the frame's mom is in labor

it's going to be born soon.

i'm just arriving home at 12:45 am. went to work at 10am, started frame work about 3:30 pm. so worth it.
the front triangle is all mitered and almost ready to braze. it looks sorta like a bike, finally!
the only bad news i encountered was that i cut my head tube too short, so i'll have to make a new one from some 4130 i have around. this is obviously a good sign: i had some of my 4130 practice tubes stolen a while back, and the only one i have left is 1.25" diameter, .035 wall thickness...perfect for a head tube. actually that tube is currently part of a project for school. so tomorrow i'll cut it (leaving a lot more extra this time), drill vent holes in it, drill all the lugs for pins, and see if it's ready to braze up.

i've got a quote of $160 for powdercoating the frameset from American Stripping in Manassas, VA, assuming i use a stock color. their color matching fee is over a grand, so Gios Blue is out.

also on the horizon: braze-on centerpull pivots. Mark Stonich, of BikeSmith Design and Fabrication, has been kind enough to post a set of fairly simple instructions on how to make these out of a little mild steel using a drill press, a few bits, and an m6 tap.

i got a really cheap tubing bender on eBay and tried it on the 3/8" .028 wall 4130 rack tubing. the bender bit the dust, putting only a small kink in the tube. i'm on the lookout for a Rigid or Imperial bender.