Mercian still hearth braze all their frames. And Barrie Whitcomb also makes the few frames he still makes that way too. But Bob Jackson uses conventional oxy-acetylene torches twithout hearths hough I don't think that's necessarily any better it depends on the skill of the builders. However they still build freehand from a vice. Hilary Stone
----------
>From: OROBOYZ@aol.com
>To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>Subject: [Classicrendezvous] Re: Colnago quality
>Date: Tue, Oct 17, 2000, 2:58 am
>
> In a message dated 10/16/00 4:59:37 PM Eastern Daylight Time, jtagli1@uic.edu
> writes:
>
> << think a silly early '80's that Colnago ran spoke tons about the emphasis
> of marketing over quality. The ad showed a relieved Colnago bottom bracket
> being heated by a torch,heated cherry red. Yup, that's quality. >>
>
> Actually it is not all that bad. Ever heard of hearth brazing? You have any
> idea how warm those tube joints get? I wonder if Bob Jacksons and Mercian s
> are still made that way. Hand held torches at one time were not all that
> common.
> In any case, brass brazed bike joints have to be cherry red and actually in
> use, do just fine most of the time. How many Colnagos have you seen break
> from heat related damage? Zilch! They are hugely reliable. I have had, at
> cycles de ORO, more silver brazed bikes fail than traditionally made Italian
> bikes, but I think that is due to lack of experience and preparation rather
> than mode.
>
> Dale Brown