Hello folks,
I’ve posted some photos of my new ride at unicyclist.com in the gallery section. It’s a homemade carbon muni with 26" wheel. Brakes are yet to be installed as I’m still working on the mounts.
Cheers, Greg
RE: New unicycle!
Hubba hubba… um… hubba! Care to divulge any details on how you made the
frame???
How much does the frame weigh in at? I have a Wilder and am terrified of
being jealous 
Neil
-----Original Message-----
From: rsu-admin@unicycling.org [mailto:rsu-admin@unicycling.org]On Behalf Of
Greg Moore
Sent: 27 February 2002 16:24
To: rsu@unicycling.org
Subject: New unicycle!
Hello folks,
I’ve posted some photos of my new ride at unicyclist.com in the gallery
section. It’s a homemade carbon muni with 26" wheel. Brakes are yet to be
installed as I’m still working on the mounts.
Cheers, Greg
Here is the link:
http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/album27
Was this molded- or built up over foam core (I presume foam core)? Did you vacume bag, or wrap puncture tape? If it was molded, how did you set the bearing bracket (epoxy/microballoons?), and did you insolate the alluminium with glass? If on a foam core, how did you finish the surface? If on a mold, did you just use PVA, or did you also use a gel coat? If a gel coat, did you find a cheep way to apply it?
Christopher
Greg,
The bearing brackets look Sweet! What did you use to bore the holes? Is the bottom of the bearing hole flat?
Christopher
Uhh… and… just one more… (for now)…
6061 T-6 or 7005-T6?
Christopher
Re: New unicycle!
> How much does the frame weigh in at? I have a Wilder and am terrified of
being jealous
I think you’re safe Neil, weight wasn’t really a priority for this one. I
haven’t weighed the frame but I’ll try to find a scale and post the results.
> Here is the link:
http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/album27
Thanks Christopher. I’m not the swiftest computer user.
The frame is a one off. I considered using foam for the core but decided to
go with red cedar instead. The cedar contributes tons of compression
strength which allowed me to orient the carbon for maximum strength in other
directions. I used a router to cut mortises in the leg bottoms for the
dropouts. After cutting the mortises I milled the cheeks off replacing them
with laminated cheeks of cedar, fiberglass, and epoxy (no filler). The
cheeks were laminated onto the legs on opposite diagonals so no line of
weakness passes across the fork leg. I hope that makes sense. What I ended
up with is a fiberglass socket 1 1/4" deep at the bottom of each fork leg to
accept a stub tennon milled on the bearing retainers. The seat tube is
similarly installed so there is no aluminum to carbon contact. The carbon
was hand laid over the cedar. The layup was not vacuum bagged which results
in a high resin to carbon ratio which is weaker and heavier but more
resilient. The 5/16" radius on the fork legs was a bear. A layer of 1 1/5 oz
e-glass was laid up over the carbon for impact and abrasion resistance. The
bearing retainers were done by a retired 86 year old machinist who is blind
in one eye and shakes like a leaf. Humbling eh? He did the bearing seat
using a boring bar on a lathe. The seat is shouldered both sides. The stub
tennon was milled with a shaper. I shaped the outside of the blocks with a
router. The bearing blocks are bolted together with allen head cap screws. I
drilled/tapped two additional #10 holes in the bottom of each bearing
retainer so I can insert cap screws at a later date to help with landing on
logs etc. This is waaaay off in the future for me but it doesn’t hurt to
dream right? The aluminum parts were anodized using a diy setup in the
carport. The bearing retainers are epoxied into the forks legs. The fit is
very tight so no filler was used. The yellow paint is a two part
polyurethane over zinc chromate primer. The seat bumpers were green (yuck!)
until I applied a PO primer and the same polyurethane paint. I don’t expect
the paint to last long on the bumpers but the photos have been taken so I
don’t care. There’s room above the tire for a fender which is the next
installment. It will be removeable with lights for commuting. I’m still
working on the mounts for the Magura hydraulic brakes and will be making a
custom blade/lever to make using the brake easier.
A side note on the machinist Bruce White. I hadn’t met Bruce prior to this
project and now have a good friend. Unicycling is awesome!
Thanks for reading.
Cheers, Greg
Re: New unicycle!
> 6061 T-6 or 7005-T6?
>
> Christopher
Not sure
Cheers, Greg
Re: New unicycle!
> 6061 T-6 or 7005-T6?
>
> Christopher
Not sure
Cheers, Greg
I have NO idea what any of that stuff chris was asking meant, but I do know that you built one incredible machine. I am really looking forward to finding out the final weight though.
-David Kaplan
That’s a beautiful union of art and engineering, Greg. The color choice is very appealing especially with the seat bumpers done to match.
I think the other aluminum alloy is 7075, not 7005. Is this the numerical equivalent to being spelling impaired, Chris?
Damn that thing is a beast. Not sure what any of that jargon meant, but damn.
Re: New unicycle!
>Damn that thing is a beast.
Beast is right!
that thing looks absolutely beautiful, Im very impressed. Makes mine look like an amateur job (well, it is)
how did you get the carbon to stay down over the leading and trailing edges, especially through the crown area? Looks to me like it took a LOT of time and patience to get it that good.
Are you going to post a step-by-step how to? Id love to see it, and maybe even give it a go myself!
Job well done.
Leo Yu
Sydney Australia
Re: New unicycle!
Wow, GREAT color choice! Yes I don’t think the yellow will last long on the
bumpers, but man is it beautiful now. If you end up using the Miyata handle
for long, you might want to tape it (black of course) for extra comfort.
What seatpost did you use? Any special reason you went with the 26x3 tire
(other than very recent Gazz unavailabilty) over 24x3? It looks MASSIVE!
There is a minor spelling error on the photo page: cabon instead of carbon.
Let us know how it rides once you’ve put it through the paces.
—Nathan
“Greg Moore” <gmoore@island.net> wrote in message
news:mailman.1014826789.22140.rsu@unicycling.org…
Hello folks,
I’ve posted some photos of my new ride at unicyclist.com in the gallery
section. It’s a homemade carbon muni with 26" wheel. Brakes are yet to be
installed as I’m still working on the mounts.
Cheers, Greg