“One step forward and two steps back;” That’s what my Dad used to tease me when I complained about the five block walk to school. He lived with his folks near Ewan Washington on a dry land wheat farm. He walked two miles to school and in the winter with drifting snow blowing hard he told me the he would take a step forward and the wind would blow him back two steps. I got suspicious when he told me the only way he got to school at all was to turn around and walk backwards.

Today was to be a big step forward. The first small pieces of the new bicycle brazed together. I jigged the pieces of the rear pivot together; set my fire-watch, Judy; and fired up the torch. It is a difficult join because I am brazing two pieces of ¼ inch steel to a piece of thin wall tubing. You must put all of the heat on the heavy piece and let it flow at the last moment to the tubing. I finished ¾ of the perimeter of the tubing. I than reset the piece in the vice to do the last bit. I applied heat to the heavy part again and the pressure of the vice opened up part of the completed seam, destroying my careful alignment.

I must now hack-saw the tubing off close to the steel parts and grind the brass off the pieces. I will then recreate the tubing and start over.

Afternoon report: I have now cut apart the assembly and filed off the remnants of the tubing thus salvaging my ¼ inch frame pieces. So I am back to where I was before I picked up my torch this morning.

One does get wiser from these experiences. Instead of clamping and holding the piece in the vice I have drilled a ¼ inch hole through the centerline of the 1 inch connecting tube. I will bolt the pieces together until I finish brazing. That way I can turn and work the piece as I need and the vice won’t siphon off all my heat.

I will try again in a day or two, stay tuned, I hope it works better than today.