# The jig is up.............



## Smokebikes (Feb 2, 2008)

Starting a picture heavy thread with all kinds of jigs used for frame building.......share and learn! :thumbsup: 
This is our first home-made jig.......cost was about $300 and lots of trial and error. It was a good first jig that made at least 10 frames.  

Let's see what ya'll use........pro and novice. :thumbsup:


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## Greske (Oct 13, 2009)

Nice


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## Live Wire (Aug 27, 2007)

Right on Gabe, beam jigs rule! Here's mine, definitely not a diy project as all surfaces are ground...this thing is straight!


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## themanmonkey (Nov 1, 2005)

My first personal jig was a bottom-up jig too. Since then I've used a Bike Machinery Hydra, Henry James Universal, and early Anvil, Fattic's flat lay-out thing, and I currently have a Nortac.


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## coconinocycles (Sep 23, 2006)

at UBI i used an Arctos. it was vague. then, i went to Vulture Cycles & built 3 more on his home made equipment. then, i started with a "picture frame" jig made by Jim Stein of JA Stein tool co. it worked just OK. all trig & measuring with no reference points. next was one made by Wade @ Vulture Cycles. kinda bringheli-esque. still needed allot of hands-on measuring & use of an angle finder. now i own a HJ access 65. very nice! worth every cent. i can set it up in about a minute. i did have a buddy make me a dummy axle cradle to use the Anvil dummy axles from all my fixtures. keyed D-Axles rule. Steve Garro, Coconino Cycles.


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## Blaster1200 (Feb 20, 2004)

I'd like to have one of the fancy jigs, but at my level of frame building, a bunch of right angle steel, lots of various size scraps of aluminum, and lots of clamps have been my jig of choice.

As you more experience builders can understand, I've truly learned a lot about angles, alignment, and welding process order using this method. And I've only built two frames using this technique. A fancier jig would make me no better at this point.

The "jig" for my rear triangle is equally simple - more right angle steel, scrap aluminum, various clamps, and a long 10 mm bolt. Sorry, I haven't taken a picture of this setup yes, as I've done it two different ways - and my third will yet be slightly different.

I have gathered a lot of parts to make a "real" jig, but quite frankly, I kind of like my crude methods. A perfectly aligned jig does not help me weld anything perfectly aligned. 

I have no aspirations of making framebuilding a business - it's just one of my hobbies.


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## nogod (May 30, 2009)

you guys are too pro for me. i just use my abundant beer cans.


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## Hubcap Cycles (Sep 6, 2009)

This one is not easy to build, wouldn't even want to guess how many hours I have in it. It is super quick to set up, (less than 5 minutes) extremely rigid and very accurate. To set the seat tube and head tube angle, just drop in a pin and tighten a couple of bolts. The angles are graduated in half degrees from 66 to 78. It also has graduations for bb drop, and the offset for the dummy fork. I can measure wheel base and front center before building. It has a lot of adjustability. I have built everything from BMX bikes to 29ers out of this jig. I do a solidworks drawing of all the frames I build, but it is not needed with this jig. I could set it up with the geometry list.
Cheers,
Hub
http://hubcapcycles.com


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## NEPMTBA (Apr 7, 2007)

nogod said:


> you guys are too pro for me. i just use my abundant beer cans.


 DUDE you r the man:

What kind of jig did you use?...LOL

AWESOME:thumbsup:


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## thefuzzbl (Jul 5, 2006)

*My jig*

Here is my jig. im no pro so setup time isnt a factor for me. This jig was built by someone local and it works out pretty well. i really have to watch angles and i use autocad to really draw everything up with the jig so i can make sure the geometry is correct. It is built to accept anvil axles which is really nice. Almost too adjustable though.

(sorry about the messy background)








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## Smokebikes (Feb 2, 2008)

Dark, cold, and rainy on a Saturday night here in Western NC, and I'm bored..........Surprised I hadn't seen any of these older Henry James jigs.....can be a pain to set-up but they sure can hold a tubeset firm and straight. And here is another "getto-jig" for puting our chainstays together.......all you have to do is braze a bridge to hold it together before sanding it match the BB. :thumbsup:


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## Evil4bc (Apr 13, 2004)

I have been building on my orignal Arctos jig for more than a few years now. I know some people on these fourms dont like these jigs but once you get the hang of building with this fixture they ROCK !!!


































Here is a photo of the production jig purchased earlier this year .


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## Freddy Salgado (Jun 4, 2009)

Very generous to post pictures of your tools of choice:thumbsup: Nothing cooler to look at then the jigs that make the rigs. Anymore clever set ups? I am looking to upgrade from my "L" bracket jig, this thread is great .


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## bee (Apr 7, 2008)

Neat! A lot of really clever designs in this thread!


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