98cc Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 I am flying down to chch tonight, and then going to Oamaru tomorrow morning and spending the rest of the week making the rims, backbones, spokes and tyres. I will try to take as many pics as possible 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostchips Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Making the tires? Cool. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98cc Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 Yup they are a solid piece of rubber with a wire through the center. You first cut the rubber slightly larger than the circumference of the wheel, you then lay the rubber around the rim and using a special tool tension the wire until the rubber is tight on the rim and then braze the ends of the wire together. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 98cc Posted May 18, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 18, 2015 I had an awesome few days in Oamaru making penny farthing bits, we managed to get all the stuff i needed finished so hopefully the bikes will go together pretty quickly now. For the front and rear rims we first had to form the round tube into a crescent shaped section. This is done by pulling the tube through a set of rollers with an electric winch, you have to do 3 passes through the rollers to get the right section. We then rolled the crescent section into a circle, This only takes a couple of minutes. Both of the front rims have been rolled to 52 inch diameter. And the rear rims, we could roll 3 at a time. The backbones were rolled to fit the rims. Lastly we did the tyres. First you cut the rubber to length and set it up in the machine. You then tension the wire and this compresses the rubber into itself untill it fits tightly onto the rim. You lock the wire in place with the 2 cap screws and remove the tyre from the machine, you then silver solder the ends of the wire together. Once you undo the 2 cap screws and remove the locking jig the rubber completely covers the join and you are left with the finished tyre. These solid tyres will do two lengths of New Zealand before they need replacing. And this is the pile of bits at the end of the weekend. The next job is to drill all the holes in the rims and paint them ready for lacing up. 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.QCR Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Amazing work! I've been tempted myself to build one and will do one day ! Such a great group of guys to be building with down there in Oamaru ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rot808 Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Looking awesome Louis, what a sweet little workshop 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotorhoe Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Ohhh rad, can't wait to see this rolling around the pits next year 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostchips Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 How did you make the tapered tube? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98cc Posted May 20, 2015 Author Share Posted May 20, 2015 Thanks born looser and rot808. If you ever want to do one bl, get in touch with Grahame Simpson in Oamaru. He is extremely helpful. Yeah it should be a good thing for leadfoot and roycroft events Amy! Rustisize, Grahame gets the engineering company in oamaru to do it. They have a big press and the just swage the taper into it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98cc Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 I have got the rear forks all finished and welded on now. The hubs i got from the guy in Oamaru, they are just steel front hubs off a normal bike. The rims are all drilled and ready for painting so hopefully that will happen this weekend. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 98cc Posted July 28, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 28, 2015 Ok i have made a fair bit of progress since the last update. First of all i have drilled the holes in the rims for the spokes, all 400 of them! I painted the rims gloss black with base and clear. Then it was the job of cutting and threading the spokes and lacing all the bits up. All 4 wheels are done now which i am very pleased with because they are definitely the trickiest bit of the build. This was the tool my mate lent me for rolling the threads on the spokes. Its pretty old and i imagine it has done a few thousand spokes in its life. Rolling the thread takes less than 10 seconds. Here are some pics of lacing up one of the big wheels, i didn't take any of the small wheels as they are pretty standard. Put all the spokes in the hub The first side in with the nipples loosely on The other side going in I found the perfect jig to true them up in the scrap at work so i just tacked the bearing carriers on top of it. Truing up the wheels was a long job and the big ones took around 4 hours each to do with the 72 spokes to tighten up. And all done with the tyres on Mock up..... Next job is making up the front forks 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.QCR Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Amazing !! If you don't mind me asking how much has it cost to this point ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98cc Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 Thanks born loser, the bits for my bike have cost about $700. The long spokes are $4 each and the tyre rubber is $40 a meter so these were the main costs. I wont need to buy anything else apart for some paint to do the forks and frame from this point though 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.QCR Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Awesome. That's all pretty reasonable . Really enjoying the progress Will get around to building one of these in the future! Keep up the good work 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Value Buddy Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Shit hot man. Next level awesome. I admire your skill and dedication. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98cc Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 Thanks BVB, I need to get them finished for the ride I'm doing in October. It's quite good knowing you need to get something done by a certain date or else you won't be able to do the event that you have already paid for haha. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 98cc Posted August 21, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 21, 2015 I have made up the first set of forks now, i just need to make the handle bar mount and weld it on. These forks are for my mates bike This is the steering and neck assembly, very simple but effective. The thread at the top is 5/8 UNF. It will have a lock nut to hold it in the right position when it is all set up. I got my dad to weld the pin on as it's the highest stressed part on the bike and I'm not really keen on it breaking of when I'm up on top of the thing haha Fork ends i made earlier welded into the tubes with the bearing carriers fitted Getting it all set up ready to weld in the steering assembly And all welded up with the fork rake and wheelbase set I have made up most of the bits to put my forks together now, they are going to be different to this set and much more like they were in 1870 with a cast head arrangement and taped fork tubes and a few other different details. This should make them much nicer looking than the standard forks for these replicas 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 I like the front fork ends will you be adding any lug detail? If anyone is wondering $700 is a great price for a full custom bicycle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98cc Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 Thanks Tortron, no i dont think i will do any lug detail, the ride is only a month away now and i still need to get both of the bikes painted and do all the final details. A good replica penny will generally sell for between $2-3000 even up to $4000 and originals are well into the 7-15k range. I got my bike welded up on the weekend so i will do a big update sometime this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 This is my favourite Oldschool project. You're one talented bastard and the bike is looking sensational! Kudos to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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