September 09, 2011

Welding the rear tabs

I finally broke down and bought a gas cylinder in order to do MIG welding.  After some test welding I jumped back into the trike project.  The pics that follow show the two sets of tabs which connect the rear triangle to the main bike frame.  Why two sets of tabs?  I wanted to leave myself the option to use a 20 inch wheel in the rear, or a 26 inch.  The top one is for the smaller wheel.



What I'm not showing is the steps I took to determine exactly where the tabs should be on the seat post. I setup the frame on the ground at the height I wanted using scrap wood and tool boxes.  Then I positioned the shock to the upright piece and held it there with magnets.  Then I removed the wheel and propped up the entire frame on my bench vice so the welding area was horizontal.  Welding vertically or upside down is tricky so best to avoid it.

Once I clean up the welds I hope it will look decent and hold well.  It was a tight spot - impossible to weld in between the tabs, but I think I got good penetration on the parts I covered.  Next up - tackling the dreaded side arms.

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