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Third, fourth and fifth build session.

A project log for Bike Frame Builder

A Grasshopper script which generates bicycle frame-set geometry based on input variables for the home builder.

david-troetschelDavid Troetschel 04/17/2020 at 20:470 Comments

I did the third and fourth build sessions live on Twitch again and then also uploaded them to YouTube.

Three: 

Four:

The spackle didn't seem to dry, even overnight. Granted, it was super cold... Something like 30-35F overnight. I ended up using wood glue in the fifth session, I didn't bother recording me re-gluing joints and the work-session was only about ten minutes.

Five:

I don't know if the spackle didn't dry because of the temperature, lack of air to the joint or some other factor. I'll try doing the fillets and surface finish with it again when its warmer to troubleshoot. In the meantime I'll try to get some Super77 or contact glue for the next frame. Due to measurement errors parts of the frame aren't lining up as simulated so I've been winging some joints. After I get the frame assembled I'll remeasure and check how far out of true we are. This has been an interesting learning experience but I'm excited to give this another shot already.

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That being said, I'm going to keep making foam frames and refining the script and researching everything needed to continue this project BUT it's becoming increasingly obvious that this is just going to take time. Part of this is financial, right now is a SUPER bad time to spend a third of my money. I still have work but it's definitely slowing down and I'm starting to have to find work further and further afield. If you really want to help out and have a project and money burning a hole in your pocket please hire me through Patreon!

I've opened up my expenses for this project so you can see all the supplies I'm buying and when, it'll be linked HERE and in the supplies section of this page. Overall though, I'm putting purchases on hold and will just focus on doing research, mold construction and further preparation. To summarize this decision; it'll cost about the same to make one frame as three from a unit cost perspective, but to make that three requires an ever-greater initial investment. I'm going to want these supplies for other projects too so I might as well go big or go home. Chances are I'm going to be dropping 1.5k+ over the space of two weeks when I pull the trigger.

Next up; I'm going to finish assembling this test frame to get an idea of overall dimensions and the true extent of errors I made and simultaneously revamp the latest script for metric output, it'll be easier to work with and will give me some opportunities to further specify the boundary design conditions for ease of use.

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