Droplets of paint are flying...

With frames / forks / bitty parts all fabbed and prepped, it's time to start throwing paint.  Many of the bikes for the show require multiple layers of masking so I began cutting them out today on the plotter. 

Here's a page full of Hibiscus flowers for the Dirt Road bike...gonna have a Hawaiin theme

Once I've got the graphics layed out in the software program, I send the info to the plotter to cut it out...

Much like a printer, the carriage moves left/right and up/down using a micro knife to cut the multi layer mask based on the speed, pressure, radius info, etc... that is set for each graphic

Peeling back the vinyl, you can see the final mask.  I'll use both the outline and the negative for this finish.

With the masking cut, it's time to start getting the work into the paint booth...

and finally, a bake box full of primered fun...

and a potporri of ti fiddly bits for Chads bike...

See y'all next round :)

rody

An update for Scott K...

Honestly, I love hearing from y'all that you miss the blog updates, so this one is for Scotty who threatened to take me off his favorites list until the show is over since I've not had time to update in a while.  So, at 1230 am to appease my customers, here's some random shots from over the last week...

Titanium Joe sent me a care package with a variety of fun tubing for bikes, stems, and seatposts... Chad, your bike is in there, you just have to squint and tilt your head to the side a bit to see it.

Some beautiful pieces crafted by Cody at Woodies fenders landed for the dirt road drop bar bike, so smooth and shiny ;)

I began paint on Steve's cruiser, working on getting it through the blast cabinet and laying out the graphics for the plotter...

The rest of the frames standing by for their turn through the paint booth.  The little slips of paper stuck in the seat tubes are my personal notes on items that need finished for each frame.

Kalten spent a long day in the shop (for him) on Sunday, and helped me prep for Luv handles so that once I get back, I'll have a head start on the March deliveries...

Every night, it's dark and a bit dreary when I leave, but this ice was quite refreshing and I couldn't resist a pic

What most foks don't realize is that this last two months have been more than stressful.  In addition to all the regular responsibilities, we are prepping our house for sale and looking at locations that can hold both our home and Groovy on the same property, as my contract for the current location is being broken at the end of this year.  Hopefully, this will be the final move for the shop and an upgrade for our family.  Fingers crossed. 

I got home last night in time to kiss Em goodnight, as she and Frankie were sleeping on the couch while her bedroom is being packaged up in preparation for the move.  Snuggled in tight under a fun scrap quilt made by Christi...

So there ya go folks, a quick look at the last week.  I'll try to get up some paint process pics in the next few days.  Hope to see some of you in Richmond!

rody

Nahbs prep, full steam ahead...

I've not had much of a web presence of late, as I've been hitting it hard in the shop trying to get a mass of stuff ready for the Big Show in Richmond at the end of the month.

If all goes well, I'll be showing up with four rolling bikes;

- a dirt road bike for country cruising with a belt drive Rohloff drive train
- a 29er race bike with a 2x9 set up
- the retro cruiser
- a ti road bike blinged out with King and Dura Ace goodies

Hopefully, I'll also have a raw, in progress frame mounted on my new fixture as a conversation piece as well.

Add to that a bunch of bars, a fork or two, and if all the planets align and I don't sleep this last two weeks, a new Ti seatpost too.

I'm loading up some pics of some of the activity the last week, random comments...

materials for the dirt road belt drive...the Big tube is for the Eccentric BB

Front triangle together, working on the the booty-liscious rear...

No water in the shop this winter so I'm taking the flux off with some 60/40 grit aluminum oxide, not my preferred way, but necessary right now...

Getting ready to cut into the frame to add the gated passage for the belt...deep breath and steady hand :)

No turning back now...

I fabbed up a gate style piece for this one...the center section is removable to allow the belt to pass through without putting any bending or spreading stress on the stays.  A bit more work, but I feel it will lend to the durability of the frame over the long haul...

Working on the custom drop bar stem.  This piece will get the bars up nicely while still leaving the standover the customer desires...

Mocking it up with some fatty tires.  I hit the cockpit dimensions spot on, nice when something goes well ;)

Still have the mounts to add for the custom fenders...you gonna like!

Three show bikes and a sponsored frame for the 2010 season, all getting ready to go to paint.

Updates and email will be spotty this last two weeks but I'll try to keep up,

cheers,

rody

Shiny new Yo for Doug...

Howdy folks,

Today I finished up the last of the work I wanted to get done before beginning to fabricate customer bikes for the NAHBS...only two weeks behind where I wanted to be, figures.

