I'm learning more about the whole subject, and also thinking back to Nick Crumpton's thread, it all freaks me out a bit. The unit was nearly $800, but I get the impression it's going to be worth every penny. I take it you don't wear contacts? The lighting is super bright in there, so I don't think I'll need anymore. It's an explosion-proof fluorescent light setup with 4 "daylight" bulbs. The fresh white paint and the new galvanized floor help keep it bright too. I'll snap a few pics of the gun driers too.

[Dave Thompson]

Full lugs on the tubing of your paint booth! Tre appropriate

[anthonymaietta]

Full lugs on the tubing of your paint booth! Tre appropriate

I'd say more ironic than appropriate for a TIG guy!

[anthonymaietta]

I'm really proud of this one. The owner is a member here, and he said he would start a Gallery thread for me with a ride report, but I can't hold these in. He has more pictures to post.

This one was a lot of work, but Joachim was an absolute pleasure to work with, and I look forward to the repeat business we are already talking about.

ENVE bar, fork, stem and seatpost painted to match a custom Columbus Spirit frame. 16 lbs 9 oz fully build as shown.

Thank you very much for the order Joachim!

[RudAwkning]

Tony,

Not to jump to conclusions here, but that CAD above looks eerily similar to how a bike I ride might be spec'd out... :D

[anthonymaietta]

Do you have a separate gun cleaning location?

This was actually the last thing I needed for my booth. I broke my pact two days after I wrote my big equipment entry and purchased some more equipment. This was one of those ::cough cough:: can't miss deals. This paint gun washer retails between $700 and $750 and I happened to see one on Craigslist today for $200. When I called to get his address he said the timer was broken and sold it to me for $100. It's dirty and needs a new timer, but this really was a steal. These units do a phenomenal job cleaning the inside and outside of the paint gun, and they're WAY more environmentally friendly than "conventional methods" which I'd rather not speak of. What's not shown is the 5 gallon drum of "gun cleaner" that goes under the unit. I will pick it up tomorrow.

[anthonymaietta]

One hour to go.

Link.

Thank you kindly,
Tony

[velocolour]

Hey Tony,
Interesting to see your additions to the space. I have never actually seen another spray booth or paint set-up in person , only a few pictures here and there. I am always curious how people go about setting things up and all of the possible variations that exist or can exist. Is there someone specific guiding you through this stuff or are you basing it on a system you have seen like hot tubes or others?
Also, how do you go about putting your paint designs together? They all seems to follow a certain theme or style so what would your starting point be and when do you push that in to something else or add to it?
Thanks,
noah