TITANIUM ATTEMPT
Post Weld Alignment Of The Bottom Bracket/Seat Tube

20 February 2008,  by James Morikawa

Well,  the Bottom-bracket/Seat-tube Ti-weld went OK —  I feel OK about the weld.   I did end up with minor misalignments.  There's  a slight curve to the seat-tube;  it's my mistake I didn't inspect the tube  prior to mitering.  If  had inspected and found the slight curve,   I could have situated the curve in a more "suitable postition".  I'm going to "cold-set" — put things into alignment —
straighten this shit out.

Today,  I did the alignment task.  Below is my brief summary of the happenings:

I used my trusty Henry James Alignment System.  I've done some modifications to mine, and have removed some of the attachments that came with it.  It's a joy how it works.  It gives me defined control over the bending torque.  I've gotten to "know" my Henry James System well,   and have come up with my own ways of using it, quite unlike the directions that came with it.  It is a highly adaptable piece of equipment.  I'm glad I had it for this Titanium alignment.

Because of the slight curve in the tube and the extended seat-tube,   I had to create some "special" addiions for the Alignment System.  They're pictured above.
This frame will require no "seatpost" and the reason why the seat-tube is extended.   Anyway,  I found  the Titianium  needed a lot of bending force to cause a little correction.  The stuff is springy.
Compared to the High Performance Steels,  I think it's easier to cold set — I wasn't too concerned about the tube kinking.

I was able to get the BottomBracket/SeatTube  into alignment. 
 I cleaned the jig's bottom-bracket area,  cleaned BB mount fixture,  then  remounted Bottom-Bracket/Seat-Tube on the frame-jig.

My next action will be welding up the the Chainstay/Dropout joints.  I'll write about that next.

Have a good day.

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