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For some reason, I have wanted to try welding a bike frame for quite a while.
Every time I go into a store that sells bikes, I check out the welds. You know what I’m talkin’ bout.
I even check out the welds on the tanker truck next to me on the freeway… And don’t even get me started on welds at boat shows.
Anyway, some of those welds on those hundred dollar bikes are pretty sweet.
And that reminds me of a saying I saw on a Tee shirt… “Somewhere on the other side of the world, a 14 year old girl is warming up with your max.”
We can all try a littler harder to up our game. And I intend to do just that.
By learning new things, studying more, and writing more about what I learn.
Ok, so this bike frame was kinda fun. That is mainly due to the fit ups. And the fitups are due to the accurately coped tubing.
Mike Zanconato of Zanconato Custom Cycles supplied the coped tubing for this project and also some film clips of how he copes the tubing and fixtures the tubes for welding.
I fixtured the bike frame using a Stronghand buildpro table and it actually worked pretty well. Some of the welds were made using weldmold 880 tig rod which welds a whole lot like 312 stainless filler rod. In fact, I bet 312 tig rod would have worked well also.
Some welds were done using er70s-2 which did ok.
So here are a few take aways from this weeks video.
- lots of tack welds along with clamping down the frame to the table while welding prevented distortion
- pulse settings of 33 pps, 33% on time, and 33% background current work extremely well for thin wall tubing and for thin sheet metal
- weldmold 880 tig rod welds better than er70s-2 tig rod
- weldmold 880 hold up better to the big hammer too.
- high pulse tig at rates of 70-100 really help focus the arc and keep the puddle from wandering on stainless
- pulse is not required on most jobs but is a nice feature that can make the job easier
( As always, feel free to visit us at our sister site, WeldingTipsAndTricks.com. )
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March 8, 2016 at 5:34 PM
J’estime tant le sexe que j’aimerai tant être aux côtés de ces filles. Très bon post que vous proposez. Merci
September 24, 2014 at 9:28 PM
Je voudrai vous dire que ϲ’еst toujours du plaisir de vous lire
September 1, 2014 at 7:13 AM
Everything is very open with a clear explanation of the challenges.
It was truly informative. Your website is very helpful. Many thanks for
sharing!
August 22, 2014 at 9:42 AM
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January 20, 2014 at 8:08 PM
Very informative video! Great info, good plugs, and sheesh an unexpected ending. I won’t spoil it for others, but what a test of strength on the welds!
June 11, 2013 at 9:20 PM
Jody, Thanx for all your videos,Ive been tig welding for about 10 yrs. but I need to improve my tubing welding. Im currently practicing on 1″x.065 mild steel tubing that I fish mouth cut with a hole saw and weld back together just like youre doing with the bike frame.
But I have a Lincoln square wave 175 tig, with no pulse settings. Im trying to weld the pieces together by putting most of the heat towards the solid uncut piece so as to NOT melt a hole in the cut piece. Can you give me any advice on best angles of heat? Ive tried occilating while using constant rod feed (like when you walk the cup) My rod feed hand tends to shake a bit and that makes for a crappy looking weld.
P.S. I bought 3 tig fingers, They work great!
March 18, 2013 at 7:34 PM
“WELD-MOLD” rod,…! nice !!! more info jodie !…
February 14, 2013 at 2:22 PM
I got to really put the TIG finger to use recently- thank you! It worked great: no more red blistered fingers for me.
February 8, 2013 at 2:17 PM
Jody, I’ve been watching your video’s closely to pick up all the tricks I can. Thanks for the video’s and great job! I’ve been weekend tig welding for over a year now and recently went to the Lincoln school for the week course. I own the Lincoln 225. I have a couple of questions. I’m getting pretty good at aluminum but when I use the 2% Thoriated it blows the tip off the tungsten. In school it didn’t, at home it does. I now use 2% lanthenated and it works fine and balls on the end good. I’m sure my tungstens are different brand than at school. Tried your little trick with turning the penetration up and another trick of using AC on steel first with an arc to get the ball, but when I start welding, the tip blows (3/32). I’m welding .040-.060 6061T6. Should I get a Lincoln tungsten?? Second question, how do I set 33% on my Lincoln 225? All I have is a pulse knob with no numbers.
Thanks and keep the video’s coming, I’m learning a lot from the little discrete things I see you do.
Charlie
February 8, 2013 at 2:00 PM
Jody, I watch your video’s closely all the time to pick up any little trick. Great job! I’ve been weekend tig
February 8, 2013 at 9:24 AM
You’re so right Jody, I look at welds on things all the time and the welds on these $100 bikes are really good. Thanks for the video, very helpful for me because I’ve been practicing on tubing for a while and every bit of instruction I get is making my welds better.
Thanks for taking the time for doing these videos, I know how time consuming they are and just want you to know that I’m very appreciative, they’ve helped me a lot!
Take care,
Joseph