44 Bikes Frame Shop

[fortyfour]

What about your sources for bicycle specific pieces, such as BB shells and dropouts?

I primarily source most things like this from Paragon Machine Works.

 

[Jim Johnstone]

I primarily source most things like this from Paragon Machine Works.

I've been on their site checking it out before. They look like an excellent supplier for that type of stuff.

 

[fortyfour]

I've been on their site checking it out before. They look like an excellent supplier for that type of stuff.

Mark and his team are extremely talented, dedicated and a joy to work with. I would not be able to do what I do nor build the bikes to the level of fit and finish without them. They make my product what it is, no question.

 

[fortyfour]

It's summer and shop improvements are afoot... First up is rebuilding the back room of the shop. More to come, but I roughed out the opening of the back so I can put up another set of smaller double doors for a storage area/small wood working shop so I can have some dedicated space to actually finishing out a lot of the smaller trim details and finishing details both here in the shop and up at the house. Right now, my wood working stuff is spread out and it typically takes about 1-2 hours to set it up and take it all down again at the end of the day. So this will be a big time saver once it's all built out. But like I said, more to come:

 

[Bears Fan]

I stop by just to admire your welds, A thing of beauty! Nice job on the bender dies too

 

[bunks-tj]

cant wait. love updates

 

[tomstin]

I'm sure you know this but I have to mention it. If you machine titanium, be very careful with any titanium shavings or grindings. Many years ago, I worked at a facility that ground large titanium press plates to + or - a few thousands. We had a special permit from the EPA to burn the grindings on site as they didn't want those to end up in a land fill some place. They burn like magnesium. And whatever you do, don't use water to try to put any fire out.

 

[fortyfour]

I'm sure you know this but I have to mention it. If you machine titanium, be very careful with any titanium shavings or grindings. Many years ago, I worked at a facility that ground large titanium press plates to + or - a few thousands. We had a special permit from the EPA to burn the grindings on site as they didn't want those to end up in a land fill some place. They burn like magnesium. And whatever you do, don't use water to try to put any fire out.

Thanks for the heads up and yes, in my research and speaking with others, I'm well aware of what can happen with this material. But a good reminder to have.

To be honest though, the speeds on my own machines are very low in order to work with the stuff and I clean up religiously too after operations. Thankfully I won't be grinding the stuff often if ever at all. The two most frequent operations are mitering/coping and milling a hole for venting. The scope of my own shop would pale in comparison to the facility you worked in.

 

[Vertigo Cycles]

Thanks for the heads up and yes, in my research and speaking with others, I'm well aware of what can happen with this material. But a good reminder to have.

To be honest though, the speeds on my own machines are very low in order to work with the stuff and I clean up religiously too after operations. Thankfully I won't be grinding the stuff often if ever at all. The two most frequent operations are mitering/coping and milling a hole for venting. The scope of my own shop would pale in comparison to the facility you worked in.

and watch out for the swarf bucket too ... Personal experience with that one. Looking forward to seeing the new changes, Kris.

 

[fortyfour]

Thanks for the additional tip Sean! Good to see you here.

As a follow up, Sunday was a wash out with lots of rain. Kind of a perfect opportunity to thoroughly clean and organize the space that will be a small wood shop. Lot's to be done but I'll slowly chip away at it.

Looking through the double doors from the metal shop into what will be the wood shop:



Yes, that's a table saw with it's back facing glass doors. I'll fashion a piece of plywood to be inserted into the window frame with some padding just in the event of kickback. Would **** to have that break the glass.



Next shot is standing about where there will be a stud wall that divides this space. The total space is about 12' x 22' and I want to divide it up so one side is the wood shop space but another is a small closed space for all things garden/lawn/field/lane/snow plow, etc.

And a different angle.



I'll also be making a new mobile stand for that old Craftsman table saw. Something a little lower and wider that incorporates a small out feed table. But the idea is to get this space ready so I can easily crank out work for finishing up the shop and finish up some bigger projects on the house that are lagging. It takes about an hour to set up and an hour to break down all my equipment, so having this space for house projects will be a huge time saver.

More soon. Oh, and maybe one shot from today's effort:

 

[E12-535iTurbo]

It's nice to have that much space Kris. It looks great. I specifically like the blue doors. It's always a pleasure to read through your progress. Keep them updates coming!!

