Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Art Deco Road Bike...
Road bike builds are suppose to be quick and easy...no crazy geometry, easily fit tires, no crazy bending or fabrication. So why do I make it so complicated by creating tiny masks and multiple colors for paint? I guess I can't help myself.
I've wanted to use this color pallate on a titanium road bike but just have not had the right customer yet, so I adapted it a bit for this steel road frame. Two colors that look so good together are deep red and pearl white, but you have to be so careful, as the red likes to bleed and even the smallest imperfection shows up like a hairy mole on your nose. Add in a majority base of porcelain green, and you have a cool art deco color scheme that actually looks pretty sharp.
To go with the theme, I created some masks to dress up the frame a bit...
With the masks all designed, cut and weeded, it's time to get into the booth. Sparing you the boring details of preparation and primer, we fast forward to a base layer of pearlized white...
After flashing it off in the bake box for 15 minutes, the paint is dry enough that I can begin to mask off the areas that are going to remain pearl white; the rear end, Groovy logos and bands, and the customer name. Blue fine line tape, 3M green mask tape, and some spray mask paper are all in place...ready for the next color.
The masks are quickly hit with pearl white to seal the edges and prevent the next color from sneaking under the edges. Porcelain Green is then loaded in the gun and sprayed for the main triangle color...
Before flashing off, I remove the majority of the masking to expose the surface for the next color, then it's through the bake box and then onto the deep Red...
Pulling off masking, setting up more, and covering it all up again...paint jobs like this take time...now to set up for the black accent details to give the tubes some pizazz.
Ok, I think that's all the little details and all four colors, so let's unwrap it all and see what she looks like...do you have an idea based on the steps so far? This is the fun part, visualizing it in your head and then seeing it materialize step by step. Cool.
After a gentle rub down with a tack cloth to break the masking edges, it's ready for a little clear...
I like how it came out, can't wait to see it built.
rody
I've wanted to use this color pallate on a titanium road bike but just have not had the right customer yet, so I adapted it a bit for this steel road frame. Two colors that look so good together are deep red and pearl white, but you have to be so careful, as the red likes to bleed and even the smallest imperfection shows up like a hairy mole on your nose. Add in a majority base of porcelain green, and you have a cool art deco color scheme that actually looks pretty sharp.
To go with the theme, I created some masks to dress up the frame a bit...
I about went crosseyed with the small details of drawing in Illustrator and weeding...
With the masks all designed, cut and weeded, it's time to get into the booth. Sparing you the boring details of preparation and primer, we fast forward to a base layer of pearlized white...
After flashing it off in the bake box for 15 minutes, the paint is dry enough that I can begin to mask off the areas that are going to remain pearl white; the rear end, Groovy logos and bands, and the customer name. Blue fine line tape, 3M green mask tape, and some spray mask paper are all in place...ready for the next color.
The masks are quickly hit with pearl white to seal the edges and prevent the next color from sneaking under the edges. Porcelain Green is then loaded in the gun and sprayed for the main triangle color...
Before flashing off, I remove the majority of the masking to expose the surface for the next color, then it's through the bake box and then onto the deep Red...
Pulling off masking, setting up more, and covering it all up again...paint jobs like this take time...now to set up for the black accent details to give the tubes some pizazz.
Ok, I think that's all the little details and all four colors, so let's unwrap it all and see what she looks like...do you have an idea based on the steps so far? This is the fun part, visualizing it in your head and then seeing it materialize step by step. Cool.
After a gentle rub down with a tack cloth to break the masking edges, it's ready for a little clear...
I like how it came out, can't wait to see it built.
rody
Sunday, October 20, 2013
NAHBS on the horizon...
It's beginning to be that time of year, as the temps drop and the last of the leaves spiral from the trees in the cool season's rain, when we dream of next years rides that take us beyond mear physical exercise, but into a calm place where ...our minds and bodies celebrate the joy that is the relationship between our souls and machine. Want to get a glimpse of the handmade art that will carry you there? Join me in Charlotte for NAHBS...
www.handmadebicycleshow.com
www.handmadebicycleshow.com
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Vintage Grove Innovations pics...
I've been sick the last two days and have not had much motivation or ability to get off the couch, so I've been trying to stay sane by sorting through some old stuff. I found a cache of old photos from the early 90's that included a few shop photos from around Grove Innovations headquarters and thought I'd share.
The Centre Hall Shop sat just to the left of Hubby's house, the original sign was rescued last year from a pile of junk in the back of the building and is now safe and sound if a little faded.
A look down the machine row toward the front roll up door. The frames hanging above varied from protos, to broken frames, to cast offs from sponsored racers. If you look close, you can see a few AL X frames that never made it to production.
Material came in at the front and was processed through the cold saw...this shop used a LOT of Dillsburg 4130, manufactured by Patco during this time period. Most the Ti came from Ancotech and Aermet from Carpenter Technologies.
Fixtures hang on the back of the work benches, waiting for the next production run. The table in the foreground was used primarily for lay out work. Ironically, I still use that Timbuktu bag today...
Ti frames hang on the outside office wall waiting for a new home. Above the office, crammed between the office ceiling and roof line was a small space with a drafting table for frame design, climbing the ladder up there was a pain in the arse and the paper drawings always got crushed trying to climb back down.
Bill didn't want me ever sharing this picture, but enough time has elapsed I don't think he'd care. This is the original fixture he built when he began making frames in his basement in Pleasant Gap in 1982.
A shot of the fixture for building Ti and AL racing wheelchairs...these were raced by the Japanese Olympic team.
A Ti frame and a Ti mono-ski base just sprayed in House of Kolor purple to raw ti fade.
