building a frame
- Thread starter travis123321
- Start date
- Tags building frame
whats the best way to start building a frame. i have a 90 amp mig welder from h. i want it to look like the older style doodle bug or just a simple frame to start with. what material should i use? what size tubing? any suggestions on building my first frame. thanks. travis123321:smile:
I've seen 7/8 and 1" tubing, both regular seamed tube and DOM. Preferably I would use DOM as I think it bends nicer and it's also somewhat stronger. Make sure you use shield gas in your welder, don't use flux core wire. In the end, even though it will cost a bit more, you'll be much happier with your work:thumbsup:
Travis,
You could get an old frame and customize it to suit your needs or start to build one from scratch. If starting from scratch you'll need some way to bend the tube unless you don't mind a square bike. I would say in a newby's case get an older one an redo it to suit you. Don't try and re-invent the wheel just yet.
Also, you can get the job done with a flux core welder, they have their place. I doubt you can add gas to it at least not a HF Welder.
On my welding cart I have a 110V Lincoln Flux welder and a 220V Lincoln MIG. The flux welds have more splattered melted metal around the welds and require a little more clean up. My Flux welder has welded alot of steel.
I had my Flux welder for about 7 years before I stepped up to a MIG. Learn with what you have then move up as your projects get bigger or more demanding.
You could get an old frame and customize it to suit your needs or start to build one from scratch. If starting from scratch you'll need some way to bend the tube unless you don't mind a square bike. I would say in a newby's case get an older one an redo it to suit you. Don't try and re-invent the wheel just yet.
Also, you can get the job done with a flux core welder, they have their place. I doubt you can add gas to it at least not a HF Welder.
On my welding cart I have a 110V Lincoln Flux welder and a 220V Lincoln MIG. The flux welds have more splattered melted metal around the welds and require a little more clean up. My Flux welder has welded alot of steel.
I had my Flux welder for about 7 years before I stepped up to a MIG. Learn with what you have then move up as your projects get bigger or more demanding.
Last edited:
yea i have the small lincoln "shoebox" arc welder..
Its ok for small repair jobs. Aside from them being small and sort of underpowered....i think its harder to master this type of welding, I pretty much just asked my brother for it when i was about 14 and starting messing around with the controls and speed of my hands. It was hard to get a decent weld mainly because the weld would "spit" and it wouldnt look clean. later on i found that maybe i wasnt cleaning my areas as good as i should.
Then i was introduced to gas welding at the place i was working at when i was 18..... OH MY GOD it was beautiful. My welds were coming out very nice and flowing perfect, you know that saying where it should look like a roll of dimes...
the machine i was using was probably around $2000 though. all i remember was it had two tanks and was 220v. sorry but all the types and sorts of welding has always confused me.
If you plan on welding more in the future. id suggest taking a class or reading a book.. Theres a bunch of techniques to learn like what angle to hold the stick or how fast or whether to draw or push etc. Its really interesting, I consider it a science. My "mentor" really shed some light on techniques and procedures and my welds improved drastically.
I think everyone that welds their own frames uses slugs, a smaller piece of metal that acts as a connector for pipe ends. for added strength and reduces tension on welds.
quick advice would be to practice on some scrap, CLEAN metal, take your time. I remember being told to look for the metal to look like it was flowing, but NOT melting. could be wrong her but maybe youll see what i mean when you get to it.
Its ok for small repair jobs. Aside from them being small and sort of underpowered....i think its harder to master this type of welding, I pretty much just asked my brother for it when i was about 14 and starting messing around with the controls and speed of my hands. It was hard to get a decent weld mainly because the weld would "spit" and it wouldnt look clean. later on i found that maybe i wasnt cleaning my areas as good as i should.
Then i was introduced to gas welding at the place i was working at when i was 18..... OH MY GOD it was beautiful. My welds were coming out very nice and flowing perfect, you know that saying where it should look like a roll of dimes...
the machine i was using was probably around $2000 though. all i remember was it had two tanks and was 220v. sorry but all the types and sorts of welding has always confused me.
If you plan on welding more in the future. id suggest taking a class or reading a book.. Theres a bunch of techniques to learn like what angle to hold the stick or how fast or whether to draw or push etc. Its really interesting, I consider it a science. My "mentor" really shed some light on techniques and procedures and my welds improved drastically.
I think everyone that welds their own frames uses slugs, a smaller piece of metal that acts as a connector for pipe ends. for added strength and reduces tension on welds.
quick advice would be to practice on some scrap, CLEAN metal, take your time. I remember being told to look for the metal to look like it was flowing, but NOT melting. could be wrong her but maybe youll see what i mean when you get to it.
weldingtipsandtricks - YouTube
check out this youtube channel has a ton of good info on welding :thumbsup:
also they have a web site with more on there .
flux core can do a good job welding thin stuff and some medium too . i use mine for every thing from frame tube to 5/16 plate . granted the little machines dont have the deep bite in that the bigger ones do so you may have to do more prep in fitting parts . like deeper bevels ,muti passes . if i need to do thicker i get the tombstone out .
flux core does splatter more then mig but you can knock most of it off with a punch pretty easy . a good slag brush is needed to deal with the slag when you get the heat set wright its not bad to remove , still a little messy but not bad .
as for building a frame . i would say set up a sheet of wood or some thing you can bolt to . so you can make a jig to hold the parts in place as you start to tack them in place .
check out this youtube channel has a ton of good info on welding :thumbsup:
also they have a web site with more on there .
flux core can do a good job welding thin stuff and some medium too . i use mine for every thing from frame tube to 5/16 plate . granted the little machines dont have the deep bite in that the bigger ones do so you may have to do more prep in fitting parts . like deeper bevels ,muti passes . if i need to do thicker i get the tombstone out .
flux core does splatter more then mig but you can knock most of it off with a punch pretty easy . a good slag brush is needed to deal with the slag when you get the heat set wright its not bad to remove , still a little messy but not bad .
as for building a frame . i would say set up a sheet of wood or some thing you can bolt to . so you can make a jig to hold the parts in place as you start to tack them in place .
You can have good or great welds with practice. On those HF welded make sure you use a good brand of wire. Use Lincoln or Miller flux core wire and you will notice a huge difference flux cot welding is MIG welding, just without gas. If you can convert it to gas you will notice an even bigger difference. Practice makes perfect. I used to have an ancient Hobart TIG welder until it died. One day I will buy a miller water cooked TIG/MIG setup. I was lucky enough to do a test drive for 2 months with the snap on version and it's just awesome.