On center stage today was Doug's Yo Eddy resto final prep.

Doug had requested a Yo fork and a custom stem for his recently acquired frame.  After discussing the vintage of his frame, we were able to discern the required dimension for the fork and off I went.  I waved my magic wand and out of the metal shavings, dust, and some dramatic Tapcon smoke came a 1" segmented fork and oval bodied aheadset stem...Presto!

So taken with the illusion that transpired before his eyes (ok, email), before I knew it, we were stripping his dandy blue frame and spraying the whole shebang up in a Grello-esque neon powder, twice.  Yep, I said twice, let me share with ya a bit.

I typically will use a TGIC polyester powder as it has the best blend of flow, coverage, and UV resistance.  Unfortunately, these spanky neon colors only come in urethane blends.  Lacking some of the traits I like in TGIC polys, Urethanes are well formulated for tubular applications as they flow really well, wrapping around the tube quite smoothly.  Therein too lies the problem, they will flow right off of sharp edges like cable guides, leaving only a whisper of color behind.  So, in an effort to insure complete coverage, the frame got a second trip under the magic wand of dustage.  Bummer, too heavy around the seat cluster, got a sag.  Unhappy with the results, I decided to strip it and start all over.  I wish powder came off as easily as it goes on :(

Second round, a heavier primer layer and shorter cure time for the color helped keep everything where I wanted it.  Some quick reaming/facing/tapping and on go the decals for the finishing touch.  Watch my hands, nothing in my hat, and...Wha-la!

'aint the magic of the internet grand? 

Thanks for your attention, you've been a gracious audience.

rody

Shimano Direct Mount FD...fabrication

Yep, I know it's been too long since the last post...you can hold my eyebrows in protest if ya like ;) 

I've been working away at finishing some final work before I can start on customer projects for the show.  Most of it has been fairly mundane work, hardly worthy of presenting and capturing your attention with, but I did snap a sequence of shots for one special project.

Today, I thought I'd share with you the Shimano Direct Mount Front Derailleur and what it takes to fabricate the necessary mount for the frame to utilize it.

The redesigned front derailleur is a boon for folks who like to run big wheels with short chainstays, odd shaped seat tube configurations, or desire the ability to creatively place a derailleur regardless of seat tube size or shape.  It can be used in a bottom or top pull configuration, mounts directly to a fabricated plate the framebuilder creates, and reduces the clamp and much of the garbage that extends towards the rear of the piece that reduces tire clearance and collects mud.

The interface on the rear of the derailleur is comprised of a flat plate with a projected ridge and a M6 slotted hole to allow up to 5mm of vertical adjustment.  The projected ridge allows the derailleur a secure interface to prevent from rotating on the frame mount.

To machine a mount, Shimano provides a tech document with most of the desired dimensions, though I found that I needed to modify a few for better performance and aesthetics.

To get started, I cut down a piece of stock 1/2" x 4" steel into two pieces that will eventually become four mounts.  I then face milled all the pieces to insure clean, square dimensions to begin working from.  Once machined to my desired starting dimensions, I grabbed the edge finder to establish a known reference point.

Next up, I positioned the mill to cut the support slot for the derailleur over the vertical length of the mount.

Multiple passes and a little patience helped me achieve the final depth necessary...nice and clean with a .01" tolerance.

After cutting the slot, I cut the two pieces into four and milled to the final dimensions. 

I then repositioned the pieces in the mill, reestablished my origin point, and found the center of the M6 bolt hole.  Creating the hole is a three step process; using a center drill to start, an undersized hardened drill bit follows, then machine tap the hole for the anchor bolt.

Tapping in the mill is a nice process and can be done easily with some care and due attention.

Once the holes were all created, some quick math helped me determine the center of bottom bracket to outside face dimension necessary for the bottom bracket witdth I was using.  I then determined where on the seat tube the mount would need to sit for proper alignment.  Armed with this knowledge, I was able to mill the back side to the appropriate depth and position.

The finished piece...

Holding it in place on the derailleur, you can see how the two pieces fit and the vertical adjustment that is possible.

Should make for a clean, custom touch on geary bikes.  A bit more time on this end to do it right, but well worth it for the benefits.

cheers,

rody

Black and white Bonty Dart for James

Here ya go James, your black to white Dart stem for the dropbar Bonty...

I moved a bunch of pieces through paint today...still have one final coat of clear to shoot, will let it sit over the weekend, then shipping them all off on Monday.

Glad to be off the throne and in the paint booth ;)

rody