uni frame...

What tools do you have? What materials do you want to use? How much
experience do you have using these tools on said materials? I have
complete drawings for a titanium hunter-esque frame somewhere on my
shelves, but how many people on this forum can skillfully bend, weld,
and machine titanium? I know I'm not one of them. "Sumthing I can make"
is an awfulyl open statement. Making something even as simple as a
unicycle frame can be quite a project.

I'm building another machined aluminum trials frame for the heck of it
(well, to justify not buying a second milling machine, long story), and
if you want I can send you some drawings. Still, though, you need
access to and expertise on a milling machine and preferrably a lathe as
well. This isn't the ideal beginner project, being as the
seattube-crown interface is a 0.002" interference fit. You ideally
would need tolerances of +/- 0.0005" for that, and aligning and setting
up the cuts for the bearings ain't easy either.

The material is 6061-T651 aluminum. You need a piece of plate about
24"x1/2"x4" for the legs, a chunk 2"x5"x4" for the crown, and a tube
1.5"ODx1.25"IDx~8-10" long for the seattube. You would need at minimum
a milling machine that accepts tooling at least with 1/2" shanks. It
must have at the very least 13" of travel on the x axis, 6" on the y,
and 4" in Z. Some of the cuts are very rough ont he machine, and even
machines as rigid as a bridgeport can show measurable flex.

For a lathe you need one that swings at least 6", prefferably 10 or 12.
A vertical metalcutting bandsaw is *extremely* helpful.

For a beginner this project could take as long as 6 months, however if
you already have machining experience, you could probably do it in
about a week or so. Working intermittently after school between hw,
I've done about 75% of the forklegs in about a week. All that's left is
to cut the bearing slots and locate and drill the bolt holes to attach
to the crown.

My first version of this frame was adaquately strong, however it may
not be for those who do 6' drops without refined technique. I've abused
it for about 4 months without any failures, though, so it must be
decent.

Do a search, i've posted about frame design and construction many, many
times (too many...). Others on this forum know more than me, but post
less. If you can find posts by Showard or cyberbellum, they know a ton
about designing these things, and can tell you more than me.

Ugh, long post, i hope it helps, assuming you read it...

Edit: If you want to weld the frame, well, taht's another story.
Assuming you're already a skilled TIG welder and have the proper
equipment, you could probably build a nice chromoly KH knockoff frame
ina bout 2 days, assuming you used uni.com bearing holders. If you're
not a skilled welder, you still could probably do a decent stainless
steel KH knockoff frame in about a week, assuming you already have
bearing holders.


--
gerblefranklin

http://gallery.unicyclist.com/Trials-Muni

Nick's main man.

"I love freedom dearly, ideally, in theory, but in reality we're not
there yet--Not nearly."--Cold Duck Complex
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