Seat is Finished, nearly ready to assemble bike

Little did I expect that the hardest part of this project would NOT be welding. True though. Tonight I finished the seat, and the stitching of the Phifertex cloth onto the frame was definitely the hardest part of the whole thing so far. All done though, and looks pretty good. I'll actually be able to sit on the bike very soon.

Here's the seat in its upright position.

From Recumbent Bike Project

And this is the underside.

From Recumbent Bike Project

Seat Frame brazed together

Last night I had 45 minutes in the metal shop before it closed. I managed to get the seat frame brazed together, although the joints all still need filling around the sides. I'll do that tomorrow night when the shop's open again. Looks pretty good though. :)

From

Hacking together a seat support

Andrew Carson has a nice design for a seat support, but it requires more welding and piecing together and I thought I'd try to make one out of actual bike pieces I have lying around. I think it's promising.

It starts with a crappy Huffy frame like this (I had two of 'em salvaged from the ditch and a junk pile):

From Recumbent Bike Project

I cut off the seat stays and a bit of the seat tube, plus the dropouts. That's a seat post stuck through the 2" of seat tube there.

From Recumbent Bike Project

Next I cut off the bottom part of the dropouts. I just need the parts with the little round holes.

From Recumbent Bike Project

Then I spread the seat stays a bit so it'll fit around the recumbent frame, flip it upside down, and install with two little bottle-holder bolts into the holes of the recumbent seat stays. I also put a seat clamp on there.

From Recumbent Bike Project

I need something to attach it to and I remembered this old part from a broken comfy seat from my cruiser bike.

From Recumbent Bike Project

I move the seat clamp onto the rails of this thing...

From Recumbent Bike Project

Remove the springs...

From Recumbent Bike Project

Slide the seat clamp onto the seat post like so...

From Recumbent Bike Project

and zip-tie one of the seat frame supports to the thing to show how it could attach. In the finished support I will braze on half of a split tube and use hose clamps to secure it to the seat support the same way Andrew Carson does at the top of his seat stay design.

From Recumbent Bike Project

From Recumbent Bike Project

I'll let you know how it works out after I get into the metal shop again for more welding. :D

Frame Welding Done

The basic frame is all done now. Andy taught me how to do the welding, and I actually did the last several joints myself! Yea! It's so empowering to learn this. Here are my joints on the bottom rails and the new brake bridge on the fork.

From Recumbent Bike Project

From Recumbent Bike Project

I decided to add a bit of downward curve to the bottom rails where they join the bottom bracket. I like the graceful curve. :)

From Recumbent Bike Project

And here's how it looks with the wheels set in for show:

From Recumbent Bike Project

Next I have to weld the seat frame together and put the cover on it. I got the fabric already and it should be very nice. Next post is about my possibly clever seat support...

Welding of first joints, bending seat frame

Last Saturday I had professional help from Andy Loewy (Industrial Design professor), who welded the joints for 1st and 2nd assemblies for me.

From Recumbent Bike Project

I came up with a way to jig the 2 assemblies together with some metal stock in the shop. This held it together nice and straight.

From Recumbent Bike Project

We also bent the rear triangle's seat stays over a big pipe.

From Recumbent Bike Project

From Recumbent Bike Project

Here's what the first two assemblies look like all welded together

From Recumbent Bike Project

After that I kinda stuck the pieces together to see what it would look like in the end. Looking pretty good...

From Recumbent Bike Project

I tried a 27" wheel in the bent triangle and found it'll work great. Brake pads strike the rim perfectly. I'm really glad about this b/c it would be a pain to put new brake bosses on.

From Recumbent Bike Project

Then today I bent the side pieces for the seat frame. They turned out pretty well I think. Hope it's a comfy seat.

From Recumbent Bike Project

Next we'll weld the rear triangle on there, then the bottom rails. After that it's the seat and seat stays. Fun!