 

[fortyfour]

It's nice to have that much space Kris. It looks great. I specifically like the blue doors. It's always a pleasure to read through your progress. Keep them updates coming!!

Thanks. We / I lucked out with the property and this space. The wood shop portion will be a nice staging place for a lot of projects that have been lagging. Lots of plans but sometimes they were getting waylaid since the setup/tear down time cut into the available time to actually work on the projects.

Even as it sits now, I can just plug in the saw and start making cuts (which is why I got the space cleaned and organized. I'll be able to now work under some cover and relatively comfortably. This time of year in NH the mosquito's can get INTENSE in the evening...

So hopefully, more updates will be coming sooner than later!

 

[jinjaninja]

Hey mate you have a pm

Awesome work as always

Sent from my HTC_0P6B using Tapatalk

 

[Nursepeter1973]

Your workshop (and your work) is to die for. I dont feel worthy to look at its beauty some times

 

[OCJohn]

I'll also be making a new mobile stand for that old Craftsman table saw. Something a little lower and wider that incorporates a small out feed table.

It'll change your life.

I built a laminate topped table for mine with a router plate drop-in. The whole thing doubles as a mobile work table and gets a LOT of use. In hindsight, though, I regret not planning drawers for blades/inserts & router/bit storage under the table wings. I remembered under-table storage for the fence when it's in the way, but forgot similar storage for taper gauge and a couple of miter gauges. Live and learn.

Plenty more ideas elsewhere, but you'll be a happy man if you can keep all the table saw accessories with the saw and easy to access. Just my 2¢.

Love your thread – thanks for all the posts. Keep up the great work.

 

[fortyfour]

It'll change your life.

I built a laminate topped table for mine with a router plate drop-in. The whole thing doubles as a mobile work table and gets a LOT of use. In hindsight, though, I regret not planning drawers for blades/inserts & router/bit storage under the table wings. I remembered under-table storage for the fence when it's in the way, but forgot similar storage for taper gauge and a couple of miter gauges. Live and learn.

Plenty more ideas elsewhere, but you'll be a happy man if you can keep all the table saw accessories with the saw and easy to access. Just my 2¢.

Love your thread – thanks for all the posts. Keep up the great work.

Thanks for the tips! 2 summers while I was in school, I worked for our wood shop and metal shop techs in the I.D. department. They'd have me problem solving all these projects and one was building some larger tables for one of the table saws that was in the machine room. From those plans (which I had kept) I've got a similar plan where I'll have both sides of the wings which will have some shelves in them so I can store all the accessories and such. I've been liking how the central table works in the metal shop, so I'm going to apply that same thing but with the table saw set up on this side.

Little shot of the shop now that things are turning really green here on the East Coast:



Just to the left of the above is our vegetable gardens / small orchard. I help out with weeding of course but this is all my wife Lynn. I build the bikes. She grows the food. I think it's a good deal:



So this Saturday Afternoon, I decided it was time to tackle the north wall and take down the 2x10's which lined the stalls and then remove/clean out all that insulation batting... What a mess. I'd guess there was about 30 years of critter activity in those walls. But I got it down and things cleaned up nicely. I'll work on the west walls this up coming weekend and I also had a chance Sunday night to quickly sketch up plans for the double doors which will be similar to the shops large from doors. Just a bit taller and narrower. I have just about enough material on hand too for the job which is good.

Just a shot of the cleaned up wall.



This weekend's plan is to start in on the doors and rip some lumber to some dimensions. I hope to possibly have the parts all finished up for the doors as I'd like to get the space closed up sooner than later. Till then... Here's some recent work I just finished for a client:

 

[Bob Heine]

I'm assuming there's a reason you are orienting the saw that way. If it were turned 90 degrees, a kickback wood projectile would hit a wall rather than the glass doors. You could leave the doors alone and benefit from some natural light in the wood workshop.

 

[56rpm]

I realize we all have our problems and reap what we sew. but man, that looks just like heaven Kris. You and Lynn are blessed.

 

[rvieceli]

I'm assuming there's a reason you are orienting the saw that way. If it were turned 90 degrees, a kickback wood projectile would hit a wall rather than the glass doors. You could leave the doors alone and benefit from some natural light in the wood workshop.

