Kirk Frameworks

[bob heinatz]

I am sure Dave would love to build you something nice.

[sparky33]

How do you achieve tight miters with complex joints when cutting the tubes with hand saws? It seems impossible to do reliably. How do you lay out the correct line and angle for cutting? How do you ensure a perfect cut?

[MattTuck]

That brazing is probably the nicest ever featured on a roll bar.

[pdmtong]

A roll bar is not a DK bike.

It doesn't need to be aligned perfectly.
The weld doesn't need to be pretty.
The tubes don't need to be spec'd to the rider.
The geo doesn't need to have mm precision.

We need to educate your car friend on the the mad metal skills you employ to imagine and then execute your bike metal work!

That said, who else has a fillet roll bar? c'mon this is over the top great. and yes, just because you can, you should.

[David Kirk]

Originally Posted by sparky33

How do you achieve tight miters with complex joints when cutting the tubes with hand saws? It seems impossible to do reliably. How do you lay out the correct line and angle for cutting? How do you ensure a perfect cut?

Like any other skill it seems impossible at first and takes lots of time and in the end doesn't come out that great....but in time it gets faster and more accurate once you learn the tricks...or in my case make up the tricks and perfect them.

One beautiful thing is that when two cylinders (tubes) intersect the lines where they meet end up being straight lines. It seems crazy but that's how it works. So one can use a hacksaw and make straight cuts at the proper angles and you are most of the way there. Then it's a matter fine tuning the fit and angle of the miter by hand.

Complex miters like what you show are slightly more complicated but not that big a deal. Miter the bottom of the seat tube and get it just right and set it aside. Then do the same with the down tube. The miter where those two tubes interest is also a straight line and if you look at the photo you linked you can see that it's straight. The trick is knowing where to make that straight cut.

I do not use paper templates but I hear they can work OK. I don't use a computer in any way. I use a flat surface, a machinist square, a straight edge, a hack saw and various sizes of 1/2 round files. A simple miter like a seat tube-to-bottom bracket will take just a few minutes to get dialed in. A complex one like the down tube and seat tube meeting will take about 5 minutes.

I could save a little bit of time using a vertical mill but not enough to justify the purchase of the mill and the square footage needed to keep this thing that I would use only a few minutes a week. So I hand miter stuff instead. Focusing on hand skills and not tools is what allows me to work from home in a very small but otherwise free space.

I don't mean to sound flip about this at all. It's not easy to do. It took me many years to figure out a pattern so I can do it quick and very accurate...frankly tighter than a machine miter will give in most cases. But it can be done....in fact I do it this way on every frame I build and have for the last 17 years.

dave

[82Picchio]

Originally Posted by bob heinatz

I am sure Dave would love to build you something nice.

Hi did. I was dumb enough to sell it..............

[David Kirk]

About two weeks ago I shared a few photos of the new roll bar I made for my 2014 Westfield autocross car.... and it just seemed wrong to not share a few more photos of the car now that the bar has been powder coated.

Life is just too short to paint stuff black.

Just a few more things to do and the car will be ready for the 2020 season.

Dave

[AngryScientist]

Looks great Dave!

Man, i hope you own a snowplow, that's a lot of driveway to clear over there!

[David Kirk]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

Looks great Dave!

Man, i hope you own a snowplow, that's a lot of driveway to clear over there!

I'm a shoveler....keeps you young and fit!

dave

[AngryScientist]

also, i'm eye scanning.....

where does the exhaust exit?

[David Kirk]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

also, i'm eye scanning.....

where does the exhaust exit?

One of the nice things about using this engine is that the exhaust is on the right side of the car. I owned a different Seven clone years ago and the exhaust was on the left....never again. Having the can right below your elbow when it's screaming at 9000 rpms is pretty darn loud!

Dave

[AngryScientist]

ahh, very cool dave!

[David Kirk]

With the current world situation I've been hunkered down and locked to the bench....and before that a neck injury that kept me off the snow but allowed me to work meant that I've been able to get a crap load of work done. So if you've been thinking about a new made-to-measure bike now would be a good time as the lead time is as short as it's been a good while.

Here's some photos of a JKS Terraplane that I started a few days ago. It has another two days of work in it before it will be ready to send off to Joe Bell. These photos so the process of the tubes and lugs being dry-fit into the jig and then brazed and finished and finally with the still hot rear end added.

Be well all -

dave

[gbcoupe]

Originally Posted by David Kirk

With the current world situation I've been hunkered down and locked to the bench....and before that a neck injury that kept me off the snow but allowed me to work meant that I've been able to get a crap load of work done. So if you've been thinking about a new made-to-measure bike now would be a good time as the lead time is as short as it's been a good while.

Here's some photos of a JKS Terraplane that I started a few days ago. It has another two days of work in it before it will be ready to send off to Joe Bell. These photos so the process of the tubes and lugs being dry-fit into the jig and then brazed and finished and finally with the still hot rear end added.

Be well all -

dave

Such a tease. Uhm... yeah, that one looks my size and I'll take the roaster too!

[parris]

What happened to your neck Dave?