Carving in harmony
Having finished the laminating and building means one thing, carving!
The most enjoyable part, carving, basically means taking the blank piece of timber and slowly chipping away at it to reveal the full potential of the frame. Unlike the second prototype, the form for this frame was unclear when I began to take away material, however I shortly realised where I wanted to take my frame.
The frame consists of lots of hard edges, so to help soften that, I’m rounding out the down tube and top tube to tear drop shapes, then keeping the rear triangle and headtube fairly rectangular with chamfers rather than curves. This means a transition from harsh frontal area to a softer ‘belly’ returning to the harsh rear triangle. A frame that is in constant change.
However, this is all moot without the seat tube, as I cannot judge how the frame will appear without the vital organs. I’ve still yet to hear from the bicycle frame company that supplies the steel, so it should be another week before I get all the parts to assemble, which means this frame should be finished in about two weeks.
Tomorrow all the holes for the frame will be cut and parts will be ready to slot in once they arrive!
Zheng Chin Design 