I'm with Bob on this one too. Or spin the saw 180 degrees and have the kick back go into the opposite wood wall. It appears that there is also a door on that opposite wall so you could open both doors to accommodate ripping long boards and not have to worry about the glass .

 

[fortyfour]

I'm with Bob on this one too. Or spin the saw 180 degrees and have the kick back go into the opposite wood wall. It appears that there is also a door on that opposite wall so you could open both doors to accommodate ripping long boards and not have to worry about the glass .

Good suggestions. I was just going to fashion an insert for the glass doors to protect them from any potential kickback but orienting it 180° is an even better idea. I've got it oriented that way obviously to allow myself room to rip long boards and feed them through the open doors.

 

[fortyfour]

I realize we all have our problems and reap what we sew. but man, that looks just like heaven Kris. You and Lynn are blessed.

Thanks. When we made the move to NH, we decided on how we wanted to live. That was a conscious decision. Then we figured out how to keep it that way. It seems like the more people I speak with, this kind of stuff can be an afterthought which I know some times life just doesn't hand you the cards in the right order or things just play out the way they do. Sometimes, it's not the most "profitable" path but I'm happy, healthy and not in want of anything. I feel good about the choices I've made so far.

I definitely take the stroll down to the shop every day or head out for a ride from my front door feeling really damned lucky that is for sure!

 

[fortyfour]

Update:

So Friday after work I went out for a longer solo ride to collect my thoughts for Saturday/Sunday's assault on the new pair of carriage doors for the back of the shop:



Came home and made some quick measurements and sketched out a quick and rough set of dimensions and the basic idea. Naturally all the dimensions kind of changed as I assessed what material I had on hand and what I needed to get:



Funny what a ride and a step away will do. I was originally planning on rotating the saw 180 degree's but it became apparent that in the winter, I'd have to open the door to the outside letting cold air in IF I wanted to rip something long. Also I did not like the idea of opening the metal shop doors and potentially letting in wood saw dust to settle on the machines in there... No good. So it became obvious: Only rotate the saw 90° and push it back a bit more to where the stud wall will be. Then.. place the door to the other enclosed space where the garden implements would be and center the saw on the door frame so I can just open the door and stick the end of the long piece to rip through the doorway. Duh. So I got to work on ripping a bunch of dimensioned 2x10's I had on hand from the horse stalls:



I then cut mortise's the length of each piece I ripped. Normally, I would have jointed an end, then jointed a face to make a right angle, then ripped the parts but the dimensioned lumber was actually really surprisingly flat/true so I just winged it. I'll run them through Franky's plainer to clean up one face a bit that faces towards the outdoors. I left myself about 2 inches of scrap on each end of the pieces that will run the length of the doors and I cut the others which will be the ends to about 30" leaving myself plenty of room to adjust my cut's to length to make up for anything that may appear that I didn't want.

I set up a quick stop on the saw for some repeatability with the next series of cross cuts that would rough out shoulder of the tenon (you can see those cuts in the photo with the sketch). From there, I marked and cut the tenon using a Japanese cross-cut saw (I have one with a longer blade and one with a shorter blade. I kind of prefer the shorter blade) and cleaned things up with a chisel:



Once all was finished I checked each of the parts with a dry fit up to see how things are coming together. Here's one of the two doors being dry fit:



Then it was off to get a sheet of 1/2" baltic birch plywood to use as the facing panels for the doors. The mortise's will work to capture the panel of 1/2" ply but the ply panel will also help with the glue up. I'll add decorative horizontal facing pieces like I did similar to the pair of carriage doors in front.

I was spent by the end of the day Sunday with the heat we've been having. Actually it wasn't all that hot, but working back there in an uninsulated space left me feeling worked. The metal shop space is surprisingly cool in comparison since it's well insulated. Once I finish up the back room that will be the wood shop I'm sure the same will happen so that's good. More soon once I get the pieces assembled and glued most likely this weekend. May even get them hung but we'll see.

 

[56rpm]

Came home and made some quick measurements and sketched out a quick and rough set of dimensions and the basic idea.

He said sketched out a quick and rough set of dimensions and the basic idea.
Um...those sketches look pretty darn good and final to me. Such talent!

 

[fortyfour]

Slow start this morning required a bit more coffee. But eventually got to it mid-morning and ran things over to my Brother-in-Law's wood shop to run the door parts through his planer. Just enough to clean up the faces. Back in the car and back home to cut the plywood inserts down to length.



