TITANIUM ATTEMPT
Correcting Post Weld Misalignments
3 March 2008, By James Morikawa
I used my Henry James Alignment System to correct the mis-alignments in the front triangle. I have adapted Hank Folsom's (Henry James Bicycles) wonderful system to fit my needs.
I'm not going to write about it in detail, nor how I went about using it. That would be too long and drawn out, and I don't want "kill my brain cells" explaining how this simple system works.
Below is a brief, and "incomplete" summary.
I use the "rear axle" as the main alignment reference point.
Here's one of the alignment tool being set-up. It has an adjustable collar. The collar is adjusted to reference one side of the dropout.
The lower section of the seat-tube is in good alignment.
The upper section of seat-tube is off-center about 2mm. Notice the difference between the tool and seat-tube.
I'm not going to attempt to correct this.
I did pull the front triangle into alignment. There was also a slight twist which which I corrected.
Wheel centering between the chainstays are good.
Wheel centering between the seatstays are OK. It's actually about 2mm off center. On a scale of one to ten, I rate this rear triangle's alignment an seven, which is good.
A very good tool. Using the Park Alignment Checking Tool.
When it comes to Tig-welding a steel, Aluminum, or Ti frame, I feel the most difficult thing to get done is to end up with an aligned frame. Most of the times it's all
a compromise. I could have the best alignment tooling, yet never be able to get a frame in "perfect alignment". One can, and will build misalignments into a frame. Over
the years I've experience many type of alignment problems. One gets into a position of correcting one misalignment which in turn causes another type of frame misalignment.
It's all a compromise, and over the years I've gained my alignment priorities and judgement.
On a scale of one to ten, I give this frame's alignment a seven and a half. That's actually very good.
It did take a lot of bending force to get the front triangle back into alignment. It was like "attempting to bend a rubber band".
A titanium characteristic very unlike steel.
Website Information: www.modikoso.com