For anyone who's interested in making a frame OR making a career
making frames, Eric Estlund's words should be on your wall atmo:


Personal anecdote- like Richard and Curt, I did this for someone else before I did it on my own. I'm not sure how a single operator would go about getting the numbers up, but it was vital in my own development. When Richard suggests knocking out 20 practice joints we need to realize that is just a drop in the proverbial bucket. I reviewed a few numbers from my production days, and in a year I was looking at:
- Used 50gallons of gas flux
- Lit my torch 43,000 times
- Brazed on 55,000/ 60,000 braze ons
- Used 29,500 ft (about a 5.5 miles) of brazing rod weighing approx. 190lbs
- Brazed around 1500 single bikes, 200 tandems and 1700 or so forks

I was only in industry for a couple of years, but that is a whole lot of experience I would never be able to replicate on my own. For new folks starting out I can only suggest putting your head down and committing to getting some volume practice pieces.