Order of Operations

Building stuff is so much more than the act of joining - putting a nail into a board, welding a seam, tightening bolts.  There's a lot of extra work that goes in to making that is too often behind the scenes; that's one of the main reasons I started this blog.  Framebuilder sites tend towards shiny photos of fire! and glowing red metal! and the you have the finished frame, and the next photo in the series is the happy builder riding around on a completed bicycle.

There's a bit more involved.  I've started into a familiar loop, and it goes something like this:

• Well, it's time to get started with Task X (cutting tubing/welding/whatever)
• Assemble all the parts and tools
• But... I can't do Task X without doing Task Y first!
• GOTO 10

I bought tools, cleaned up the basement, made an impromptu workshop, and bought the components for the fork.  Time to get cuttin', right?!

Not so fast.

With this in mind (and because I haven't uploaded jig photos to my computer yet), here's my to-do list for the fork:

1. Set up workshop
2. Design the fork
3. Purchase tools
4. Purchase material
5. Design fork jig
6. Design fork blade bending jig
7. Acquire jig materials
8. Layout jigs
9. Cut/assemble jigs
10. Clean preservative off fork parts
11. Bend fork blades
12. Cut blades to length
13. Cut blades for dropouts
14. Dome blade ends
15. Cut steerer to length
16. Fit blades to fork crown
17. Fit steerer to fork crown
18. Partially finish fork crown
19. Mock up fork on jig
20. Thorough polishing and cleaning of all joint areas
21. Braze dropouts to fork blades
22. Braze steerer to fork crown
23. Braze blades to fork crown
24. Remove excess flux
25. Finish all joints
26. Thin dropouts
27. Finish fork crown
28. Final alignment

I'm at step eight right now.  I still haven't purchased brazing consumables yet.  Notice that there are three steps out of 28 that directly involve applying fire to metal.

All of these steps are important for a quality product.  If you want evidence yourself, go find a welding class nearby.  I took a MIG course a few weeks ago that was designed for sculpture artists which was very valuable.  Try to take two rusty pieces of iron and weld them together - it works, but only kind of.  It's difficult to strike an arc, you're more prone to blowing out the metal, and the joint isn't very strong.  If you're making a garden sculpture maybe that's ok, but  I'm going to be trusting my ass to this bike, so quality and attention to detail are important.  The last thing I want is the fork to collapse underneath me while I'm riding.

Once I get over to a friend's house to borrow his scroll saw, I'll describe how I went about building my jigs.