Howdy framebuilders,
I’m an amateur framebuilder that has built several frames (all for myself) that worked out well for me with non-hardended 9-6-9 cromo tubing. Now I’m considering making for myself a light, springy, fillet brazed rinko bike out of the 7-4-7 Kaisei tubing RH sells which is hardened. While the standard cromo seems to me rather easy to grind, snip, saw, braze, cold set, and file, I assume it will be tougher to do so with the hardened stuff. Any pointers on my new challenge would be appreciated. My approach is using just basic tools since I don’t have any machine shop equipment. Will standard files and tin snips cut it? How is cold setting Kaisei compared to standard cromoly? Is brass fillet brazing okay to do with the Kaisei tubing? Is a 31.7, 1mm wall headtube , fillet brazed (with a reinforcing ring on each end) something that can be considered for a light rider (me, 150lbs)? or is a 32.4, 1.3mm wall head tube a better idea?
thanks,
Drew Devereux