# Chainstay Dimpling



## toddre (Mar 1, 2004)

Anyone have any tips or tricks?
Plus, which is better, setting the dimples horizontal or vertical?
Thanks guys


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## toddre (Mar 1, 2004)

OKAYEEEEE....thanks for the help everyone


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## Yogii (Jun 5, 2008)

Setting the dimples horizontal? What would you gain? Why even have dimples then?
I'm missing something..........


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## jay_ntwr (Feb 15, 2008)

toddre said:


> OKAYEEEEE....thanks for the help everyone


Lots of that going around right now. I guess everyone is busy actually building frames. I do remember seeing something that Walt posted a while back where he used (a socket I think) to dimple them right were the tire would be about 2mm deep. It's on this forum, so do a search and it should pop up.

Sorry I can't help, I'm not to the chainstays yet.

EDIT:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=403711


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## Cracked Headtube (Apr 16, 2006)

Toddre, I've used various tools around the shop and just squashed it in a vise, It worked but wasn't too pretty. 
At UBI we modified an old Park Tool to do this. Which ever tool it was, is retired. It was comprised of 2 'hooks' that would be place on the opposite side of the 'to-be-dimpled' side. Where we wanted the dimple was a driving screw, similar to a crank arm extracting tool. That part did the dimpling. I hope that makes since.


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## Linnaeus (May 17, 2009)

Arbor press and any piece of scrap that suits your fancy will also do the trick.


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## SuspectDevice (Apr 12, 2004)

C clamp, delrin, and a little bit of lathe time...


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## toddre (Mar 1, 2004)

Great tips. Thanks guys.
Yogii- maybe a "crimpizontally might have been a better choice of words,.
Jay- thanks for the link, I did do a search but must have missed that one(thank you Walt, too)
I think I'll try a test crimp/dimple. I'm trying to fit some straight stays on a cross bike so I don't know if it will work. I might just have to go with bent stays.


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2009)

*here is what i came up with*

I just machined these steel blocks with a ball end mill and smoothed out the ends to avoid stress risers. works well, makes a kinda star shape on larger tubes. i just press in a press or vice.


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## Schmitty (Sep 7, 2008)

It's been covered a million times yo....hence few replies.


-Schmitty-


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## shiggy (Dec 19, 1998)

toddre said:


> Anyone have any tips or tricks?
> Plus, which is better, setting the dimples horizontal or vertical?
> Thanks guys


Horizontal. A vertical dimple becomes a hinge.


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## unterhausen (Sep 28, 2008)

SuspectDevice said:


> C clamp, delrin, and a little bit of lathe time...


Do you have pictures from other angles?


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## SC RockLobster (Jul 22, 2007)

I have seen a frame builder i know use a iron golf club. whatever tool does the job and is close at hand.


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## Evil4bc (Apr 13, 2004)

I made a dimpleing tool from a older BMX stem 
Cut the clamping surface off , machined the front and back flat and made a hole in the center of the face plate .
Took the head off a ballpeen hammer and ground it to fit through the hole in the stem .
MAchined the end of the ball been flat , left the rounded end for dimpling .

then you clamp the stay ( 7/8 OD in this case ) into the stem and fixture everything in a vise then use a arbor press to make the dimples by pressing the ball peen head into the stays ever so slightly .


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## mack_turtle (Jan 6, 2009)

(yes, ancient thread.)

I tried this on my CX bike last night. this is a 3" c-clamp from Harbor Freight. I don't think I put any kind of dent in the tube. I know HF is not the best quality stuff available by a long shot, but is a c-clamp the wrong tool for the job, or are the HF tools really _that_ bad?









I should probably throw in the towel on this project. I am going to end up ruining my frame alignment in the process. I am certainly not a frame builder but anyone on here who has had experience with dimpling chaintays post-production might have some ideas.


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## hillm (Jan 6, 2019)

I have used a very similar method to dimple stays. Im really good at building a frame and forgetting the chainstay dimples, so have done it post construction a few times. Id say just get a better clamp, maybe find something to put on the end so the shape is a bit nicer. I just filed a lump of al into a nice rounded shape, then attached it to the clamp


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## Cord (Dec 10, 2006)

I’ve modified motorbike subframe tubes (making clearance for wiring harness) using this method. You REALLY need to make a piece to both support the tube to hold its diameter, and another to form the actual dimple in the correct shape. Oh yeah, and more importantly, buy a quality clamp !!!


