This article is part of a series I’m writing about my experience taking a two week bicycle frame building class from master framebuilder Doug Fattic.

My classmate, Robert, tests his torch before beginning his first braze.

Wednesday was an exciting day, our first stab at brazing. Doug warned this would be our toughest day. In my opinion it was not the toughest by far (see my last post), but as I finish the day, I was bone tired.

For those unfamiliar, brazing is a form of welding where you use a metal such as silver or brass to form the bonds on the joints. In our case we are using silver, considered by many to be best for beginners since its melting temperature is well below that which would damage the strength of the steel tubing.

This was my first experience wielding a torch, and I was a bit nervous. After a brief lesson on brazing technique, Doug set us loose brazing scrap pieces for practice. I did my first piece under the supervison of Doug’ assistant, Herbie, and it went very well. This gave me a false sense of confidence as my second practice with Doug watching didn’t go so well. However by the third try, I was getting the hang of it.

My fork crown brazed and ready for fork blades.

I was excited at this point to braze my seat tube to the bottom bracket, but we ran out of time with only my classmate Andrew get a chance to do it. This was just as well as I was exhausted. I don’t know if it was the initial enthusiasm of the class wearing off or my brain needing a break, but I hit the hay early.

On Thursday, we began work in our forks. We were sent to do a practice braze on a scrap fork crown and prep our actual forks for brazing. This involved a lot of filing (surprise, surprise.) I was happy to do another practice as I had slept since my last braze. Doug was busy hopping between students as we are all at different stages. Andrew is the furthest along as he has brazed before and feels less need for practice.

Robert brazes his fork crown to his steerer.

I, on the other hand, am taking my time and trying to get as much supervison as possible. I’m at the stage where I have just enough knowledge to be dangerous. As a counter to our growing confidence, Robert did an initial spot braze (to hold everything together during the full braze) of his seat tube and did not realize until later it was in the wrong hole on his bottom bracket. The error was fixed without any harm (thanks to some double torch action), but we are constantly reminded that we are not master frame builders by any means.

By the end of Thursday, my fork crown and seat tube were brazed as well as my fork being ready for assembly. I’m feeling much progress yet there is still much to do. Although i’ve called it a day, I’m confident shooting flames will inhabit my dreams.

Read the next post in the series, Rest Day Recap.

Read the previous post in the series,  Day 2, There will be blood!.

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