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Nick Payne
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 2626
Location: Canberra, Australia9/28/14 10:09 PM |
Lugged Ti frames
A company over in Perth has started producing Ti frames that use 3D printed Ti lugs:
http://www.flyingmachine.com.au/2014/03/3dp-f-one-3/
Looks like the process still needs a bit of refining, but if you like lugs and you like Ti...
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19087
Location: PDX9/28/14 10:26 PM |
Silver soldered ??
The nude portion of the Ti seems a lot less finished than the quality of the finish is otherwise based on what I see there in the pic.
Cool though, thanks for posting to be sure.
----
This custom machine is off to a customer in Portland Oregon who is a self confessed, “dork for the Gulf Oil racing cars from the 60′s and 70′s”. The Gulf
Well doesn't that just figure. ;)
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ErikS
Joined: 19 May 2005
Posts: 8337
Location: Slowing boiling over in the steamy south, Global Warming is real9/29/14 4:43 AM |
the drive belt is cool.
How do they keep it from creeping due to chain line variances? It seems it would come off at the slightest misalignment.
3D printed lugs are cool too but the raw sections look pretty raw...
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Nick Payne
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 2626
Location: Canberra, Australia9/29/14 6:23 AM |
quote:
How do they keep it from creeping due to chain line variances? It seems it would come off at the slightest misalignment.
If you look closely at the chainring teeth in one of the photos, you can see that there's a narrow web in the valley between each tooth, and this mates with a corresponding slot in the centre of the drive belt to prevent it wandering.
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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5101
Location: Nashua, NH9/29/14 10:27 AM |
It's somewhat novel...
...but not unique, as I've seen lugged Ti frames before and they were better executed (full lugs, not internal/external). I also have serious questions about the strength and durability of 3D printed lugs. Unless the technique is being used in industrial or aerospace applications, I wouldn't go near it. Overall, it seems pretty pointless to me.
Their claim of being "perfectionists" is pretty overblown, based on the finish work in the pictures above. This bike is definitely a a "10-footer" (it looks good from 10 feet away). ;-)
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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3236
Location: Midland, MI9/29/14 6:52 PM |
Welding plus lugs?
So are they welding tubes to the lugs, and then putting other tubes into/through the lugs? And how are they securing the tubes in the lugs? I know nothing of the brazing possibilities for Ti, but given the quality of a good Ti weld, this whole thing seems more like a gimmick than a way to produce a better frame.
I assume the bolted rear dropouts are to allow belt replacement?
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