Lovely photo essay about a steel frame builder

[ncutler]

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesig ... n-pictures

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
You would need to look closely and have some experience in machine workshops to decide how much is art and how much is industrial.

My own personal opinions of course.

Don't get me wrong I would luv to do that.....maybe before I die

[Bonefishblues]

Demon has an interesting take on lugs - very Art Deco, many of them. Makes a change from curly.

[Spinners]

Nice to see that the Guardian are upholding their reputation for spelling online as well as in print

[mercalia]

A modern engineer building classic bicycle frames – in pictures

says it all

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2018/jan/15/modern-engineer-building-classic-bicycle-frames-in-pictures

[Gattonero]

It's good to see that the offer is still there, though most buyers nowadays think that everything has to be cheap and everyone is simply trying to rip them off, it's a shame when people can't understand the effort and passion that goes behind a genuinely hand-made product

[fastpedaller]

The 'lug in hands' photo...... That's an unusual way of making a lug isn't it?

[mercalia]

The 'lug in hands' photo...... That's an unusual way of making a lug isn't it?

you mean one piece? It seems to be made of 2 bits then joined ? if that is so does mean it has to be super accurate?

[JohnW]

The 'lug in hands' photo...... That's an unusual way of making a lug isn't it?

The lug appears to be fabricated - fillet brazed from formed flat sheet - like a lugless frame built from seamed tubing? What is the point? I believe that decent lugs are cast.

[fastpedaller]

The 'lug in hands' photo...... That's an unusual way of making a lug isn't it?

The lug appears to be fabricated - fillet brazed from formed flat sheet - like a lugless frame built from seamed tubing? What is the point? I believe that decent lugs are cast.

That's how I see it - either formed from sheet or tubes brazed together. Many years ago I understand lugs were sometimes made from sheet steel and machine formed with a weld seem on one joint plane (hope that makes sense), they may still be available? as you state most are cast nowadays. I'd have thought a better/more robust way to join the lugs in the photo would be to weld them. It is probable that the fillet braze used on them is a higher temperature braze than that used to join the tubes into the lugs (I'd bet money on that ), but even so, a weld would be stronger.

[JakobW]

That sounds like bilaminate (bi-lam) construction to me; its supporters claim that it combines the advantages of fillet brazing (free choice of frame angles) with those of lugs (aesthetics, and, in effect, extra tube butting); certainly Claud Butler, who were proponents, claimed it made for stronger frames than any other method. Cynics might note that it was popular in a period where many lugs were difficult to obtain, and so it was perhaps mainly a way of keeping the looks of a lugged frame when that was what the market wanted. It is possible to do very intricate lug work with the technique, but it is quite labour-intensive.