Make your own Max

[Curt Goodrich]

Back in the late '90's one of my employers was enamored with max tubing but wanted to use lighter stuff. Subsequently my job was to squish a lot of tubes. I used the same technique as shown here-
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5010/...6819503b_z.jpg
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5003/...49c8b5c6_z.jpg
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http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5246/...7112be8d_z.jpg

Put this technique in your back pocket even if you have no intention on doing squished tubes. It may come in handy some day. If you think this is crude, it's not much different than the way tube manufacturers squish tubes.

[Dave Kirk]

Very good.

At Serotta we made 100's of Ti-max mtbs that same way.......... one vice squish at a time.

Dave

[anon.]

That's my hand up there; props must be dispensed to Mark Bulgier from the Framebuilders-List for going to the trouble to type out the method - I just tried it out and took some photos. My only input is to be really careful to make sure the tube stays parallel to the L-channel when you're squishing and find the sweet spot between the two plates to make sure there's equal pressure on the top and bottom, otherwise you get funny looking ovals.

[Brian Smith]

Very good.

At Serotta we made 100's of Ti-max mtbs that same way.......... one vice squish at a time.

Dave

It probably was the same when Dave was there, but presently there is a hydraulic ram/die setup with repeatable stops and experienced folks doing the task. It's not a risky trial and error situation that one might encounter at home with their own vice and determination...

[Digeridoo]

You can do it by eye, but nothing beats a die .... and a big-ass press :-)