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## mack_turtle (Jan 6, 2009)

Cord said:


> I've modified motorbike subframe tubes (making clearance for wiring harness) using this method. You REALLY need to make a piece to both support the tube to hold its diameter, and another to form the actual dimple in the correct shape. Oh yeah, and more importantly, buy a quality clamp !!!


I was using a rounded tool on the inside and supporting the outside of the tube with a curved bracket on the other side. in theory, this should have worked. I looked at dozens of similar DIY setups and I found a way to duplicate the best ones that work on a frame that has already been welded (most of the really good ones were in production shops and performed on tubes that have not been welded yet.)

I am starting to think that if I had used a "quality clamp" I would have damaged the frame beyond (practical) repair. if I botch the frame, no one will weld it for less than what the frame is worth (the whole bike was $600) and a new frame is nowhere near being in my budget this year, which has lead me to this point.


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## Cord (Dec 10, 2006)

If you are supporting the outside so that it cannot deform, then you just need to get brave, and get a far more robust clamp. Go for it.


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## life behind bars (May 24, 2014)

Hobo Freight clamps are junk.


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## mack_turtle (Jan 6, 2009)

anyone have a suggestion for a stronger tool that they know from personal experience will work?


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## life behind bars (May 24, 2014)

mack_turtle said:


> anyone have a suggestion for a stronger tool that they know from personal experience will work?


A proper C-Clamp, arbor press, large bench vice.


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## mack_turtle (Jan 6, 2009)

who makes a "proper c-clamp"? what *specific* product am I looking for? I don't want to buy a dozen of them and find out the hard way that 11 of them are going to shatter.

There's not enough room in there for an arbor press, likewise for my bench vice. yes, I have a big old bench vice and I can't fit it in there because there's not enough space.

in the meanwhile, i changed my gearing to make a little more space. at 38/16, I can ride everything I want but the swinging dropouts need to be almost all the way forward for a chain to wrap around the freewheel and ring. at 40/16, I had to add a link and swing the axle back a few mm. not sure if the additional knee-killing gear inches are going to be worth the extra space, though.


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## Little_twin (Feb 23, 2016)

mack_turtle said:


> anyone have a suggestion for a stronger tool that they know from personal experience will work?


I use an old mill vise but that's on raw unwelded chainstays. I doubt you'd be able to get a complete rear end around the jaws. I've also seen modified vise grip get used.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Eric Malcolm (Dec 18, 2011)

mack_turtle said:


> (yes, ancient thread.)
> 
> I tried this on my CX bike last night. this is a 3" c-clamp from Harbor Freight. I don't think I put any kind of dent in the tube. I know HF is not the best quality stuff available by a long shot, but is a c-clamp the wrong tool for the job, or are the HF tools really _that_ bad?
> 
> ...


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## Redlands R&C (Dec 14, 2013)

mack_turtle said:


> who makes a "proper c-clamp"? what *specific* product am I looking for?


This is marginally helpful at best, mostly entertaining, but I've enjoyed this channel https://www.youtube.com/c/HydraulicPressChannel/videos

It has made me re-consider tools myself as I have cheap stuff/shop leftovers and I often find them lacking for the jobs I need to do. Budget of course comes into play...


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## life behind bars (May 24, 2014)

mack_turtle said:


> who makes a "proper c-clamp"? what *specific* product am I looking for? I don't want to buy a dozen of them and find out the hard way that 11 of them are going to shatter.


https://www.amazon.com/Kant-Twist-4...R8HG4NSY52H&psc=1&refRID=59S6K4DPVR8HG4NSY52H

Search Kant Twist, you'll find a plethora of very stout clamps. A large steel vice would be my choice if you have the room and can find one.


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## jsudar (Dec 9, 2011)

I have used a ball joint press for things like this in the past. It's a 5 ton clamp 
I'm pretty sure AutoZone rents them.

Another method I used: I dimpled the stays on my frame, post paint, using an oak block filed to match the side of the stay I did not want dimpled, a heavy piece of leather and a large pair of Vise-Grip pliers. I only needed to gain about 2mm, but it took a lot more force than I expected. I didn't even scratch the paint.
There are some pics near the bottom of this thread.

https://forums.mtbr.com/frame-building/sudars-first-frame-1083268.html


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