44 Bikes Frame Shop

[scootermcrad]

Every time I come back to check in on this thread I learn something new. Fantastic and clever work!

 

[rbkool]

Been reading through this whole thread over the last couple weeks. Amazing work, and your craftsmanship and creativity is incredible.

I was in the cycling industry for several years prior to my current occupation, and remember those days fondly. I worked at a pretty mainstream store (Trek, Giant, Kona), but always admired small builders like Independent Fab, Dekerf etc. It's really cool to be able to follow your journey of several years in a couple weeks. Great job, again.

I have my own garage to post up here, but other than being used to work on bicycles, it couldn't be further from yours - small, urban and room for a car... But even still I have got lots of ideas from reading this and other threads on GJ.

Definitely subscribed and looking forward to more posts with updates on new bikes and shop updates...

 

[OCJohn]

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.

I hope you'll share what you end up doing.

Would also love to see those plans from the ID shop. School shops and workstations are often better designed than commercial shops – they're usually too busy to geekout on UX design.

 

[mikes02ls1]

Been following your thread. Love the shop. Been reading up on your shop, Badass talent. last time i rode was when I was 16 in 96. I need to get in shape, and getting back into riding. I want to build a Mountain bike to handle the arizona terrian, and my weight 350lbs damn my lazy *** for me getting this way. I got a Mongoose proxy 26 for the cheap bike.

 

[SiGmA_X]

The backdoors to your shop look fantastic. Great work. And the bike updates are always good to see, too. I wish I had the tools and training!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Every time I come back to check in on this thread I learn something new. Fantastic and clever work!

I second that one.

Regards

 

[Peter Mc Mahon]

Awesome as usual

 

[fortyfour]

Apologies for the lack of content as of late. This past July had me fighting a viral infection of my inner ear (Labyrinthitis) which basically took all of July and a good part of August to fully recover from. But I'm better and fought through the 24/7 disequilibrium and gaze instability!

Here's what I've been up to since the end of June and since I finished up those doors on the back of the shop.

Finished up new tooling for chain stays:





New Webshop developed and filled to the gills with new T-shirts, Water Bottles, Caps (second batch on order), posters and tool rolls made in house:



Designed and developed a new "Flow Team" kit for a special group of clients and fellow riders. Jersey, Bibs and vest all made in Los Angeles by ENDO Customs:



Did a lot of sewing and after finalizing a tool roll design over the course of about a year of design and testing:





Fresh batch of head tube badges:



2nd year running of the Rose Mountain Rumble. Had over 100 riders (up from 30 last year) and raised over $7000 for local conservation efforts. Really blown away by the support and enthusiasm by everyone who came out.



A bunch of bikes out the door...



































I had built a bike for a client who quit his job of 10 years, packed his bike and headed to Peru to do a bike packing trip for about 2-3 years of exploring. I still can't get over that one of my bike is way down there doing what it's doing. Really something special. The Radavist has had a bunch of Ryan's photo essays online. Head on over and check out the latest one. Here's the bike loaded and one of his shots:





Taking some time to build two titanium prototypes. This has been the most rewarding aspect of the past few months here at 44HQ. Putting all my skills to the test. Learning new techniques, methods and process. Exploring a new material. Can't wait to finish these up and get them out on the trail for more refinements. I'm really excited about this...











And of course, a lot of riding...

 

[56rpm]

Outstanding work and pics as usual Kris. Call me weird, but I'm digging the welding fixtures/jigs as much as the bikes. Kudos!

 

[fortyfour]

Outstanding work and pics as usual Kris. Call me weird, but I'm digging the welding fixtures/jigs as much as the bikes. Kudos!

A man after my own heart!

99% of what I do, is HOW I build the bikes. A large part of that is the process and tooling that needs to be developed to achieve those finished results. I really love the thought, methodology and process that goes into design and fabrication because it shapes and refines the finished goods.

So much of a good finished product is hidden in the methods and approach that assembles all those parts.

 

[Jim Johnstone]

Inspiring as usual. I've started playing around drawing up some fixturing equipment in solidworks, I'm hoping to take a stab at a custom frame fairly soon.

 

[smsteve]

I have to agree with 56rpm, I enjoy the new tooling, changes to the shop, additions, and the photography as much as seeing the completed bikes. The welds are so beautiful it's like looking at fine art! Because it is!

Glad to hear you are over that infection and back at it. Keep it coming Kris!!!

 

[jinjaninja]

Awesome work as always ... Loving the learning of the new material with ti.

I'm building a ti balance bike for my little boy lol. Silly idea but something cool for him to remember me lol

Sent from my HTC_0P6B using Tapatalk

 

[fortyfour]

Had a good day today in the shop welding up the first titanium chain stay sub-assembly. All that time researching, making tooling, practicing, asking peers questions... All of that paid off today.

 

[jinjaninja]

Beautiful work mate. The heatsink purge is tidy!

