Distractions Everywhere!

Hello again folks, excuses excuses. Last time it was a baby, this time it’s a new house keeping me out of the workshop.  And a real fixer-upper at that:

I hope that skip comes soon..

I have made it into the workshop a little though.  In response to customer enquiries the other week I made some trial cuts with titanium tubing with the Torch & File precision mitre cutters with outstanding results:

Thicker than bike tubing but I found this going cheap.

Dial in the RPM.

Minimum overhang from the collet block.

Lovely clean precision cut.

Also, Brompton Bicycle kindly let me use some of their folding bike tubes to make my son Tom a balance bike.  I called it the “Brom Tom”.  It made Tom’s first Christmas present a lot of fun.

Had to do this jigless with all the tricks I could think of.

My lucky boy got a pair of Reynolds 631 fork blades to fit the necessary wider crown.

I used the wheels, saddle and handlebar grips from a popular balance bike. It also gave me a rough idea of suitable geometry. Although, my upside-down curved main tube gives much more standover clearance and the sawn-off Brompton seat post is hella rigid!

I had fun making it although the extra ovalising and improvisational fixturing made it more difficult than I imagined.  If I make more I’m jigging-up bigtime!

Of, course, it had to match the colour scheme of my Brompton folding bike!

Blog post filler alert!!

A few years back my then girlfriend asked me if I could fabricate an illuminated sign for a music and arts festival in steel box section.  It had to be 4 metres high and break down into 3 pieces to fit into a Luton van.  “Sure, no problem”.   This was the first thing I had ever welded so I had to buy a cheap arc welder for the job.  The sign was used for 4 consecutive years now so I can’t have done that bad a job and the girl is now my wife. Phew!

First welding job.

I miss my wife’s old workshop in Bermondsey. Now posh apartments!

I don’t only do rear triangles y’know! Looks like I got away with it!

Look, it didn’t break!

My wife Saga also recently designed a light installation for a house refurbishment in East London that she project managed.  It was made from stainless steel tubing with thick copper and brass rings and tubes brazed on.  I turned and drilled these parts on the lathe from round bar.  The stainless tubing was fillet brazed with Fillet Pro silver and suspended from the ceiling half way along by bicycle chain to reflect the client’s passion for cycling. My mobile phone photography doesn’t do it justice, honest!

It looked nice in the kitchen.

Sorry I only had my phone to hand to take the pictures.

In between house renovations and moving to the new Brompton factory in Greenford, I’ve also started giving brazing lessons.  My first student Tom cycled from Bracknell to Tottenham Hale and home again in a raining gale.  Massive respect Tom!  Well done for learning fast and doing some nice neat braze-ons and fillets. I think I learned a lot too!

That’s all for now folks.  Bikes. Must make bikes. A little inspired by walking to the Bicycle Revolution exhibition at the Design Museum earlier today..