Welding My Own Bike from Scratch:
In January 2024 I took a 1 month class on welding our own bikes. I already knew how to weld (the class required prior experience) but I enjoyed learning the geometry involved in bike design, the assembly of the various components and the metal fabrication involved.
The class began by taking everyone’s measurements for laser cutting the tubing to make the frame. After receiving all the tubing, we ground and cleaned the ends to prepare for welding, and cut threads into the parts that needed to have mechanical components fitted to them. Next, everything was positioned in a jig and tacked together with small bits of weld. Once everything was tentatively held together, I then spent many hours doing the full welds all around each joint between all the tubes.
After welding, I assembled the bike to check that everything worked and rode it for the first time. Then I took it apart again, sandblasted it and painted it, then finally assembling it once more for the finished product.