Btw it's pat from Tassie

Sent from my HTC_0P6B using Tapatalk

 

[Dennx]

Whoa! Your fab and design skils are on point! As a graphic designer myself, I'm loving this thread. Good luck.

 

[E12-535iTurbo]

Just plain art. I love seeing your work. I'd consider to buy a bike from you just to have this art at home to look at it.

 

[rbkool]

Amazing. Really well done. Especially for a one man shop!!

 

[fatkidracer]

this thread is so full of great work! with all the welding and back purging going on have you thought of or are you using a liquid argon tank? i feel you might realize a cost saving if you're not.

 

[fortyfour]

this thread is so full of great work! with all the welding and back purging going on have you thought of or are you using a liquid argon tank? i feel you might realize a cost saving if you're not.

I have but I'm still actually not using all that much argon. I recently upped my tank rental from 1 to 2 that are on site here in the shop to maximize shipping/delivery costs. So far, 1 x 300 argon tank lasts about 7 frames. With 2 in the shop, I'm looking at delivery every 4-6 months. With Ti, it may be more frequent and if the frequency goes up that much I may consider it, but the other issue is space. I don't have all that much room here at 440 sq.ft. of floor space in the shop.

Here's the most recent panographic of the shop (taken before 2 tanks arrived):



And some recent finish work on Ti...











And what the shop looks like as of this week:

 

[fatkidracer]

I have but I'm still actually not using all that much argon. I recently upped my tank rental from 1 to 2 that are on site here in the shop to maximize shipping/delivery costs. So far, 1 x 300 argon tank lasts about 7 frames. With 2 in the shop, I'm looking at delivery every 4-6 months. With Ti, it may be more frequent and if the frequency goes up that much I may consider it, but the other issue is space. I don't have all that much room here at 440 sq.ft. of floor space in the shop.

well that's not bad at all then. i know back purging uses a lot a gas but then again when i have to back purge it is a lot more volume then a bike frame. to give an idea i go through 2-3 liquid argons a month plus 8-10 regular bottles for the mobile welders.

i guess all your cost is wrapped up in material and filler rod. here is a nice little article on welding Ti http://www.thefabricator.com/article/arcwelding/tig-for-titanium-tubing

keep up the great work!

 

[fortyfour]

well that's not bad at all then. i know back purging uses a lot a gas but then again when i have to back purge it is a lot more volume then a bike frame. to give an idea i go through 2-3 liquid argons a month plus 8-10 regular bottles for the mobile welders.

i guess all your cost is wrapped up in material and filler rod. here is a nice little article on welding Ti http://www.thefabricator.com/article/arcwelding/tig-for-titanium-tubing

keep up the great work!

Thanks for the article.

Yeah, you're going through way more argon than me. If I go through a tank in a month... I'm more likely to have left the argon ON over the weekend accidentally (which has only happened 1 time in 6 years - lesson re-learned!). Most of my cost is indeed in material and filler as well as labor. With Ti it's common practice to lay a fusion pass first, then a filler pass second. So I'm basically welding the frame twice.

 

[runt262]

I'm not sure if you have answered this, but how do you handle those bends and crimps? Are you getting that done out of house, or do you have a tooling jig to get consistent features?

Your thread is a lot of fun to follow. Thanks for being so detailed.

 

[fortyfour]

I'm not sure if you have answered this, but how do you handle those bends and crimps? Are you getting that done out of house, or do you have a tooling jig to get consistent features?

Your thread is a lot of fun to follow. Thanks for being so detailed.

These are all made in house with specific tooling (much of it made here too). All of it starts as a straight round tube and is bent/formed - all bends/forming done in house FYI.

Road Chain Stay:



Mountain Chain Stay (will be formed to create more tire clearance - working on new tooling now):



Radius 34.9 seat tube:



Here's the tooling for making dimples in Steel:



Tubing benders and additional tooling is on the proprietary side and something I keep close. Especially how I am bending my seat tubes in 31.8 and 34.9mm. Took some time to develop those!

 

[runt262]

Tubing benders and additional tooling is on the proprietary side and something I keep close. Especially how I am bending my seat tubes in 31.8 and 34.9mm. Took some time to develop those!

Thanks for the insight! It looks all so consistent. I had assumed that you may have had them made by a shop.
But knowing your patience for hand craft and amazing attention to detail, I should know better!

 

[bergs]

I love this thread! I wish I could afford one of your fat bikes. Keep up the amazing work.

 

[fortyfour]

Thanks for the insight! It looks all so consistent. I had assumed that you may have had them made by a shop.
But knowing your patience for hand craft and amazing attention to detail, I should know better!

The funny part is I really enjoy the "how" part of making bikes as much as making the bike part. So much process and procedure is tied into how you make the parts that go into the bike (or any product for that matter). The key is then to do it with repetition so you need to design and develop tooling to that end. A good part of my knowledge comes from a lot of hands on but also visiting a lot of manufacturing plants to see how certain products are made.

