... taking up from where I left last time. The frame had been in he jig, and all the angles were set, and all tubes had been aligned and pinned in place. I then pulled it all apart and in one push (so I didn't get rust on the tubes again) I cleaned the tubes, gave the insides of the lug sockets a quick whiz with a sanding drum to get rid of any oxides, and then washed all of the tubes in hot soapy water, inside and out. A quick wipe down with some disc brake cleaner to get rid of any oily fingerprints and then the whole frame went back together with some flux.



Back in the jig and pinned up again...



....before tacking the points of the lugs down with a little silver. Then out of the jig, check the alignment and into the repair stand for the full braze. The first couple of frames I made, I brazed them in the jig, but there is a body of thought out there on the interwebs that the frame needs to be free to expand or contract during the brazing process so as not to introduce stresses and distortions. Whatever the thinking behind it, it seems to work, as my last two frames have been spot on in alignment.



In the repair stand and ready to go. Despite an issue with my acectylene regulator while brazing, it all went really well. The off to the soak tank to soak the flux off.



Sorry son, you can't play until the flux has all gone. OK, so my soak tank is my toddler's wading pool. You make do.



Flux soaked off, and a little 240 grit later...



Looking good. Frame angles stayed spot on - 73 degree seat tube and 73.5 degree head tube. You can see an excess of silver on the head tube above the top lug. Since that extra tube will get cut off in the facing process, it's a good place to draw any excess silver during the brazing process so the leg shorelines don't end up looking gloopy.



I get to take a little break from this until next Friday, when I get the mudguards. I want to make sure that the rear end I build will work with the mudguards DB plans to use, so I won't cut the chainstays until I have all the bits. So until then, some more clean-up on the lugs, some major cleanup in the shed, and a full week of work.