Little trick I learned from the I.D. Woodshop Tech Mark. To prevent the backside of plywood from splintering, run masking tape down the center of your cut so it wraps all the way around front and back. A sharp blade also helps but this never fails to make a nice clean cut on both sides.

From here I took a hand plane and knocked off the edges to create a small taper to aid in inserting the parts into the mortises. Dry fit of Carriage Door No. 1 went pretty smooth:



While that door was together I also took a few minutes to make the blanks for the faces to add a little "flair". One of the parts is a little thicker than the rest so I'll knock that down with a plane once it's all glued up and dry. I like to do a dry fit as it works out any of the kinks by the time you're ready to glue things up. Also helps with the plan for how the parts go together and what order to put things together too. So the glue up went relatively painlessly:



And then on to the the 2nd carriage door while the above sets up. I also discovered one of the sides mortises is a bit off in one spot. Once the other door dries I can run that part through the table saw and knock off the high spot.



You can also see I left myself a bit of extra on both lengths too so things don't have to be exact when I glue them up and things shift ever so slightly. That also allows glue to seep out in all the right places. More once that first door dries...

Oh, and I also scored a 5C Collet Draw Bar for the South Bend Heavy 10:



Till then, hope everyone is enjoying their weekends.

 

[bodyguy16]

As always very nice detailed work kris! Always a pleasure to see the progress.

-Julian

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

 

[Grizz1963]

I continue to be like an addict, returning for a fix of normalcy.

The doors are looking beautiful.

 

[Boosted1]

Nice work on the doors.

 

[EdT]

Are the new doors going to be in the weather or are they under cover?

 

[fortyfour]

Are the new doors going to be in the weather or are they under cover?

They are under cover of a long extended roof out the back of the shop hence their construction choices. Here's a shot of the back of the shop just before I started work on the shop. The doors are under the roof:

 

[Guster]

Oh, and I also scored a 5C Collet Draw Bar for the South Bend Heavy 10:

That is a very handy addition. I've also been working on retrofitting a Logan 5C lever collet closer to my lathe. Came a little unstuck when I realised that the JFK 5C-MT5 adapter for a Logan has the MT5 part made for the furthest aft guage line on the MT5 taper and doesn't seat in my spindle. I'm currently boring out an MT4-MT5 adapter and planning to grind the 10deg face for my adapter to seat the collets with minimal runout.

 

[fortyfour]

Got the 2nd carriage door finished up today. Had to run one of the parts through the table saw again to knock off a high spot in one of the mortises. After that, things went smoothly. Once glued, I actually had made all the parts for the "flair" ahead of time and I glued/nailed them in place while the door was clamped up to expedite the process a bit more on this one. Here's the 2nd door all glued up. Time for lunch...



Feeling revived after lunch, it was back out to check on the doors and start trimming off the excess, recessing some finishing nails and using some compound to close up some small imperfections. Moved both out front of the shop and went to work. Once the compound was dried (~30 minutes) I sanded everything in prep for the blue stain to match the front. Here's both doors ready for the blue... Not a bad weekend's worth of work. I also gained over 90 minutes since set up and clean up were about 15 minutes a piece. Now off for a bike ride.

 

[mtm_motors]

Doors are looking great! Your incredible fab work never gets old but the shop projects were what got me started on your thread at the beginning.

 

[fortyfour]

Between jobs and coats of stain on the carriage doors I put a fresh coat of "Brilliant Sea" solid matched stain on the front door. Couldn't believe how the morning sun had been fading it over the course of a few years. Back to being Brilliant. More when the doors are finished/up:

 

[Hostyle]

That door really pops! Love the colour!

