| Project by ckorkyrun89 | posted 02-11-2013 04:13 AM | 4171 views | 1 time favorited | 5 comments |  |
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This project isn’t so much about wood as it is about using wood as a fixture for making a custom mountain bike fork. I used MDF with a double layer glued together as the base for the jig. At the time I had access to a Metal Mill with a digital readout so I drilled all the holes in the base plate with that to ensure everything would line up during welding. All of the smaller wooden parts are one layer of MDF and were also made with the metal mill. The bike fork was just for fun. I had recently learned how to TIG weld and use both a metal mill and metal lathe. It is a combination of all of those plus some general metal fabrication.
Overall it was a fun build and it did end up accurate enough that the wheel stayed in the middle of the fork through all of the travel. I rode on it for a few weeks but it ended up hung up on the wall. Although I might not use wood again for something that I am welding, it worked very well.
5 comments so far
mtenterprises
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#1 posted 02-11-2013 10:20 AM
Very interesting, an Earls front fork for a bicycle. The same front fork used on my Ural mororcycle. How does it ride and steer?
MIKE
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Bluepine38
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#2 posted 02-11-2013 02:32 PM
Definitely a different suspension fork. How did the bike handle? I used to go through two or three cassettes
and chains a year on both the mountain and road bike, but have slowed down lately. Thank you for sharing.
-- As ever, Gus-the 80 yr young apprentice carpenter
helluvawreck
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#3 posted 02-11-2013 02:35 PM
That looks like it would take some abuse. Nice job.
helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
-- helluvawreck aka Charles, http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
Ken90712
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#4 posted 02-11-2013 05:49 PM
Very interesting, would be interested in how it works as well… well done.
-- Ken, "Everyday above ground is a good day!"
ckorkyrun89
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#5 posted 02-11-2013 05:53 PM
The fork was pretty interesting to ride on. It handled normally up until I used the brakes and then lifted the front end of the bike up. It was just something to get used to.
I ended up taking it off for fear of it breaking while riding and getting hurt pretty badly.
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