I've been around a lot of frame shops. Some were heavily stocked with machines. Some had virtually no machines. And plenty of shops were somewhere between these two extremes. What all of these shops had in common is they all had some simple tools. You know the ones the builder made out of whatever materials were around at the time. These are the types of tools that sit under the bench and are pulled out for a certain task and then put away. They usually aren't pretty and often are specific to the techniques of the individual builder. Simple tools that make the job of the builder just a little easier and/or the job more repeatable and accurate. What I envision is this thread would be a repository of pictures of these simple tools. Think of it as a lending library. Feel free to copy it but give something back in the form of pictures of your own simple tools. Everybody's got them. Noobs to old crusty pros. This is the framebuilder's forum so let's treat it as more than a place to court customers. I dig the smoked out and Friday night lights but lately it's been feeling like the only reason folks are showing up is to post pictures of what they did during the week. If that happens too much this place will get stinky. Before some of you decide to hold back remember everyone of us got where we are by and through the help of someone. Also, nobody here is doing anything that hasn't already been done. We're just making bikes. Okay enough of that. I'll start. For those of you new to bikes, that little thing on the head tube is a pump peg. The simple tool holds the peg the perfect distance away from the top tube so the pump will be parallel to the top tube. Quick, easy, and repeatable.
Thanks Curt, great idea. I haven't made a tool which didn't need improvement. This is where I am with my front changer jig. I'd like to see other takes on this one.
"It's better to not know so much than to know so many things that ain't so." -- Josh Billings, 1885
A man with any character at all must have enemies and places he is not welcome—in the end we are not only defined by our friends, but also those aligned against us.
I'll play, the first is my favorite. I use it to miter the DO end of stays for Breeze DO's (steel only). Set up time is zero and time per stay is about 5 seconds.
The second one Dave Kirk taught me. I don't use it for everything but I use for anything I don't happen to have a complex, slow, costly and heavy tool to do it with.
I have one more up my sleeve but I'll save it for later.
This one wasn't my idea, I saw it in someone's NAHBS 2009 photo group. It looked like an intersting idea...if a bit "contraptiony". So, I made one as a gift and the dang thing works so well I made another for me. It sets up super fast and easily adjusts to any tube- I especially like it to hold the seatpost boss in place while I attach the seatstays- that way it's in position and ready to be brazed while everything is still hot.
made from what ever is in the scrape material box
1 hour on the lathe
viola
a couple of stands
a piece of 10 x 3 flat bar
heat, bend, file, presto a braze finger
works with stainless braze ons and stainless tubes
Last edited by Dazza; 05-07-2010 at 07:14 PM.
Reason: SU304 applicable
Cheers Dazza The rock star is dying. And it's a small tragedy. Rock stars have blogs now. I have no use for that kind of rock star.
Nick Cave
Tube denting tool and a shot of how I mitre my chainstays. I make sure that the dummy axle is level and then go after the tubes with a file and periodically check with a bottom bracket shell and level.
I'll go ahead and stick my newbie neck out there. Here are some shots of my super simple chainstay tacking fixture, including how I use it to set CS length and BB drop. If I am building with standard tubes I run it along the ST and DT. If building with OS I run it along the ST and TT. Thanks for the opportunity to take part in the frame builders forum!
Great thread Curt !
My ears perked up when you said "they usually aren't pretty". 'cause I got some of that! I suspect this will become a sticky in record time.
Here is my seatpost/bottom bracket tacking jig, Most of my bikes start here before they hit the jig, I've been in the habit of piercing the BB and this tool allows me to control the depth of insertion and hold the whole thing square at the same time for tacking. It's totally one of those tools that lives under the bench and gets pulled out for 5 minutes a bike.
Here's my seat stay cap jig, and below that my rear rack jig. The rear rack jig was made from scraps of 058 that telescope with the next size down.
BTW, that chipped orange frame is the one that you Martin and Kirk made for me just before match went under, all those years ago. Really enjoyed that bike. It's served as a test bed for several uh, "experiments".
Best to you.
i built one of those chain/angle/allthread holder downers, but it doesn't work that great. went at it too fast. will make another. i copied from a post by matt of signal.
my last "simple idea" worked like a soggy turd. (but it was an improvement) i made a note of it. keep 'em coming.
i built one of those chain/angle/allthread holder downers, but it doesn't work that great. went at it too fast. will make another. i copied from a post by matt of signal.
my last "simple idea" worked like a soggy turd. (but it was an improvement) i made a note of it. keep 'em coming.
more all-thread and clamps!!!
I do that a lot too wade, go fast and plan on improvements later, i'll learn someday.
For the record, the first place I saw the chain clamp brazeon widget was at this place; http://www.efficientvelo.com/ , His name is Brett Flemming, I had the opportunity to meet Brett and I can say he is a top rate fellow and a Class One Double A Widgeteer of the seventh order. check out his site, there is some cool stuff there.
Two of my favorite tools. One of them purges the little cavity on the inside of the non-drive Paragon dropout. The other is a heatsink and diffuser of sorts that keeps the inside of the hoods colorless and beautiful.
evt is neato. and matt did his t-shirt design. is there a connection? hmmm.
Brett's head is constantly swimming with ideas. Every once and a while he'll just drop something in our laps and let us play with it. I try to help him out with design stuff as much as I can, I designed his new logo and have done a few rounds of t-shirts for him. He's our local treasure.
I've got a bunch to share but here are the 3 I use everyday.
The first tool is used the mark fork blades for cutting to length while still factoring rake. Set the rake and then the length and mark for cutting. You can then use the same tool to be 100% sure you've made the two blades the same.
The next tool is for denting round chainstays for tire clearance. It's a fixed length and indexes the stay so the dent is in the right place fore/aft and so the dent is in the right place in rotation.
The last tool for today is a spring clip and wooden block I use to hold seat stays in place for taking. The wooden block and spring clip are used in opposition to one another so that the stays can be held snug to the seat lug while not having a load of pressure at the dropout. Slide them each up and down to balance pressure and you are good to go.
Next up is the super fancy canti boss jig. It's so complex it's hard to understand!
I've got a bunch to share but here are the 3 I use everyday.
The first tool is used the mark fork blades for cutting to length while still factoring rake. Set the rake and then the length and mark for cutting. You can then use the same tool to be 100% sure you've made the two blades the same.
The next tool is for denting round chainstays for tire clearance. It's a fixed length and indexes the stay so the dent is in the right place fore/aft and so the dent is in the right place in rotation.
The last tool for today is a spring clip and wooden block I use to hold seat stays in place for taking. The wooden block and spring clip are used in opposition to one another so that the stays can be held snug to the seat lug while not having a load of pressure at the dropout. Slide them each up and down to balance pressure and you are good to go.
Next up is the super fancy canti boss jig. It's so complex it's hard to understand!
Hey Dave, I still have a bunch of tools that you made including #3 above the stay combo which I use all the time. "Daves Dream Boat" still gets a lot of use too.
Likes: 
Simple tools
Reply With Quote
Re: Simple tools
Originally Posted by Archibald
Bookmarks