Worth remembering
Talk is cheap. It takes money to buy beer. Blanch Barney, my 101 year old Grand mother.
Aero forks
I had been doing a fair amount of time in the Galles Racing wind tunnel with various and sundry wind drag reduction ideas.
This fork was for an 1996 Olympic trials pursuit frame. It is sort of the culmination of all the good ideas. We figured it was good for over a minute or more in a 40K TT. Here’s some pictures (click to enlarge) click again for super close up.
Arrows 1 & 2 point to two different vortex generators. #2 maintains laminar flow past the blade rather than deflecting it up the frontal part of the blade. #1 Strips the boundary layer off the rotating tire and cleans up the following low pressure area.
Arrow #3 points to a series of chokes which also remove the boundary layer from the rotating wheel. They limit the rotating air from adding turbulence to the on rushing wall of air.
here’s the back side of the 26” (so-called) wheel fork. It was also a 60mm wide hub. The crown was cut away at the rear to allow the use of MAX blades.
I just got the original frame back a few minutes ago. I’ll clean it up and look around for the wheels and get a picture or two of it up. It was Columbus EGO . Wonder if any of that stuff is still floating around?
Albuquerque
From the south end of the city looking NW back to the Rio Grande Valley and downtown. (Click on photos)
The Sandia Mountains from mid town looking North.
From the valley looking NE
Canadian Geese on their migration south.
View along the Bosque bike path through the city center.
here1//maps.google.com/maps?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hl=en&tab=wlhttp: Control C this 2909 Arno NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87107 then Control V it into the Google browser. The shop is the building with the black coyote fetish on the outer wall. The house sits way back from the street.
Here’s the shops (near end) and house after a big snow storm in Dec. of 2006.
Dolling up a Jag XK engine
This came in for inspection and pre startup testing. It sat outdoors for a long time and had a lot of dirt in the intake and exhaust manifolds. Upon head removal, I found all pistons to be in backwards (anti-thrust side). So now I’ll HAVE to remove the pan and make sure the rods are in correctly. (Click to enlarge-click again to zoom in)
Here’s the head after clean up and painting. The Cam covers were painted silver and the 9:1 head was correctly blue. It is from a Mark IX donor and is going in a 140 FHC. So, we have decided to paint the head red to mimick a 3.8 C type head from the earlier car. We know it’s not correct, but it’s not going to Pebble Beach, maybe Tingley Beach in Albuquerque…
(Click on picture to enlarge)Here the head is back on. The pistons are correctly installed, even a couple of the rods were reversed. A proper flywheel has replaced the Mk IX flex plate. The cams were removed and everything pre-lubed again. Need some long studs for the 2″ carbs intake manifold. I’ll soda blast the distributor base and overhaul the guts tomorrow.
Here it is, ready for pickup and start up after the owner comes up with a bunch of non Jaguar stuff to make the aux. carb drain somewhere and a upper radiator/thermostat housing and either a way to use the Jag otter switch or a hard switch on the dash. I think the temperature sender will screw into this manifold on the bottom side.
Click to enlarge
Using a Pino Morroni Frame Jig
Picture 1: When doing a fillet joint (BB) I cut the ST miter and using a machinists square adjust plumb. I then install BB shell and center using vernier caliper (pic #2). Keeping the seat tube vertical I then braze to shell. You can use the movable distance gauge (Delrin spacer) to assure plumb.
I then rotate BB/ST to desired angle using the angle finder. Note: Seat tube offset can also be measured to determine the angle (thanks Omar). I then miter chain stays with dropouts already installed. Set your BB height and braze to BB shell.
Pic#4 shows the relative axle position if the wheel was installed. This for setting/marking the nominal bottom of the head tube.
(Click on pictures to enlarge)
In this set of photos, I’ve set the top tube height and top tube length as per design drawing. The miters are cut and the head tube angle is set. At this point I’m doing a cold fit to make sure that the miters are correct and nothing is binding. Last I’ll cut length and miters for the down tube. I’ll finally disassemble, flux everything up and reinstall in the jig for brazing. Presto-change-oh. I have a nice, straight, and fully brazed frame ready for any necessary cleanup of the welds.
(Click on picture to enlarge)
In these three above I’ve reinstalled it in the jig, fluxed up the joints and brazed up everything. Tomorrow the seat stays and dodads, a little clean up and it’s off to the paint booth. This is the first time for using Fred Parr’s Brazage Pro silver for lugs. It’s also the first frame since I lost an eye a year ago. I’m getting better at putting the rod at the right spot at the right time, but as you can see I did get a couple spots a bit hotter than I needed to. I’ll soak it over night and see how it looks in the morning.
(Click on picture to enlarge)
Well, after an overnight soak and a few minutes with a stiff wire brush the frame is ready for a little dressing around a couple spots on the lugs and a bit of radius clean up work on the fillet. I said last year about this time that I didn’t think I’d be able to build bikes with one eye. I wouldn’t call it a miracle by any means but, the progress has been good. However, this little article was about the Morroni jig and as you can see after a days work and little fuss I have a fixie I can sell.
