The goal for today was to complete the tube holder and bore the seat tube up to size so the seat post would fit. From the supplier the seat tube was slightly undersized so that the bike builder could ream up the tube to fit a standard seat post. After a quick Google search revealed that most seat reamers cost in the neighborhood of 200 bucks it was obvious that an alternative solution was necessary. Previously I welded a broken center drill to the end of a steel rod in an attempt to fashion a boring bar. Today the steel was shaped on the grinder and considering I have no idea how to grind lathe tools I am a bit surprised it worked as well as it did. The finish was not quite the 32 finish I would have liked but the steel rod cost around a dollar so less than ideal finish on a part that will never be seen and a savings of 199 bucks seems like a good trade. And I got to make a bunch of sparks!
With the seat fitting nicely in the seat tube it was time to refocus on the tube holder for the lathe. I left off previously with the lower portion of the fixture containing the threaded holes and the T slot features. After cutting another section of aluminum bar to a similar size as the lower portion I drilled a couple thru bolt holes to hold the two blocks together as well as some threaded but counter bored holes between the two bolt pattern. The counter bored holes allow a couple socket head cap screws to function as jacks jamming the T slot in place and preventing any movement. The next step was to make a big hole in the center of the two blocks. In order to determine where to drill the hole the fixture was bolted together and installed on the lathe as it would be used then using the live center as a scribe I marked the height where the hole should be drilled. (not a generally practiced machining process) A second scribe line marking the center of the part resulted in a nice target to aim for when setting up everything in the four jaw chuck. After some tedious adjustment the part was in the right place and the long and boring process of making a 1.75" hole could be completed. Even though this was quite a slow process I did end up making a huge pile of chips and some horrific noises as the tool chattered through the material. (my cuts may have been a little aggressive) The only thing left to do was make a slot in the collets so they could be compressed around the tubes which was easier said than done. I have never been very good at math, hence my avoidance by becoming an engineer, but when you measure an end mill and it reads .5000 on your digital calipers and the shank on the key cutter you want to use reads .4990 you might assume if you can get the end mill in the tool holder you would surely be able to get the key cutter in as well right? WRONG! I tried for a few minuets to find a bur or something on the shank of the key cutter but it would not go into the tool holder or rather I could have gotten it into the tool holder but then there for ever more it would stay and not even Arthur would be able to remove it. So back to the grinder where I precisely ground on the shank until I could get it into the tool holder. Words of wisdom when using a key cutter on aluminum. The aluminum alloy 6061 melts at over 1000 F which may seem like a lot but it is easily attainable with dull tools and excessive tool pressure which will result in much frustration while you try to pick/chip aluminum out of the cutter teeth. Once the collets were slotted a small amount of shim stock was used to get just the right compression on the tube and as you can see in the picture the tube holder turned out very nicely. Now if only I did not weld all the aluminum tube into a big mess I could have tried the holder out, next time.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Machining and Millling the Seat Tube
Small elaboration on the previous post, while staring at some randomly selected chunks of aluminum contemplating how to hold a thin walled tube at just the right angle and index it such that the notches were lined up correctly it occurred to me that I needed another Corona. My previous drink that I had so carefully placed on the tail stock of the lathe had fallen and shattered into a wonderful wet mess of razer sharp aluminum chips and razer sharp glass bits. Anyhow, after I solved that problem it donned on me that if I made a common OD collet with a fairly precise machined ID that matched the tubes I will be cutting I could make a single tool that would mount in place of the tool post on the lathe. This would allow me to use the angle marks on the cross feed table and hopefully make repeatable cuts.
The only problem is the very limited supply of tools. Having no way to bore a hole in a block of aluminum 2.5" in diameter on the mill I decided the best course of action would be to use the four jaw chuck on the lathe and try to dial in the part and use the boring bar to make a precise hole. I planned on machining a T slot in the base of one large block of aluminum such that it would fit in place of the tool post and then bolt a second piece of aluminum on top. Once fastened together I would try my hand at setting up the four jaw and making the hole. Sounds easy right...
