John Betmanis raised the question about just how Norman Taylor managed to p roduce such smooth beads of brazing on his lugless frames, by just using th e welding torch.
Some dozen or so years ago I had the great pleasure, while sharing a very l arge pork pie with Norman and Jack at the CTC's York Rally, of asking Norma n this very same question...or at least almost the same.
I asked Norman how much time he spent in filing up the beads, whether he di d the finishing as the frame-building process went from stage to stage, joi nt to joint, if he filed up each joint as soon as he had brazed it..or whet her he completed the whole frame and then set about filing it.
For some long years I had been building a lot of lugless frames, including some tandems, and I had developed the system of filing up each weld as I we nt along eg the head tube to top tube joint, before this assembly was joind to the down tube or the seat tube. To my mind there was nothing more diffi cult, time-consuming, and awkward than trying to hold a completed frame, ma in triangle and stays intact, in a vice, and trying to perform accurate a nd fine finshing of the welded joints. I suppose that in asking Norman the question I assumed that after so many decades of frame-building, he must ha ve perfected a technique that he could offer to slightly younger builders s uch as myself.
I remember Norman cocking his head to one side a little, screwing his eyes up inscrutably as he pondered the depth of my questioning, or perhaps the sun was shining in his direction, and delivering in his Geordy accent thes e words of wisdom " I dont!"
He went on to explain that after welding a joint, he would change the torch 's nozzle for the smallest in the box and just use it to "tickle over the r ipples...smooth them out...like" As Jack explained, in order to provide add itional clarification - "We're frame-builders, lad, not mechanical engineer s!"
I think that one of the last shots on the film made of the Taylor's buildin g techniques, shows Norman holding a tandem frame vertically. As he revolve s it with one hand, with the frame's rear drop-out acting as a pivot agains t the floor of the workshop, with a torch in the other hand he is gently wa fting the tip of the tiny flame over a bead of bronze welding material.
To summarise the technique further Norman added, "And what doesn't come off when we sand-blast the frame just stops on."
The technique of gently flushing the ripples of a bead of welded bronze int o a smooth surface is not a difficult one..as long as the flame is ve ry small and you keep it moving over the bead, flicking it gently and caref ully from side to side. The process is better than Valium for calming the nerves !
Norris Lockley...Settle UK