A candy blue mono-ski sits awaiting packaging to go to a new home. These were insanely popular with disabled athletes until Grove Innovations had to close it's doors due to a frivolous suit from a skier in California who had skied out of bounds and went off a 40' cliff. Obviously, it was the ski's fault he got hurt. The guy received death threats from other disabled skiers for years following the loss of this product in the disabled community.
GI did a LOT of work for other companies, often prototyping new frames and products. These were proto frames for Royce Union USA which later could be found in sports department stores across the country. Another staple that came around monthly were the production of rebar nuclear waste paddles for the US government. Not sexy work, but paid well.
One of the last hand cycles, this one still hangs in Bill's basement. I've tried to pry it from his hands to send it out to Steve Garro so he can enjoy some of the pavement in his area again. No success yet, but I'm determined :)
Where my fascination with machines began...
A ti road frame painted in candy red over pure gold. This one went to one of my best friends, Herb Winters. Herb rode this til he passed, it now resides with his son.
Pics of the crew...
A nice walk down memory lane, hope y'all enjoyed it too.
The Centre Hall Shop sat just to the left of Hubby's house, the original sign was rescued last year from a pile of junk in the back of the building and is now safe and sound if a little faded.
A look down the machine row toward the front roll up door. The frames hanging above varied from protos, to broken frames, to cast offs from sponsored racers. If you look close, you can see a few AL X frames that never made it to production.
Material came in at the front and was processed through the cold saw...this shop used a LOT of Dillsburg 4130, manufactured by Patco during this time period. Most the Ti came from Ancotech and Aermet from Carpenter Technologies.
Fixtures hang on the back of the work benches, waiting for the next production run. The table in the foreground was used primarily for lay out work. Ironically, I still use that Timbuktu bag today...
Ti frames hang on the outside office wall waiting for a new home. Above the office, crammed between the office ceiling and roof line was a small space with a drafting table for frame design, climbing the ladder up there was a pain in the arse and the paper drawings always got crushed trying to climb back down.
Bill didn't want me ever sharing this picture, but enough time has elapsed I don't think he'd care. This is the original fixture he built when he began making frames in his basement in Pleasant Gap in 1982.
A shot of the fixture for building Ti and AL racing wheelchairs...these were raced by the Japanese Olympic team.
A Ti frame and a Ti mono-ski base just sprayed in House of Kolor purple to raw ti fade.
A candy blue mono-ski sits awaiting packaging to go to a new home. These were insanely popular with disabled athletes until Grove Innovations had to close it's doors due to a frivolous suit from a skier in California who had skied out of bounds and went off a 40' cliff. Obviously, it was the ski's fault he got hurt. The guy received death threats from other disabled skiers for years following the loss of this product in the disabled community.
GI did a LOT of work for other companies, often prototyping new frames and products. These were proto frames for Royce Union USA which later could be found in sports department stores across the country. Another staple that came around monthly were the production of rebar nuclear waste paddles for the US government. Not sexy work, but paid well.
One of the last hand cycles, this one still hangs in Bill's basement. I've tried to pry it from his hands to send it out to Steve Garro so he can enjoy some of the pavement in his area again. No success yet, but I'm determined :)
Where my fascination with machines began...
A ti road frame painted in candy red over pure gold. This one went to one of my best friends, Herb Winters. Herb rode this til he passed, it now resides with his son.
Pics of the crew...
A nice walk down memory lane, hope y'all enjoyed it too.
2013 Octoberfest weekend
The final race weekend was a BUSY two days, with the IMBA take a kid mountain biking day and kids races, the OIRL State Championship race, Short Track Racing, Pig Roast with music supplied by Adam and the Aunt Acids, 35' bon fire, camping, and the XC races Sunday Morning...whew!
I'm just gonna hit you with the pics and be done :)
The main cabin welcomed all our festival attendees...
The bon fire Saturday night could be seen from the International Space Station, eclisping the 35' trees adjacent to it...
The pot luck dinner and Blazing Saddles pig roast were a hit, so much so that the 80lb pig was gone before I could finally make it through the tent. I did get to nibble on some great sides courtesey of Aaron Ruggles of the Bistro on Main...
Adam and the Aunt Acids rocked the patio for over 3 hours, playing an ecletic mix of music that kept folks dancing and rocking into the wee hours of the night...
So many folks camped, it was like being back at the old 24 hour races. Kalten and Zach neglected to put up a tent and ended up hitting the hammocks...
A big thanks to Lisa Costello for her artistic decoration on the cake she brought, it was devoured!
The XC race took place on a modified 3.8 mile course that turned out to be very tough at race pace...
Congrates to all our racing participants, it's been a great season...
I'm just gonna hit you with the pics and be done :)
The main cabin welcomed all our festival attendees...
The bon fire Saturday night could be seen from the International Space Station, eclisping the 35' trees adjacent to it...
Unfortunately, the 200 racer challenge fell well short on Sunday, with only 115 showing up. I had asked that folks vote with their participation, so for me, that means cutting back for 2014 and focusing more time in the shop. Thanks for the good times, the last 7 years supporting grass roots racing has been a hoot.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Friday, October 4, 2013
So ya wanna learn to build frames?
Want an intensive introduction to crafting a handmade frame that focus's on personal attention, you gotta take a look at the Metal Guru classes being offered by Carl Schlemowitz. Carl's approach limits participants (two per class), allowin...g for personalized instruction and guidance. Carl's skill set also enables him to take a student completely through the entire process, from raw fabrication to finished paint. Throw in an A-list of guest instructors like Frank the Welder, Drew of Engin, and Stephen from Bilenky Cycles and you've got a winning formula. Please take some time to check out the site and support a guy that continues to give back to our community...
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