Some pictures of milled aluminum tubes
On a slightly different note, I have been doing a fair amount of welding of thin walled aluminum tube which I believe to be some of the hardest welding with which I have had reasonable success. (zinc + TIG + no idea what I am doing = fire hazard and poisonous yellow gas) So when I finished Star Trek I was pleasantly reminded how nice mild steel welds especially to tool steel, in this case an old center drill. However, earlier in the day I was messing around welding copper for the first time and I am confident that welding copper, even with a piece of wire for filler, is fantastic. It is so easy! Unfortunately, copper is also a fantastic conductor of heat which became abundantly clear while holding the filler rod in my left hand, even with the glove on it gets hot in a hurry. What it doesn't do in a hurry is cool off. Wait a long time before picking up the welded copper part then wait a bit longer. Once it is cool you can amuse yourself by heating up the oxide covered metal with your finger or breath and watching it dance around and the gracefully fly off into the air. Who would want to weld copper for fun?
The only problem is the very limited supply of tools. Having no way to bore a hole in a block of aluminum 2.5" in diameter on the mill I decided the best course of action would be to use the four jaw chuck on the lathe and try to dial in the part and use the boring bar to make a precise hole. I planned on machining a T slot in the base of one large block of aluminum such that it would fit in place of the tool post and then bolt a second piece of aluminum on top. Once fastened together I would try my hand at setting up the four jaw and making the hole. Sounds easy right...
Some pictures of milled aluminum tubes
On a slightly different note, I have been doing a fair amount of welding of thin walled aluminum tube which I believe to be some of the hardest welding with which I have had reasonable success. (zinc + TIG + no idea what I am doing = fire hazard and poisonous yellow gas) So when I finished Star Trek I was pleasantly reminded how nice mild steel welds especially to tool steel, in this case an old center drill. However, earlier in the day I was messing around welding copper for the first time and I am confident that welding copper, even with a piece of wire for filler, is fantastic. It is so easy! Unfortunately, copper is also a fantastic conductor of heat which became abundantly clear while holding the filler rod in my left hand, even with the glove on it gets hot in a hurry. What it doesn't do in a hurry is cool off. Wait a long time before picking up the welded copper part then wait a bit longer. Once it is cool you can amuse yourself by heating up the oxide covered metal with your finger or breath and watching it dance around and the gracefully fly off into the air. Who would want to weld copper for fun?
Friday, November 27, 2009
Bike Progress
This week I am visiting my family in Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving and Ian is in Seattle making great progress on the bike. Here is email update from today.
From: Ian _______@gmail.com
To: Kaydee _____@yahoo.com
Sent: Fri, November 27, 2009 6:51:44 PM
Subject: Hey there
Hi Kaydee,
Hope your work project is going well.
I had a rather productive day working is Sparky's garage. I machined the head tube for your bike as well as made all the collets/inserts and half the tube holding fixture for the lathe.
After I watch star trek I am going to try to weld a piece of high speed steel to a rod in an attempt to make a boring bar so I can make your seat tube fit the seat. Now all I have to do is figure everything else out, if nothing else it will give me something to think about other than you while you are gone.
I just figured I would give you a little update on the bike. I miss you and look forward to seeing you next week.
Ian
From: Ian _______@gmail.com
To: Kaydee _____@yahoo.com
Sent: Fri, November 27, 2009 6:51:44 PM
Subject: Hey there
Hi Kaydee,
Hope your work project is going well.
I had a rather productive day working is Sparky's garage. I machined the head tube for your bike as well as made all the collets/inserts and half the tube holding fixture for the lathe.
After I watch star trek I am going to try to weld a piece of high speed steel to a rod in an attempt to make a boring bar so I can make your seat tube fit the seat. Now all I have to do is figure everything else out, if nothing else it will give me something to think about other than you while you are gone.
I just figured I would give you a little update on the bike. I miss you and look forward to seeing you next week.
Ian
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Practice Welds
After I brought up the idea that Ian could weld me a bike, he immediately start practicing welding Aluminium.
He has made numerous crazy sculptures like the one pictured above. These metal pieces are filling up his house, his car, my house.
