Comments on: Framebuilding Kits

By: Alex Wetmore

Alex Wetmore — Sat, 14 May 2011 23:51:10 +0000

Theo: If you have access to a bandsaw or milling machine then the metric Bosch 40 profiles could be used. You”d need the bandsaw or milling machine to cut up a section of 40×120mm profile to make the V-block. I use 15 series profiles (1.5″) and they are 2mm smaller but all of the hardware is compatible between those two profiles and the slot widths are the same.

I know that an Australian builder who is interested in the jig checked and they are able to get the SAE dimensioned extrusions from 80/20 in their country. You might also check into that.

I”d personally prefer to do it all with metric sizes, but it is a lot easier to get SAE-sized 8020 in the US.

By: Alex Wetmore

Alex Wetmore — Sat, 14 May 2011 23:48:12 +0000

You can subscribe using an RSS reader, just like most blogs. I don”t think there is an option to have an email for each post though.

By: Theo

Theo — Sat, 14 May 2011 19:11:35 +0000

Alex, great idea to sell the kit with just the unique parts. As I live in Germany where I could get the profiles from different sources than 80/20, what dimension should the profiles have?
If this will match profiles available here, would you sell and ship also to Europe?

Greetings,
Theo

By: Sam Joslin

Sam Joslin — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:21:18 +0000

Always enjoy visiting your site. But every time I do, I”m reminded that I”ve missed several stories. Is there a way to subscribe to your site so I get email notifications of your latest articles?

By: ERIC ERICKSON

ERIC ERICKSON — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 23:37:52 +0000

Hi Alex,

I”m very excited about your for fork jig. I vote for the kit version to keep costs down. Thanks for offering help to new framebuilders

By: Dan Boxer

Dan Boxer — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 04:54:06 +0000

Having just built three forks on one of Alex’’s jigs last week, I must tell you it’’s a fine tool.

Easy to load, and un-load, with the fork parts during assembly. My build process requires a lot of this parts in parts out business, so anything that makes this easier is welcome. My other fork jig takes a bit more time to load and un-load, so it just seems to draw out the tedious parts of the process.

Kudos to Alex for a smart design at a very nice price!

By: Brent

Brent — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 01:37:51 +0000

Alex,

I”d probably be interested in the “unique” parts, too. I”ve got most of the 80/20 pieces lying around (I shopped using the list you published earlier), and even bought a dummy axle from Anvil, but I haven”t gotten around to finishing it off. Your offer dovetails perfectly with where I left mine off. Keep us informed of availability.

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 21:21:26 +0000

Hi Alex

Yes I think offering the parts + plans makes sense. I”ve slowly been building an interest in frame building and one of the “barriers to entry” was the jigs so this would really hit the mark. I”m also outside of the US so anything that cuts down freight costs is a win.

By: Ihab Awad

Ihab Awad — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:59:07 +0000

Alex, this is great work. And yes, by all means, offer only the unique parts. As you say, you save yourself operational costs: you cannot and will not beat McMaster-Carr at their game, ever. But also, by focusing on the diversity of your “parts catalog”, you free yourself up to offer the parts in an _a la carte_ fashion, for folks who may want to use them for stuff you didn”t think about (like a jig specifically for a particular whacky cargo bike they invented, or whatever). This is very good work; best of luck!