All day Sunday finish off...

Today was a good day...finished off Jay's fabrication, had Emmy in the shop for the day, and got home before 2200 hours for a change :)

So, let's rewind to the early morning...I started the day with Jay's seat stays. I wanted to do these first thing in the morning while I was fresh, so I could focus and not screw up. Well, the best laid plans... I was moving smoothly and decided to miter the stays off of an eyeball guesstamit; missed it by that much (finger and thumb really close together). I was about 2 degrees off of the bottom miter, or about 1/16th of an inch. Darn! That'll teach me to get too cocky. Even though I could easily close that gap, Jay's bike has been moving along so well it deserved a spot on pair of stays. Besides, there will be a smaller frame sometime in the future, so they won't go to waste :)

Some bendy stays...kinda reminds me of the old western cowboys legs from the cartoons.

The rear end minus the brace all welded together, with plenty of room for cross tires up to a 2.3", she looks sexy, no?

After the rear end was done, it was time to start putting on the braze-ons...a run of tabs for the rear disc brake line and the pinch bolts for the eccentric bottom bracket. Emmy helped out as photographer...

Now the frame is soaking for a bit in a hot bath of water to rid herself of all the flux. Tomorrow I'll slot the bottom, run the frame through the blaster, and get going on the paint.

One thing I really enjoy is when customers send in pics of them having fun on products I've made. The enjoyment they have out on the road or trail fuels me in the shop. You'll never be a millionaire as a builder, but the rewards are priceless. Here's a shot of Jim's Bigwheel on top of a 4000' single speed climb, oh yeah!

Finally, Em had control of the camera so she added an artistic shot...anyone guess what this is?

Til tomorrow,

rody