Wilkinson Cycles Global HQ
Posted: April 30, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bike frame storage, bike workshop, brass brazing, Brazing, butt gauge, butted tubing, cast iron surface table, dropout, fork bender, fork blade bender, fork end, frame building, frame jig, framebuilding, gas fluxer 4 CommentsHello again, I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything for a while but I’ve been busy doing stuff like this at my new workshop:
He should come in handy for those menial tasks..

Putting a horizontal mill together on top of a cast flypress stand. I’ll put a variable speed motor on it for tube mitring.

I cut all these tool slots on the Bridgeport mill out the back. We have a full machine shop on site.

I bought a number 4 flypress on a stand. I want to use this to form chainstay dimples, among other things.

I’ve now got the first increased-offset Sputnik Tool frame jig. I had to get the Park workstand base to attach it to my home-made stand.

I improved my gas economiser. Now my torch can’t rotate. I wish it was cordless as it appears to be here, but I just swapped it out for my bigger one to braze the fork crown.

My good friend John made this fork blade bender. The form goes from a 5″ radius to a 15″ radius. This was all made on a manual Bridgeport mill. The most I did was a bit of deburring and helping to lift the huge rotary table.

I had this “christmas tree” alignment gauge waterjet cut from stainless steel. It makes aligning a frame very easy. You zero the V onto the seat tube to check that the dropouts are centred and spaced correctly. I used London Waterjet’s finest cut.

I found this old suspension bump stop on the road. I drilled a hole in it so it now makes the post a bit safer in case I slip and put it through my arm.
Rick’s fork will be my first use of my new bender..

Preparing the fork blades for brazing. I used an end mill to slot the blades in the Bridgeport. A radius is less prone to forming cracks so I file the fork ends to fit.

This is the Paris Brest fork crown after brazing onto the steerer and a soak in the water tank. I gave it a little sanding and filing. It’ll get more love after the fork is made.
Stay tuned for my next post for bender performance, laser-sintered titanium dropouts and more!