Personal Growth

The Pat S method of brazing self-instruction has left me plateau'd for a while, skills-wise.  Suddenly and unexpectedly, that's all changed within the last coupla weeks.  Reason being, Glen's been dropping in on shop night and packing all this great instructional shit about the right way to braze and I've been soaking it up.  These next two pictures are first-pass joints. It's kind of hard for me to believe I did them.  They're a long way from perfect, but they're so far removed from the method of spilling brass all the hell over place and then filing it off that I've been using. I'm excited that I know a little more about what I'm supposed to be doing/seeing and motivated by the next plateau that a little practice might get me to.

So that's huge, but there's more, and it is. More huge.

Tuesday last, Glen walked through the door with the Braze-O-Matic 5000.

It's where art and science meet, and here's how it works:

You set all the clamp points on the workstand and the Braze-O-Matic 5000 just tight enough to still be barely loose and it basically allows you to effortlessly position the rack you are working on at the proper orientation to allow the molten brass to take advantage of gravity and end up where it's supposed to.

So in short, Glen walked in and quickly identified and then helped provide solutions for the two biggest things that were holding me back from making better racks.  Damnit. So rad.

You're obviously wondering what ingenious bike part I put all these new skills and methods to work on.

Sorry to tell you that it's not a bike part.

You obviously had me pegged as a one-dimensional bike freak.  Bet you feel like a dork.  Hey, don't sweat it.  We're all learning as we go.