Really impressed with what you have achieved Chook, hope it does not end up me wanting to build one of these things, but it is a very interesting project. (my saviour or argument to myself is that there are to many hills in Bridgetown)

Chook2 said..

Hey thanks aus230. That means a lot, coming from a bloke with your skills.
Esperance is not exactly flat, either Vic.

Test pilot 1 said..

Next they will be trying to put sails on them

I like the preloaded masts in the photo. Still hanging back to the rear with full sails, and huge tell tails.


I have just finished profiling two 36" rims, two 48" and two 17" rear rims.

It is raining and blowing a gale here, because I'm ready to do some painting on another project. Bloody typical eh????

Some amazing athletes and rigs in the picture Based on the streamers at the top of the masts, they have sailed downwind/pedaled faster than the wind!! ... and we thought it took hi-tech methods to achieve that!


Seriously though, your ring roller and die setup is VERY slick. Great work Chook

Slowly getting a bit more built in between getting gear ready for the upcoming Lefroy trip.

After rolling the rims, I drill two 8mm holes and plug weld the joiner into one side, of the inside of the rim. It has to be the inside (spoke side) this allows for the tyre profile to be rolled onto it afterwards, from the outside. Hope that makes sense.


One side is flushed off after plug welding it, so that the rim can be checked with a template to make sure it's ready to be joined, nice and true but more importantly perfectly round and flat.


This is the backbone (frame) of the bike. I cut long pie shaped sections out of tube to make the end taper. I have made up the some mandrels. The mandrels are welded to lengths of smaller pipe, that slide fit full length inside the backbone tube, to allow me to tap the tube to the correct taper over the last 250mm on the 34mm diameter small frames and 300mm on the 42mm large frame tubes.
Squeeze it up with the chain vice grips. Lots of spot welds to hold it in shape, while it's peened round.

Back in the tube roller with another set of dies and roll it to shape it. Camera on my phone doesn't like the shed lights.


Slowly getting there.

just too good chook! but i like it

Must be a closet machinist!

Gday chook, today LIl STig and I went off to measure an 1896 49" model. and get some measurements
I dont think they were expecting us to ride up on our fakethings.
same spoke thread problem as your dads but couldnt ride it due to a missing rear wheel nut . also the rear fork had buckled after going over a big pothole. it made me realize that some solidity could be good
I recon I was the first to pick the powder coated base on the leather seat

more like a well disguised restoration,where they stripped a modern seat and relaid it in leather. i was planning to make a frame and then fit moled leather over

Id Have a go at that!!!!!!!

I just want this one to be true


and heres one for christmas chook

Got started on the spokes on the weekend, trying to recreate the jig we saw on arrons blog. it aint as easy as it looks
hees the result of a whole days bashing and machining



They look crap, but I will now wait until I can roll a thread on one and put it under strain. and test it for failure

Chook2 said..

Maybe this way Paul.



Quote from the blog.
Spoking from one I saw in Berlin Transport Museum, in a moment's inattention to the German road pothole situation, where each spoke doubles upon itself in the flange and so is actually two spokes at once.

Here is the site.
colonial-diaspora.blogspot.com/2010/02/penny-farthings.html

That is just sooo obvious a solution. what are we missing
definitely be trying that set up. all you need is the roller.
Im hoping somebody will explain the why not BEFORE I do it

why wouldn't one try a dished instead of spoked wheel,

it may be the reason that the PF reached its limits of design

Oy, where is the back jaw off your vice mate????

Nice work. if you took the forming/captive, edge off the tip of the punch it may mushroom the ends better, you reckon? More like a conventional spoke end I'm thinking.

One more problem overcome.........onwards and upwards.

I found my other camera (hadn't seen it since I left for Lake Lefroy) and look what it had on it Paul and Graeme.


After the speed run, GPS in hand. What was your speed? I even have a short video of the event.



and here are some snaps of my spoke head thingy that were on it.



I found you had to leave 4.6mm of spoke proud of the die, to get enough material to make a good mushroom head.
A huge hit with a 3 pound hammer does the job.

once again you made mine look like pooblobs
Back to shed tommorrow for the next generation
what is the diameter of your punch?

bazl said..

Some interesting stuff here to:

geared-facile.blogspot.com/

that just ripped my brains out
so bigger is better chook if you punching