Bike 0001

[prolix21]

I have most of the cast marks removed, not sure how much more I need to do.
Attachment 42033

If its a good fit, you've removed enough :) A good swipe with the emory cloth and a ton of flux should do the rest

Are you going to pin your lugs?

Curious to how your jig works out. My only jig experience is with the Henry James and the Arctos, but I'm going to need to come up with something for frame two. Debating between homebrew and the Bringheli.

[Pi Guy]

Curious to how your jig works out. My only jig experience is with the Henry James and the Arctos, but I'm going to need to come up with something for frame two. Debating between homebrew and the Bringheli.

You could always go jigless. I used the Bringheli channel alignment table and this for my first four frames. Worked well.

[prolix21]

You could always go jigless

Yeah, I'm thinking that I may start out jigless and see how it goes, worst case I can pause and build something.

[Luke]

Yes, on pinning the lugs...
Seems to be the thing to do.
My jig is basically a verticle alignment table...(home made)
We shall see how it works in the near future.

Actually working on the external portion of the lugs, my tubing will be purchased in June. ;)

Thanks for watching!
Luke

[Luke]

The lugs are coming along...
cleaning them up with 80 grit, wrapped in a file, then freehand sanded.

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Had to take a night off to ride offroad with the hardtail dirtjumper...
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Seven miles of great Missouri trials...or how to destroy a set of new Conti King 2.2's.
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-Luke

[Jonathan]

The lugs are coming along...
cleaning them up with 80 grit, wrapped in a file, then freehand sanded.

-Luke

don't worry too much about cleaning up the outsides. Check out what other's do on their first frame and you'll see you will most likely do much more clean up after brazing. Save yourself some metal.

how many practice lugs have you brazed out of curiosity?

[suhacycles]

don't worry too much about cleaning up the outsides. Check out what other's do on their first frame and you'll see you will most likely do much more clean up after brazing. Save yourself some metal.

Good points, in fact, I don't have or use a lug vise since I haven't reached the point of cutting little heart shapes or things like that. Holding the lug in one hand with a Dremel + 80 grit band in the other hand will clean up the insides and edges fine. Then after all the brazing and soaking is done I've cleaned up the outside with some 80 grit, a small triangular file and some needle files. I've only used local powder coaters and they all clean up the surface nicely anyway with media blasting. =)

[Curt Goodrich]

I always wait until I've brazed the lugs to do any work on the outside of the lug. Doing the work beforehand is a waste of time because you never know how the lug will sit on the tubes. Invariably the lugs won't sit flat on the tubes after brazing and so then that's the time to put in the hand labor. Another thing, just shoe shining the lug with 80 grit is okay for an inexpensive or quick and dirty frame but if it's not, the files need to come out first. Then followed by the 80 grit.

[pruckelshaus]

I'm no pro, but while I don't explicitly clean up or thin the lug pre-braze, if I plan on changing the profile or line of a lug, I obviously do it pre-braze.

[Luke]

don't worry too much about cleaning up the outsides. Check out what other's do on their first frame and you'll see you will most likely do much more clean up after brazing. Save yourself some metal.

how many practice lugs have you brazed out of curiosity?

No practice lugs... ;)
I do feel like the outside surface is not smooth enough from being cast without cleaning up.
Stickler for details here. LOL
(and random precison)

[Luke]

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Top and bottom headtube lugs are good to go now I believe.
They are resting on the bench atop their truncated cone pillows for the night.
Zzzzzzzzzz.

[devlin]

Use the macro feature on your camera. The pictures are giving me head aches.

[Luke]

Use the macro feature on your camera. The pictures are giving me head aches.

I'm using my antique motorola RAZR. LOL
It's been tough as nails...had it FOREVER.
She is about dead,however.
I will be upgrading soon...
time to rocket into the 90's and get an Iphone. LOL

Take some meds and I promise no more close-ups until then !!!
-Luke

[veryredbike]

I'd recommend doing some practice lugs. Like, a lot. Start with sleeves, then get some stamped lugs.

I thought I was going to wave the torch around a bit, and be brazing lugs in a couple of weeks, but when I started cutting things open, it was clear that I needed to spend real time on it.

[prolix21]

I'd recommend doing some practice lugs. Like, a lot. Start with sleeves, then get some stamped lugs.

I thought I was going to wave the torch around a bit, and be brazing lugs in a couple of weeks, but when I started cutting things open, it was clear that I needed to spend real time on it.

Agree with this 100%. Get some cheap tubing and some cheap lugs. Braze and cut in half to check your silver penetration

[Luke]

I'd recommend doing some practice lugs. Like, a lot. Start with sleeves, then get some stamped lugs.

I thought I was going to wave the torch around a bit, and be brazing lugs in a couple of weeks, but when I started cutting things open, it was clear that I needed to spend real time on it.

After mocking everything up, I may practice a few times.
Brazing,welding, or anything else for that matter gets better with practice.
I've been brazing things for many years...(not to say that I'm an expert by ANY means) but I do it only periodically...
so I get rusty.
Things in the past have been 'duty, not beauty'...making things around the shop, not bicycle frames.
And mostly fillet brazing...not sweating joints (like lugs) except for soldering copper pipe fittings from time to time doing that hateful thing called plumbing.
I have access to bunches of steel frames to cut and play...so ALL GOOD ADVICE!
Thanks
Luke

[Luke]

Use the macro feature on your camera. The pictures are giving me head aches.

DEVLIN...try these next pics on for size...they won't give you the illusion that you've just bonked your head on a giant stump... and 'things-be-gettin-blurry'.

[veryredbike]

After mocking everything up, I may practice a few times.
Brazing,welding, or anything else for that matter gets better with practice.
I've been brazing things for many years...(not to say that I'm an expert by ANY means) but I do it only periodically...
so I get rusty.
Things in the past have been 'duty, not beauty'...making things around the shop, not bicycle frames.
And mostly fillet brazing...not sweating joints (like lugs) except for soldering copper pipe fittings from time to time doing that hateful thing called plumbing.
I have access to bunches of steel frames to cut and play...so ALL GOOD ADVICE!
Thanks
Luke

Glad I didn't come off as a total dick ;-) I've been curious how the specific stuff and the general stuff overlap. I basically picked up the torch and started practicing on lugs, so it's hard for me to distinguish stuff I'd have to know for anything and stuff that I'd have to know just for this. So, yeah, when you've got a couple of lugs done, I'd be interested to hear how much of it was new, and how much of it followed naturally from your experience.

[Luke]

I finally got the wife to let me take her camera out to the garage. WHOA!
(I fed my old phone to the dog across the street,whilst wrapped in bacon.)

[Luke]

Eighty...