does anyone have blue prints or something of that sort for making a uni frame? i prefer flat crown but if it is a strong unicrown it might be better of(i ride more trials than anything). any ways it just has to be sumthing i can make and has to be strong! thanks in adavnce.
-Phil
What tools do you have? What materials do you want to use? How much experience do you have using these tools on said materials? I have complete drawings for a titanium hunter-esque frame somewhere on my shelves, but how many people on this forum can skillfully bend, weld, and machine titanium? I know I’m not one of them. “Sumthing I can make” is an awfulyl open statement. Making something even as simple as a unicycle frame can be quite a project.
I’m building another machined aluminum trials frame for the heck of it (well, to justify not buying a second milling machine, long story), and if you want I can send you some drawings. Still, though, you need access to and expertise on a milling machine and preferrably a lathe as well. This isn’t the ideal beginner project, being as the seattube-crown interface is a 0.002" interference fit. You ideally would need tolerances of +/- 0.0005" for that, and aligning and setting up the cuts for the bearings ain’t easy either.
The material is 6061-T651 aluminum. You need a piece of plate about 24"x1/2"x4" for the legs, a chunk 2"x5"x4" for the crown, and a tube 1.5"ODx1.25"IDx~8-10" long for the seattube. You would need at minimum a milling machine that accepts tooling at least with 1/2" shanks. It must have at the very least 13" of travel on the x axis, 6" on the y, and 4" in Z. Some of the cuts are very rough ont he machine, and even machines as rigid as a bridgeport can show measurable flex.
For a lathe you need one that swings at least 6", prefferably 10 or 12. A vertical metalcutting bandsaw is extremely helpful.
For a beginner this project could take as long as 6 months, however if you already have machining experience, you could probably do it in about a week or so. Working intermittently after school between hw, I’ve done about 75% of the forklegs in about a week. All that’s left is to cut the bearing slots and locate and drill the bolt holes to attach to the crown.
My first version of this frame was adaquately strong, however it may not be for those who do 6’ drops without refined technique. I’ve abused it for about 4 months without any failures, though, so it must be decent.
Do a search, i’ve posted about frame design and construction many, many times (too many…). Others on this forum know more than me, but post less. If you can find posts by Showard or cyberbellum, they know a ton about designing these things, and can tell you more than me.
Ugh, long post, i hope it helps, assuming you read it…
Edit: If you want to weld the frame, well, taht’s another story. Assuming you’re already a skilled TIG welder and have the proper equipment, you could probably build a nice chromoly KH knockoff frame ina bout 2 days, assuming you used uni.com bearing holders. If you’re not a skilled welder, you still could probably do a decent stainless steel KH knockoff frame in about a week, assuming you already have bearing holders.
I’ve gone through a fair bit of this whole custom frame building stuff. I’m cureently having a beautiful muni frame built for me by a muni riding mate of mine. It will be really light and thin, because we’re both experimenting with the idea that there’s a lot of overkill in most muni frames you see. Here are several threads about both my original (a lont time ago) ideas and questions, and also the current project…
The current project (including a few CAD models, dimensions, etc)
Old project(s)
Andrew
one_man_pne_wheel is my previous account name and thank you very much thats so help full!
-Phil