How do you do this without a lathe? At UBI our instructor cut ours for us using a lathe. Obviously, the tube needs to be nice and square before putting it in the frame jig. What are my options, without a lathe?
A couple ideas I've had:
1. Pipe cutter
2. Park saw guide
Neither would guarantee a square cut, so then I'd have to follow up with a head tube facer, orienting the centering cone on the non-cut end of the tube. Can you use just the facing cutter without the reamer cutter, or is that a bad idea? Am I on the right track? I'm open to ideas.
Semi-rustic here, with a square and a belt sander. Either of these is likely a fine enough point for the task. You have to watch pipe cutters. I've seen them work more like thread cutters if they are cheap or worn. If I happen to be set up for it, I'll end cut them on the mill, but most people don't have one of those either...
Thanks for the input, guys. I'm currently equipped to use Dr. Welby's method, so that's a strong possibility.
For grins, I checked the ends of my stock - HOXPLATHT2 - and neither end is anywhere near square. Off by a mm at least. I had wrongfully assumed that both ends would be square. Newb lesson...
If you have a mill you can load the HT in the vise and level it, then run a light pass with an end mill to square it up better. Not as good a finish as a lathe but works pretty well assuming you've squared up/trammed your vise.
I used the machinist square and file before that but then the accuracy depended on my patience...
Thanks for all the replies. I guess my real question was: how critical is it that your head tube is square before putting it in the frame jig. Sounds like using a file and machinist square is "good enough."
Old school band hose clamp method to guide hacksaw(or two close together), file remainder to edge of band, check and final dress with machinist square and file, gets you there pretty quickly.
Brian
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Mountain Bike Reviews Forum
15.4M posts
515.2K members
Since 1990
A forum community dedicated to Mountain Bike owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about bike parts, components, deals, performance, modifications, classifieds, trails, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!