Hi George,
Thanks! I have attached the build sheet for this frame. I do not understand why the numbers don't match. As both these bikes went to Adams ave., I must have somehow switched the forks before they got painted.
I have build sheets (as in the attached files) for most of the bikes I made in Portland. Does anyone want to take on the job of putting them in a web site or just dealing with them?
Jim Merz Big Sur CA
-----Original Message----- From: George Allen [mailto:jgallen@lexairinc.com] Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2008 9:01 AM To: Jim Merz Subject: [SPAM]Re: [CR]Luged Ti frames
Jim,
Unrelated to the present topic but I just wanted to let you know that I recently purchased a touring frame made by you from Brian Baylis. It looks to have been painted by Joe Bell in 1986. The serial numbers are AB239 on the fork and JL235 on the BB. I collect frames from American frame builders. I must admit the build quality of your frame is second to none and, not to name drop, but that includes an Eisentraut "A", a Weigle, a Wizard, a Gordon, a Gangl, a Sachs, a Moulton, a Carlsbad twin-plate and a Kvale. I haven't built it up yet. I hope to get to it this winter. I plan on using it as a Randoneuse for some brevets next summer. Do you have any idea on when you built it and what tubing you used? Again, it truly is a beautiful frame.
All the Best,
George Allen Lexington, KY USA
Jim Merz wrote:
>
>
>Subject: Luged Ti frames
>
>
>
>Back when I was building frames in Portland I ran Into Pino Morroni. He
used
>to visit Portland as he had a crush on a young female national track
>champion Kathy Eckroth. He gave one of the very few Pino Ti luged frames to
>her to race. Berringer did the brazing, he was the world expert on brazing.
>I asked Berringer how he did it and he would not tell me. It turns out the
>early Ti tubing was made in Albany Oregon, I think the company was called
>Oregon Metallurgical. I went there and met the guy that did the tubing for
>Pino. It was a big buck project and as I remember Bianchi paid for it. The
>stays were even tapered. Anyway, they did not know how to braze Ti so I
kept
>checking around. I ended up at the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Albany Research
>Center http://www.netl.doe.gov/
>http://www.netl.doe.gov/about/arc_history.html and somehow the head of the
>lab liked me or something. Anyway he spent a whole day showing me this
>amazing place. They had basically developed all the technology for
Zirconium
>production in the USA, used for reactors and atom bombs. But Titanium is
>very similar and they did the work on it also. He showed me a 3 speed bike
>they made in the 1950's using Ti for the frame, I am sure the first one
>ever. Anyway, he looked into the brazing and came back with a gold based
>alloy and it had to be done in a vacuum. All this was way out of my limited
>resources at the time. I did make some parts from Ti in the 1970's, I had
>friends working at Precision Cast Parts. They made aircraft engine parts
>from Ti and I got some "G" job work done for me.
>
>
>
>Jim Merz
>
>Big Sur CA
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
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