 

[fortyfour]

Spent Saturday and Sunday putting a coat of stain on the carriage doors each followed by a long bike ride. Here's a look at one of the doors with it's 2nd coat:



Monday, July 4th I got the strap hinges mounted and all the trim pieces cut to size once the doors were now dry and able to be moved out of the way. I'm going to fill that cap with a thin piece of closed cell insulation and an 1/8" thick piece of ply to cover up the nails poking through from adding the trim details. I learned a bit from making the last set and if I had to do it over again, I'd make them very similar to how I made these. Maybe I will! But other things are pressing... Here's a detail of the back side:



And a detail of the front of the door with strap hinge and pintle. I ended up using 10" long strap hinges that had 5/8" pintles. (The other doors have 12" long strap hinges):



And all hung and finished. I added the center strip once they were hung and then added a first coat of stain to that part. I'll stain the backs of the doors now that they are hung as I stained the front and all sides with 2 coats when they were flat:



There's about a 1/4" gap all the way around so I'll be able to seal them up really nice and tight from draft. I'll add some sweeps once I finished up some concrete work around the foundation to seal up all the holes left from the block foundation (that threshold is free floating right now just to give me a rough idea of spacing):



A friend stopped by mid project and lamented "But they're in the back! No one will see them!" Well, I know they're there and every time I or my wife use them, we will certainly enjoy them. This project was meant to get the juices flowing again on some projects around the house that have been lagging. Kind of a "warm up" to shake out the cobwebs and get some of the wood shop's work flow worked out. I've got some ideas now that I've had some time to work in the space and I think this should be a real time saver when projects for the house and shop call. I've got a few exterior details I'd like to add to the shop to make it a bit more finished looking than what it was originally. Hope all enjoyed their 4th!

 

[dittle fart around]

The doors look great, but couldn't you just pick them up over the pins of the strap hinge? My fence gate is mounted on two sets of strap hinges. When I need access on that side of the house, all I have to do is pick the gate up off the pins ("pintels").



I must be missing something.

 

[txusa03]

The doors look great, but couldn't you just pick them up over the pins of the strap hinge? My fence gate is mounted on two sets of strap hinges. When I need access on that side of the house, all I have to do is pick the gate up off the pins ("pintels").



I must be missing something.

I think you forgot the door casing. When the door is closed and locked from the inside, the door casing will prevent you from just lifting the doors and gain entry access.

BTW, nice workmanship as always. Really an inspiration that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. Well, please don't get me wrong, you make it looks easier said then done.

 

[fortyfour]

I think you forgot the door casing. When the door is closed and locked from the inside, the door casing will prevent you from just lifting the doors and gain entry access.

BTW, nice workmanship as always. Really an inspiration that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. Well, please don't get me wrong, you make it looks easier said then done.

You are correct - they're "locked" in place by the door casing. I'll use a large timber "bar" that runs the length of these doors so they are only accessibly through the front door of the shop. Which happens to be glass of course... Luckily we're not right in town or in the city. Otherwise I'd do things a bit differently here. Everything is fully insured if there is a break in but let's hope that never happens and people use best judgement to leave sleeping dogs lie as well as respect each others property and privacy. I've been considering adding a gate to the end of our driveway at some point when we are gone on long trips. Gates are cool but also keep the clowns out! Or at least make their work a bit tougher.

Thanks for the kind words on the doors. I'm really happy with how they turned out. Better than the first set too and all done with basically material I had on hand for the most part.

 

[fortyfour]

Forgot to mention: Also finished up a much needed and improved chain stay mitering set up. Since starting to work with Ti, I've noticed some rigidity issues with some existing tooling. Good enough for steel, but not good enough for Ti. Finally got this one done this past Friday and took the afternoon after some design work to hammer this one out. Just had to make a centering part that slides on the linear rails and two additional t-slot parts. Plus I got to put my 5C Collet Closer to good use too!





I have a few small op's remaining on the centering part to remove the sharp edges later today but this was a long time coming:



Can't wait to put it to good use. I'm most likely going to have this anodized shortly so I can add a little layer of scratch resistance to the surface:

 

[Jim Johnstone]

Forgot to mention: Also finished up a much needed and improved chain stay mitering set up. Since starting to work with Ti, I've noticed some rigidity issues with some existing tooling. Good enough for steel, but not good enough for Ti. Finally got this one done this past Friday and took the afternoon after some design work to hammer this one out. Just had to make a centering part that slides on the linear rails and two additional t-slot parts. Plus I got to put my 5C Collet Closer to good use too!





I have a few small op's remaining on the centering part to remove the sharp edges later today but this was a long time coming:



Can't wait to put it to good use. I'm most likely going to have this anodized shortly so I can add a little layer of scratch resistance to the surface:

Very nice work. As a toolmaker myself, I love to see the work you put into all your various tooling.