I spent a day on the fork, mostly fretting over what to use and dinking around with the blade length cutting fixture (scroll down) and another with the frame assembly and a third (today if I remain engaged) to do the seat stays and braze-ons. I’ll put up a picture or two when its got the next day into it just to make the process complete.
dave
We’re having a great mid November weather weekend for riding so I haven’t been as diligent as hoped finishing up this frame. As promised here’s the finished basic frame, except a couple braze on bits still to add. I haven’t decided if this will go out as a plain vanilla variety or if I’ll doll it up with some silver smithing adornments. In the mean time..(Click on Pic to enlarge)
Here I’ve coal slag blasted the raw fillet to expose any gaps, pockets and wrinkles, then I shape and file to taste. This is like blocking done on body panels. The change in color helps to show high/low spots when a file is pulled across the dull surface.
Here is the last set of Zeus track drop outs in the world..maybe? Dave Bohm at Bohemian Cycles tells me he has near copies available. Thank God for artisans.
Here’s the head tube detail. I used an old Columbus groove tube. It may end up as a brake less fixie but I’m not going to mess around with liability issues by not making it brake compatible.
Here it is.
The crown is an 7mm offset Cyclo (?) for track blades. Old GPM brake bridge re-enforcements. MAX chain stays
and I don’t know what the seat and down tubes are.. Hey, it’s a mutt, but I love it so far.
Specs. are 54.5cm seat tube; 55cm top tube; 73.5 degree seat angle; 74 degree head angle; 5.6 cm drop; 95cm wheelbase; fork rake 32mm plus offset
DP
And here is the frame painted, decaled and awaiting it’s new home..
(Click on photo to enlarge-click again to zoom in
This about sums it up for me
Subject: 545 PEOPLE
545 PEOPLE By Charlie Reese –
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president does.
You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank do es.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices – 545 human beings out of the 300 million – are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this count ry.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a co ngressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker , who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red.
If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it’s because they want them inIRAQ.
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like ‘the economy,’ ‘inflation,’ or ‘politics’ that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses –
Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of theOrlando Sentinel Newspaper.
Thanks to Al from the Austin Healey owners list for this quote attributed to John Adams:
In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress. – John Adams
Designing a Fixture for Fork Blade Length
Fork blade length gauge fixture (click on picture to enlarge) This is one I’ve had kicking around forever. I never used it much because the 2 added barrels at the drop out ends won’t allow the fork blades to lay flat on the bed after they’ve been raked. So, I just used it as a gauge to insure that the dropouts were inserted exactly the same. I guess I’ll scrap that idea. I hate to take any fixture apart that is functional even if it is not used to it’s potential. Perhaps I’ll add some eyelets that allow the barrels to slide in and out of use. The next step is to add a cutting guide to assure a good straight hack saw cut or to mount the whole fixture to a chop saw such that it is adjustable for the forks intended use. For the math challenged, I’m told by Keith Anderson www.keithandersoncycles.com that he merely adds a centimeter to the unbent blade length, assembles the fork and bends both blades at the same time. Andy Newlands at Strawberry sent this catchy little “equation” for cutting blades prior to raking. Andy, by the way, bends both blades at the same time too. The straight blade length is equal to the “M” design distance from axle to race minus the fork crown dimension “H” (crown race to bottom of fork crown casting) plus the dimension (L-y) which is the difference in length between the chord length (bend) to the axle centerline and the straight length to the intersection of a perpendicular from the axle to the fork centerline. L equals two times the bender radius times the radian quantity inverse sine of the square root of the product bender radius times fork offset divided by two all divided by the bender radius and y equals fork offset divided by the tangent of the same quantity inverse sine mentioned before. A table of L, y and fork offset can be developed for each bender radius and then you just determine the straight blade length from the design length M minus the fork crown dimension H plus the (L-y) value. Once the tips are brazed, the blades are cut to length and brazed into the crown/steerer sub-assembly (pre-brazed) and then bent on my old Marchetti bender then aligned. Works for me – may not work for you. However, once you get it down it’s pretty quick. Andy N. www.strawberrybicycle.com Thanks Andy!
Here are some links to Richard Sachs home made measurement device:
here1 http://www.flickr.com/photos/9866331@N08/750318950/in/set-72157600706479896/ here2http://www.flickr.com/photos/9866331@N08/750319044/in/set-72157600706479896/ here3http://www.flickr.com/photos/9866331@N08/749461097/in/set-72157600706479896/ here4http://www.flickr.com/photos/9866331@N08/749461257/in/set-72157600706479896/ here5http://www.flickr.com/photos/9866331@N08/749461363/in/set-72157600706479896/
Richard quipped: “i used a chopped and channeled 1970s fixture to get this done. not fancy, but dedicated, accurate, and fast atmo.” here6http://rscyclocross.blogspot.com