The Fillet Brazed Stem and Campy Goodness

This weekend saw two of the final parts of this particular jigsaw fall into place; I finally received the Campagnolo square taper bottom bracket that I bought off Trademe, and I built a sexy new quill stem for the bike.

Getting the bottom bracket was great because it meant I could heave off the adequate but not really visually suitable FSA cranks and mount my decidedly second hand but still sexy 175mm Campagnolo cranks;

This pleases me quite a lot. The BB is a very narrow one and there is only a couple of mm clearance of the crank to the chainstay, but it means I can run the chainring on the outside of the crank and still get a straight chainline...

The next thing to sort was the stem, as I was unhappy with the visual bulk of the quill stem adaptor and BBB riser stem, I was convinced it would look better with a sleek raw steel number.

More 4130 goodness from Lianne

Some mitered tubes awaiting the balmy warmth of 3500°C

My first legit fillet braze - yay

I took an incredible amount care making sure the handlebar tube miter held the tube straight and true, there is no joy in a droopy bar.

Cutting the hole for the clamp boss - I had made the boss on the Grayson a bit earlier but forgot to take pics

Braze in that bad boy

Then spend much time filing the fillets to look pretty, and also slit the boss and handlebar tube to form the clamping detail

Another view of the results of laborious filing

Finally fitted up to the bike after a slapped on layer of clear coat. I also made a new slightly sexier bracket for the Jtek shifter, but this was not very interesting and I forgot to take a pic of it.

Much more in keeping I reckon, although I again apologise for the blue electrical tape - I actually went to buy some more and they didn't have any black, so it is not my fault. This will be rectified at the first opportunity, I assure you.

The semi finished article

I have probably been convinced that I need to paint those mudguards black, maybe this weekend will see some loving given in this direction. I also need to braze a brake light mount tab on that rack and lay down some clear coat on it, but in reality I think I am pretty much done. This is sad in a way, however it is hopefully the start of many years and miles of service for this trusty steed...

Soon I think I will get someone who is more competent than me with a camera (ie anyone over the age of five) to take some arty shots for me so I can frame them and send them to my family for Christmas.

Putting it all together with kittens

A fair bit of movement has been happening, I dropped the frame off to the painters and it was ready by Friday. I thought that I had nailed the finishing of the lugs well enough to look pretty sweet, but expecting a few scratches and things to show up. I was right on the money as the matt clear coat showed up every little sin. I hate to think how much time would be needed to get a finish like this ready for NAHBS. As this is a dirty daily commuter and not a show piece I am happy with the finish level. Interestingly I took these pics with my rather flash work camera, amazing how much better the photos look using this...

From a few feet away it almost looks like grey paint

The Frogmouth MkII singing his little heart out

Here you see the extra brazeons for the rack mounting

A closeup of an averagely finished seat lug

A closeup of an averagely finished head tube lug

Some bottle mount brazons and the lovely scratchy finish

The further away you are the better it looks

The chainstay bridge

I like it, sort of steampunk industrial.

So over the weekend I bolted all the bits back on including the mudguards, and then I rocked into the build of a simple but effective rack. This was made out of some 3/8th 4130 tubes that I got from the lovely Lianne from Aviation and Performance Parts. I have also ordered the tubes for my stem that I am going to make soon.

A fine gentlemanly steed

Can't get much simpler than that, I am pretty happy with it although it probably needs a bit more bracing. I will add that if it breaks

I have ridden it all this week so far, and apart from a lingering fear that the fork will break and I will smash my face into the tarmac, it is totally sweet.

In other news, we have bought two new Burmese kittens to replace one of our cats that died, they are pretty cute/awesome;

The ging runs up to you and flops down on his back so you can scratch his tummy just like a dog, and the brown one likes lying on my shoulders at all times, and purrs like a mad wee chainsaw when he does.

We need some names now, any suggestions welcome..