New bike part 2

Starting the front of the frame.

Trial holesawing.

For-real holesawing

Steerer bearinghole, 1 done, 1 to go.

Wheels from Michael Rogan

Progress to date, next steps marked out.

Hi, for a day or so, I have been working on the frame of my new trike, and am starting with the front end.  As mentioned last time when I was making some of the parts, I have discussed making one of the pieces by 3d printing with Spee3d, the makers of aluminium-spray metal printers. So that is underway, but it could take a while, so I am not holding my breath for it, and am making a compatible piece by old-school methods.

Making a suitable drawing was the first step, then came drilling with hole saws.  I have a big, single-phase drill with an electonic variable-speed drive, which dials down to the low speeds needed, and that helps a lot. But I'm being cautious even so, and have tried all the holesaws on scrap aluminium before jumping in on the workpiece.  Head tube holes were made undersize and filed out 1 or 2mm all around, and I'm happy with the results. So a bit more sawing and filing to go.

This part is about 240mm long and the previous equivalent is 440mm so that is quite a reduction, but it will put more forces on the frame join, cross fingers it all works.

Some 349 wheels arrived from Michael Rogan at MR components trikes today, and unlike previous wheels which needed bearing replacement, these ones come with the right bearings and are very neat with the spoking on the inside of the hubs.  That saves me a bit of work, thanks Michael! More here.