Hello all...I joined this morning for whats probably the usual reason....my mig packed up yesterday...wire feed...and I was looking for some advice...but a good poke about inside sorted it, so I'm happy! A brief bit about me....I've been involved in various types of fabrication work since accidentally getting a summer job with a race car co. in 1973...designed and built more car chassis and m'cycle frames than I care to think about....happy to chat about that...now mainly involved with steel sculpture...less work...more money!!
- Thread starter rja52
- Start date
whycanismellburning
mr booombastic
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- 317
Welcome chap.!
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Drains
Yeah, nah.
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- Sefton, South Island, NZ
Hi rja! Welcome.
Question for you - best way to weld up a motorbike frame. Gas, tig, mig, arc?
The reason I ask, a mate, who owns the Indian motorcycle name, has been having trouble with the suppliers doing his frames - too much distortion, so he's asked me for advice, and I'm asking you.
I've started the q's with the weld method, but after that - jigging, keeping the heat down, etc etc?
Anything you can advise?
Si
btw, nice sculpture. How did you get into that? Do you do public art, or just private commissions?
Question for you - best way to weld up a motorbike frame. Gas, tig, mig, arc?
The reason I ask, a mate, who owns the Indian motorcycle name, has been having trouble with the suppliers doing his frames - too much distortion, so he's asked me for advice, and I'm asking you.
I've started the q's with the weld method, but after that - jigging, keeping the heat down, etc etc?
Anything you can advise?
Si
btw, nice sculpture. How did you get into that? Do you do public art, or just private commissions?
Bike frames and sculptures...
I don't design the sculptures...I just make them for the artist...public pieces mainly...the pic is of a bid for a commision...full size one here....not by me though....not tall enough!
As for bike frames I'd certainly either mig it if its steel or tig it if ally....the only jig I've ever used is no more than an rsj with fittings for the headstock and swingarm pivot...the rest I'd do freehand...after all thats all that really matters on a custom frame...things like engine mounts etc come afterwards. But an Indian frame is a bit out of my experience....my impression is that it consists of a lot of seperate castings joined by tubing...and would originally have been bronze welded...is that what we're talking about?
As for distortion...its much more critical in tube chassis for racing/kit cars....there is a lot more that has to be right....the jig for those is there to keep everything in place not to stop it distorting...for me the key is to avoid having any gaps to fill...and to weld in a carefully thought out sequence...which either means 2 people or a lot of rushing from side to side!
At a guess I've built somewhere in the region of 2 or 300 chassis and to be honest there is a certain amount of distortion in all of them...at least you can minimise its effects by adding the suspension mountings last...the real test of accuracy is how the corner weights come out...and generally you get there OK!
I don't design the sculptures...I just make them for the artist...public pieces mainly...the pic is of a bid for a commision...full size one here....not by me though....not tall enough!
As for bike frames I'd certainly either mig it if its steel or tig it if ally....the only jig I've ever used is no more than an rsj with fittings for the headstock and swingarm pivot...the rest I'd do freehand...after all thats all that really matters on a custom frame...things like engine mounts etc come afterwards. But an Indian frame is a bit out of my experience....my impression is that it consists of a lot of seperate castings joined by tubing...and would originally have been bronze welded...is that what we're talking about?
As for distortion...its much more critical in tube chassis for racing/kit cars....there is a lot more that has to be right....the jig for those is there to keep everything in place not to stop it distorting...for me the key is to avoid having any gaps to fill...and to weld in a carefully thought out sequence...which either means 2 people or a lot of rushing from side to side!
At a guess I've built somewhere in the region of 2 or 300 chassis and to be honest there is a certain amount of distortion in all of them...at least you can minimise its effects by adding the suspension mountings last...the real test of accuracy is how the corner weights come out...and generally you get there OK!
