joel metz wrote
>
> yes, but what about jack taylors! norman is reasonably known for
> *not* filing his filets! (believe it or not - but thats what
> friends who have apprenticed in the taylor works tell me! ) :)
I have seen enough lugless Taylors with the paint off to tell you for sure that they were only minimally filed or not at all. I have also known several other classic and modern builders who developed their fillet brazing skill to the degree that no filing was needed.
<brag> I stopped filing my fillets (with rare exceptions) in the late 80s, and I doubt any of my customers noticed. After 10 years or so of filing and sanding, I was tired of it! Also 10 years of brazing is how long it takes to get that good. (Well maybe 5 if you're a natural!)
Then I started using thinner, lighter tubes on lugless frames, partly as a result - even the most careful smoothing of the fillet thins the steel, at least a little.
My own tandem has .6/.3 (lightest bike frame tubing ever made) for the internal bracing tubes, .7/.4 for the top tube, .7 plain gauge for the bottom (keel) tube. Such thin tubing also needs a fast technique with minimal heat input. Ironically I found that the faster I went (to a point) the smoother they came out. The degree of concentration that takes is very exhausting though - I frequently had to take breaks from brazing to do other framebuilding chores - doing nothing but brazing all day in a factory setting would be hellish, to me anyway. As much as I love it.
I have had some people who see those fillets think I am kidding (or lying) when I say they are in the as-brazed condition. </brag>
Mark Bulgier
Seattle WA USA