Two tours that stand out for me in the past were a tour to Osram/Sylvania to see how lightbulbs of all things are manufactured and a tour of a silverware factory in Rhode Island. Incredibly informative from an Industrial Engineering stand point but also really informative from a design/engineering side of things. The more you know about how a product is produced, the more you can design the parts for ease of production. The two need to work together and leveraging the process to do good design work from the outset is key. You can create time saving elements along the way that ultimately can be used to lower costs on the manufacturing end.

 

[kjdhawkhill]

Lottery win = stable of custom 44s . Stable = n+1


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[fortyfour]

More Tools... Seems that is the song and dance. Work on new tooling to solve a new problem. Work on bikes for a day, discover another hurdle or come to another bridge to cross. Then make more tools to solve that problem or cross that bridge / step in the process. Luckily the tools seem to be getting smaller!

Finalizing new tooling to make .875" O.D. Chain stays in Titanium. This will now be used in a press and accept all dies for road and mountain in steel and titanium eliminating 2 additional pieces of tooling.









Finished .875" O.D. Mountain Chainstays in Titanium:



Small plumbing parts to get argon into tight spots:



Adjustable "finger" to hold cable stops and such in place while welding them in Titanium (will be making a second that is lower):



Getting close to being done with the first Ti prototype:

 

[polexican23]

I think you can do better, I will send a ups call tag for that prototype and throw it in the trash for you. Please have it boxed up and ready for pick up.

 

[Irongrave]

Amazing work as always. I really want a 27.5 gravel bike from you someday. Until that day I will keep drooling over your work

 

[jinjaninja]

I am really enjoying the making of tools as much as the making of frames

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[tab2]

Two tours that stand out for me in the past were a tour to Osram/Sylvania to see how lightbulbs of all things are manufactured and a tour of a silverware factory in Rhode Island.

The one in Hillsboro? I did some work in their offices and walked through the factory a bunch of times but never got an official tour. They crank those things out 3 shifts a day there. That is the only auto headlight manufacturing plant left in the US!

 

[fortyfour]

The one in Hillsboro? I did some work in their offices and walked through the factory a bunch of times but never got an official tour. They crank those things out 3 shifts a day there. That is the only auto headlight manufacturing plant left in the US!

You know, that's a great question. It was a while back around 1999 or 2000 I want to say? Two parts of the tour I recall was how they made florescent light fixture tubes as well as larger incandescent bulbs. Apparently the machines making the incandescent bulbs were from the early 20th century, but they were mesmerizing to watch. The florescent tube "run" was quite impressive. Some of the tours were a good amount of driving via van with us ID students packed in there. The class was called "Manufacturing Techniques". And that's what we did. Each class was a new tour to watch how some product was made. Another one was watching light fixtures being formed and in a rare case, some of the last workers physically spinning parts over forms. That was impressive.

 

[fortyfour]

Oh... and two more tools I made since last post. These hold the small fittings to a Titanium frame when tacking/welding them in place vs brazing operations for steel. There really is a tool for everything!

 

[zmotorsports]

Amazing workmanship.

Mike.

 

[fortyfour]

Been busy since last post. Went to the Philly Bike Expo and was nice to meet with fellow cyclists, and many potential clients:



Finished up this Bikepacking rig for a good friend head Down Under to Tasmania:



Here's the bike all loaded up:



If you're curious, head on over to The Radavist to read up on John's build and the thought that went into building this bike. Link here.

Finished the first Ti Mountain Bike. It's built and has a little over 100 miles on it. Still testing and doing some note taking. The whole experience leading up to this point has been unreal. Amazing to be learning, challenging skill sets, learning new techniques and honing your process. This is what it's all about!







































And here's 44HQ. A bit more weathered and a bunch still left to do. Or rather I have lots of plans left unhatched. Just need to find some time to hatch them:

 

[Grizz1963]

Great update.

Still love the 44HQ.

 

[fergus]

Digging the progression. It must be huge to have a couple bikes getting coverage on The Radavist... I follow their insta. Anyways, ti bike is looking good. Heck, they're all looking good.

I asked once a while back, but I'll ask again...with more of a backstory.

I live on a farm. Typically I ride everyday, pulling my daughter in a Weehoo trailer (awesome, btw) around our fields on the dirt roads. We have pretty tacky clay loam here. It ***** in the winter rainy season, cause I want to ride since its cool out, but sometimes the dirt isn't ready for like a week since it turns into peanut butter after it rains. And there's no gravel on the majority of the roads here on the farm. Do you think a fatbike would handle the mud better? Or would it just load up with mud like a normal mtn bike? I don't really care about ruts since I can just level the roads back out with the tractor when it dries up.

 

[Cris B]

Some good looking frames coming our of some cleverly designed tools in that smart looking shop. Keep the updates coming.