building a recumbent
- Thread starter young Ed
- Start date
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- Location
- Glasgow
I forecast disaster 
- Location
- Glasgow
Dunno what could go wrong, but I have a vivid imaginationyou haven't seen me with an arc welder!what could possibly go wrong (he said with a slight stutter)
Cheers Ed
Wait until the more experienced members give you advice before welding the welder
OP
OP
young Ed
Veteran
mickle
innit
- Location
- 53.933606, -1.076131
What ye making?
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Wish I could weld. I'd love to have a go at making something like a recumbent. (The lack of a workshop doesn't help either of course 
)
I shall follow this thread with interest.
)I shall follow this thread with interest.
Amanda P
Legendary Member
- Location
- York. Well, York-ish...
A bike made of 2.5 mm thick steel would be heavy, but as long as your joints are sound there's no reason you can't build a bike. You should make a joint and then cut it in half from time to time, and look at it really carefully to make sure you've penetrated sufficiently and that the bits you thought were welded really are.
Check out Atomic Zombie's books on building your own bikes of various designs from scrap frames etc. Mostly they suggest welding, as MIG welding is relatively easy to learn, and cheap to do once you own the machine. It's quite hard to make really neat welds in thin-walled round tubing, though - that's usually done in production with a TIG welding machine which is a new level of skill and expense.
If you want to build elegant machines from thinner-walled steel tubes, I'd suggest learning to braze. You'll need a small oxyacetylene rig for that, but the results are just as strong, much nicer to look at and you can build much lighter bikes.
And to answer your original question, no I haven't built a bike from scratch. But I've made substantial modifications to several which are still in one piece and haven't broken! And I make custom racks for recumbents and Moultons from time to time, all fillet brazed in mild or 4130 cro-moly steel.
Check out Atomic Zombie's books on building your own bikes of various designs from scrap frames etc. Mostly they suggest welding, as MIG welding is relatively easy to learn, and cheap to do once you own the machine. It's quite hard to make really neat welds in thin-walled round tubing, though - that's usually done in production with a TIG welding machine which is a new level of skill and expense.
If you want to build elegant machines from thinner-walled steel tubes, I'd suggest learning to braze. You'll need a small oxyacetylene rig for that, but the results are just as strong, much nicer to look at and you can build much lighter bikes.
And to answer your original question, no I haven't built a bike from scratch. But I've made substantial modifications to several which are still in one piece and haven't broken! And I make custom racks for recumbents and Moultons from time to time, all fillet brazed in mild or 4130 cro-moly steel.
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OP
OP
young Ed
Veteran
OP
OP
young Ed
Veteran
think i may do something like this
http://www.atomiczombie.com/Warrior Recumbent Tadpole Racing Trike.aspx
i have a mate with both a recumbent solo trike and a 2 wheel one behind the other new recumbent tandem so i hve those two to look at steering linkages etc on and take camber angles..... and i of course have YOU LOT!
Cheers Ed
OP
OP
young Ed
Veteran
thats why i said 2.5mm due to the huge gaping holes been there done that
Cheers Ed
lukesdad
Guest
OP
OP
young Ed
Veteran
thats where meta and money and time gets wasted and then you get impatient and then you give up on ever building a recumbent
i would rather have a heavy recumbent than no recumbent!
Cheers Ed
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