I am now an expert (or at least aware) at identify a "good weld" vs a "bad weld"
Monday, November 9, 2009
A website for fellow bike welders
It is amazing what you can find with a google search. Here is the link for the website where the bike tube were ordered from
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Modeling a bike in Catia
One of the first tasks for designing the bike was to understand the bike geometry.
For work Ian designs machine parts in Catia, so it was a natural transition for him to use this high dollar software to determine all the proper alignments for a bike.
Silly me thought that all bikes use the same geometry but apparently not. The angle of my top tube and seat tube will be 72 degrees.
Part of this modeling included Ian having to replace graphic card on his work computer. Apparently the Dell M90’s have a cooling issues when not properly vented. This translates to do not place laptop on lap while working.
The pictures below show my new bike.
I am getting excited!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Qualifications for fabricating a bike
Between the two of us we have 5 engineering degrees.
Building a bike should be simple, except it took Ian and I three trips the hardware store and 1 week to hang ceiling fan. Also the bike does not require uranium, plutonium or any fissionable material, blowing things up, and with any luck no fracture mechanics.
This all seemed like a reasonable idea one night while I was at some far way nuclear power plant listening to Ian tell me about his brilliant idea to make metal furniture. To not zone out of the conversations I suggested that Ian build me a bike. It is made of out of metal and requires welding right?! so I thought.
My exact question to him was "Do you think you could cut my bike down so that I can reach the handle bars on my bike?"
His response was " Well you can't cut down the bike but building a new frame would be a quite a project"
(Actually, you said can't we just cut an inch or two out of the frame to make it shorter to which I responded "No")
And the rest is history....
Before I even returned to Seattle, Ian was researching online all about bike fabrication and where he could buy steal or aluminum tubes.
A few weeks after we had starting brainstorming on how to build a bike, I ran a Triathlon. It started at 6:00am and Ian offered to come cheer me on and transport my bike to start line.
At the car, I watched Ian attach my front tire to the bike and use the strength of two men to tighten. It was 6:00 am and I thought that everyone was crazy riding their bikes to the start line. So Ian and I walked my bike to the start line while my training companions road to the start line.
The triathlon was going well until about 5 minutes into the bike portion, my tire started making a horrible noise. I slowed down, (since I can't reach my breaks to stop) and then my tire fell off my bike. The front tire just had come loose, I guess that it why everyone rides their bikes to start line.
In in the end, I re-attached my tire and it only cost me a couple minutes. How can some one who can't attach a tire to a bike build a bike I questioned Ian.
His response back was... How can someone train for a triathlon when their bikes has 2 flat tires for a month prior to the triathlon...
- 2 B.S is mechanical engineering,
- 1 B.S degree in Nuclear Engineering,
- 1 MS is mechanical engineering where Ian studied the fractures of molybimum and (a different way to say this would be studied fracture mechanics in molybdenum)
- 1 MS in nuclear engineering where I studied how operators fail in nuclear power plants.
Building a bike should be simple, except it took Ian and I three trips the hardware store and 1 week to hang ceiling fan. Also the bike does not require uranium, plutonium or any fissionable material, blowing things up, and with any luck no fracture mechanics.
This all seemed like a reasonable idea one night while I was at some far way nuclear power plant listening to Ian tell me about his brilliant idea to make metal furniture. To not zone out of the conversations I suggested that Ian build me a bike. It is made of out of metal and requires welding right?! so I thought.
My exact question to him was "Do you think you could cut my bike down so that I can reach the handle bars on my bike?"
His response was " Well you can't cut down the bike but building a new frame would be a quite a project"
(Actually, you said can't we just cut an inch or two out of the frame to make it shorter to which I responded "No")
And the rest is history....
Before I even returned to Seattle, Ian was researching online all about bike fabrication and where he could buy steal or aluminum tubes.
A few weeks after we had starting brainstorming on how to build a bike, I ran a Triathlon. It started at 6:00am and Ian offered to come cheer me on and transport my bike to start line.
