I thought I should inject here some comments regarding filet brazing.
Norman Taylor was lauded for his filet brazing experience and skills. JT bikes are way cool; I have one beauty in my collection that I value immensely. Plus I have handled and owned a large number of Taylors and can say that the joinery skills are very competently done... but "industrial" in aesthetics. It's true that Norman never dressed or finished his fileted joints, and that is relatively apparent. There are uneven sections, little ledges and lumpinesses that show his "hand", sort of like noticeable file marks in other frames...
But if you want to see that level of strength and integrity and more yet with higher & more refined artisan skills, you need to look at Tom Ritchey or John (Landshark) Slawta's work. These guys lay down an initial filet that has an almost perfectly blended radius, virtually no ripple or variance in the profile. I have a raw untouched tubing joint by Slawta at my shop that any of you could examine and you will see that John barely has to touch the filet before going to paint. There are other North American (many mountain bike & Off topic) guys who also have developed this craft/skill/art to a very very high level. It is a simply unparralled and amazing level of handwork
It can be argued that there is no useful purpose to "sweat the look" to this degree, that the bike is a tool, yada yada, but these builders who can do it, do it amazingly well. Better than any before them! Even (gasp) vintage/classic builders!
You know I love the old stuff BUT the current top makers of steel bikes (don't make me list them) are making the best crafted bicycles ever made, period (my humble opinion.)
My three cents, Dale
Dale Brown cycles de ORO, Inc. 1410 Mill Street Greensboro, NC 27408 USA 336-274-5959 http://www.cyclesdeoro.com http://www.classicrendezvous.com
-----Original Message----- From: freitas1@pacbell.net To: magpie@blackbirdsf.org Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Sent: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 11:22 AM Subject: [CR]re:Jack Taylor Fillet brazed frames
Joel probably knows but the Fillet frames are extremely light even with the additional brass. I had always thought a lugged frame would be lighter. My Marathon Tourist is one of my lightest bikes BOB FREITAS gray skies in MILL VALLEY,CA
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