Making a fancy alignment gauge - Framebuilding 101 with Paul Brodie 

Thank you Richard.

I'm not a fan of those big heavy alignment tables.

GNC meets Augustin Hincapie video is interesting. He shares what gives his alignments style. An accomplished coincidence just happens to stop by too.

Thank you Ulrik. Mitch and I are still having fun making videos, so that's good news!

There is definitely something about riding a bicycle you made yourself. I would suggest starting with a simple design, without the fancy stuff such as internal cable routing, belt drive, etc. Making your own jigs and fixtures can also be very satisfying. Good luck, and thanks for watching!

Thanks Michael. That's great you want to do better. I find it's never ending process. Hope you get a lathe and make another frame!

Thanks William 👍 you almost spelt my name right :)

humble apologies ,the old grey matter must`ve flipped out briefly there Paul, soon remedied that ! 😉😄

@@MegaTubescreamer Not the first time, and won't be the last!

Thanks Leigh.

Thank you Sam :)

So far we have managed one video a week, and we're still having fun. Thanks for liking the quality!

I do have a proper tapping head for my mill, and do use it when I have multiple threads to cut.

We have taken note of your request. It might actually happen:) Thanks for watching!

@@paulbrodie Awesome! Thanks for the content, really inspiring stuff.

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for watching!

Thank you Daoyan.

I just like #makingstuff.

Thank you CCB :)

As long as it does the job, that really all that matters!

Thank you Timothy.

Thank you Ben. The total length is 26.3". Length from centre of the BB plate to centre of the pointer screw is 16". Good luck!

Don't worry, frame alignment is coming up in future videos. Patience please!

"pithy bikes" has done many videos on amateur bike building from scratch and various tests for alignment.

Yes, I just got a white shouldered peahen!

Be carful where you step and don't wander under there roust.

We have them too, like the sound they make. Awesome content!

Just found your comment after 2 months! Send me an email and I will measure for you. Thanks.

If it's a very small tap handle with a beautiful shape that came from my father, and he got it from England when we lived there in the 60's. My digital vernier is Mituitoyo, Japanese made. Highly recommended. Thanks for watching!

Using a tool like this to check the twist is not a good idea. It really only does one thing. If you have a sliding arm then there will be some "slop" so the tool becomes less effective. I sense you are trying to reinvent the wheel. Why?

@@paulbrodie yea been thinking about that sliding part too, and ended up thinking to lengthen the flat machined part instead 🤔 Idk why maybe because my lack of knowledge about framebuilding tools i just wanting to make this tool so the tip can reach head tube

@@31.8mm Yes, there is no real reason the end of the tool has to reach the head tube.

I made a bike and it got stolen. I hope you do make a nice bike and ride it! And it never gets stolen...

@@paulbrodie they're out there somewhere

That was me once, and then I learned how to make stuff. You can do that too. Thanks for watching!

If we're talking about the same cases, I took the 6 speed transmission out of them and made a new housing for them that fits into Ruby Racer...

I think you got it figured out. Thanks for watching.

The BB is always distorted after brazing or welding. But, because the tubes are in the middle of the BB and the brazing / welding is equal on both sides, I make the assumption that the distortion is equal and so my alignment tool will work perfectly. If you put the same frame on a surface table, you will not get the same result. That's why I am not a fan of aligning on a surface table. To align only a front triangle, you would have to face and chase and that seems like an extra step that would have to be repeated.

@@paulbrodie Why do you use the faces of the BB instead of the BB itself (inside)?. Any small irregularity caused in tacking or brazing will increase a lot with the distance. Why don't you like the alignment table? thanks!

@@andresarregui3417 OK, I will tell you my alignment story. At Brodie Bikes we built over 4000 frames using an alignment gauge similar to this one. I still have it. Using a big surface table seemed like a good idea, but we never had one. Years later I was teaching Framebuilding 101 at the University and building show bikes to take to NAHBS to promote the course. At NAHBS one year, a couple of booths over, was a company selling frame building tools and they had surface tables to align a whole frame. I figured it would be good to have one in class, and the University got a very good price. When it arrived, I set it up, and aligned a frame. Then flipped it over to double check. It was out quite a bit. I checked the original side, and it wasn't exactly like I first checked it. I phoned the manufacturer who sold it to me, and explained what had happened.. "Oh no", he said, " you never flip the frame over, you only put it on the table the same side it goes on your frame jig." To me, that made no sense. I had been used to double checking for many, many years. We argued for over half an hour, and never agreed. If I can't flip a frame over to double check, how can I trust the process? At the University, we had that surface table for about 5 years. Students got shown both methods, and had the choice of using either the surface table or alignment gauge. How many students chose the surface table to align their frame? Not one.

@@paulbrodie Well, students are students, they are learning, wouldnt trust them (i too teach at the uni) perhaps they chose that because it was faster?. Regarding the table, totally agree. If you measure two different things when fliping the frame on a surface plate/alignment table, the frame is off. No way around it, align means symmetrical with respect to the center plane of the frame. Found the table is only good for removing HT twist, a good way to hold a check what you are doing while cold setting. What i dont get is why you use the faces of the BB as a reference. Wouldnt it be more correct using the actual threads of the BB? You dont care what happens with the BB but how paralel is the chainring to the plane of the frame.

@@paulbrodie BTW, tubes are never straight or homogeneous in thickness or grain. The have anisotropic properties, i dont expect them to move the same ways on both sides. We always tack and braze (im sure you do the same) in an order that depends where each frame wants to move, thats because of that. When a frame tends to go a certain direction is because how those particular tubes are absorbing the heat and distorting. Thoughts?

Yes it's a copy of a Dynabrade Dynafile. I bought the arm and rubber wheel, bought a cheap air motor, made the side plates and mounts, and saved $400. That was in 1986...

@@paulbrodie brilliant!

No, but I have a carbon fork on my steel road bike.

That must have been when Covid first hit and the hair saloons shut down..

@@paulbrodie LOL.

@@paulbrodie I don't have that problem, i just have a spring moult.lol