How to build a bicycle frame - welding jig special part 2

Hey guys, sorry for the long wait.
As you might have read, I had a pretty nasty case of the virus attacks - basically ruined most the of the files - had to recover the hard drive, and that took 3 tries and about 2 weeks. Backing up your files really does help :).
But enough about that, lets get started with the heavy duty frame jig plans :)

Aluminium bicycle frame welding jig - heavy duty


This welding jig is made out of 1 type of material - 6063-t6/t82 aluminium. High strength and adequate weight made it a good choice.
Since i did not have the tools to cut it, i had it cut at a local metal shop, which cost me around 175 bucks, with material. The lathe cut details ran me an another 110 bucks. Add about 25 bucks for all kinds of threading taps and bolts and you've got yourself a mean bicycle frame welding jig!
The weight came in at around 40 pounds. Heavy, but good for the welder and good for me - stiff jig means a straight and true frame.

You can find the cutting files and drawings here - www.grabcad.com/library/bicycle-frame-welding-jig-now-with-more-free-frame-models - make sure you use the latest revision, since the earlier one was missing some parts for some reason.
If you have any issues opening the files, give me a shout and i'll tr to give you a file that works for you. Most metalworking shops should be able to cut the parts using the DXF file in the package.

How to put it all together? 


Compared to the MDF welding jig, this is very straight forward -
* get the parts cut/CNC'd
* get some hand taps that work with theholes specified
* clean, tap the holes
* bolt it all together
* marvel at your skill
* start making frames

Questions, problems, notes etc


Since this jig was designed in the metric system, i would suggest migrating to it aswell. If it is not an option, just use a metric-to-inch thread conversion table and select those which match the metric ones best.

The materials i used are also metric standard, so a 10mm material can be substituted for either a 0.40 thickness material(10.16mm) etc. Slightly thicker materials probably wont hurt you as much as going thinner, because the bolts might not fit in the end.

I used only 2 threads to simplify the construction  - M10 and M6.

Additional drawings are available with dimensioning, but i did not add them, since they are in metric - if you still want them, contact me :)


Thanks for checking my blog and send me an email/hoot if you have any questions. Next blog post is coming by Friday, i promise - it will include a lot of pictures about the heavy duty jig, me assembling it and showing how it fits different frames(videos included)