At the car, I watched Ian attach my front tire to the bike and use the strength of two men to tighten. It was 6:00 am and I thought that everyone was crazy riding their bikes to the start line. So Ian and I walked my bike to the start line while my training companions road to the start line.
The triathlon was going well until about 5 minutes into the bike portion, my tire started making a horrible noise. I slowed down, (since I can't reach my breaks to stop) and then my tire fell off my bike. The front tire just had come loose, I guess that it why everyone rides their bikes to start line.
In in the end, I re-attached my tire and it only cost me a couple minutes. How can some one who can't attach a tire to a bike build a bike I questioned Ian.
His response back was... How can someone train for a triathlon when their bikes has 2 flat tires for a month prior to the triathlon...
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Project Run Down
For those of you that only want the Engineering Fact Sheet
Objective: Build Kaydee a small road bike such that she can reach the brakes while riding.
Requirements:
· Kaydee must be able to reach handle bars and breaks comfortably while riding
· Road bike must look cool and be safe to ride.
Schedule:
The original idea for this project came about early September. September was spent brainstorming ideas and Ian practicing welding thin walled aluminum tubes into sculptures.
October 1- 15 – Modeled bike in Catia *
October 15-31 – Disassemble Trek 1000
November 1-15 Build jig
November 15-20 Weld frame
Thanksgiving Break For Kaydee, Ian plans to keep working on building the bike frame
December – Paint new frame hot pink
December – Re-assemble new bike
December 25 Kaydee get’s new bike as Christmas present
January – Adjust and test ride bike.
February 15 – First test ride – Seattle Cascades Chilly Hill Bike Ride
February – July – Kaydee (and hopefully Ian) train for Seattle to Portland Bike Ride –
Make adjustments to bike
July – Seattle to Portland Bike Ride
Budget:
Parts:
Most of the parts for the bike will come from my old Trek 1000, 2004 road bike. Total cost – Free – However, I do not have a bike to ride until this bike is successfully finished.
· Aluminum Bike tube for new frame - - $120
· Pieces that hold back tire (Drop outs) – 20.00
· Threaded bottom bracket – Included in tube set
· Break caliper – $5.00
· Parts for Jig – $25.00 – This includes nuts bolts scrap steal, 2X3 ft piece of plywood and
some other gadgets laying around Ian’s garage. Things in garage include mid-steal angle
Tools:
· Tig welder – Ian bought off craigslist for $1000.00
· Plasma Cutter – Ian borrowed from Ben
· Argon gas – $40.00 per tank
· Chain break – $15.00
· Metric Hex Wrench Set – $7.00
· Crank arm removal tool – $15.00
Labor: Free – There may be a professional bike fitting after the bike is constructed .
Total Cost: Does it really matter? It is the journey that counts
Key Players:
· Tig welder – Ian bought off craigslist for $1000.00
· Plasma Cutter – Ian borrowed from Ben
· Argon gas – $40.00 per tank
· Chain break – $15.00
· Metric Hex Wrench Set – $7.00
· Crank arm removal tool – $15.00
Labor: Free – There may be a professional bike fitting after the bike is constructed .
Total Cost: Does it really matter? It is the journey that counts
Key Players:
Kaydee – The bike rider and blogger
Ian – The welder and design engineer
Approach:
My 2004, well used, Trek 1000 road bike will serve as the inspiration, jig, and all parts except for the frame. Ian will weld me a new frame using 7005 aluminum butted tubes. All dimensions of the frame will remain the same except the angle of the top tube will be reduced and the head tube will be shortened. This will shorten my reach from the seat to the hand bars.
Key Assumptions:
Ian can weld 7005 Aluminum – He has never triedI am sure I will think of others as the project progresses.
Approach:
My 2004, well used, Trek 1000 road bike will serve as the inspiration, jig, and all parts except for the frame. Ian will weld me a new frame using 7005 aluminum butted tubes. All dimensions of the frame will remain the same except the angle of the top tube will be reduced and the head tube will be shortened. This will shorten my reach from the seat to the hand bars.
Key Assumptions:
Ian can weld 7005 Aluminum – He has never triedI am sure I will think of others as the project progresses.
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