Alex Meade Tools

alex@alexmeade.com 859-351-8443

Flat Plate Fixture Build Sequence

The following series of photos shows a typical build sequence using my flat plate fixturing system over a full size frame drawing. At the end are some photos of tandem construction using a setup with four vee towers.

bottom bracket shell to seat tube — Bottom bracket shell and seat tube are joined using the round base and cones, and two vee towers.

Head tube and down tube are aligned with the drawing using a machinists square and supported with the head tube blocks, the cones and one vee tower. For fillet brazing, two vee towers are needed for this step.

Joining the HT/DT to the BB/ST.

With accurate miters, the top tube doesn’t need to be supported.

Fixturing the rear triangle is done with the round base, the dummy axle offsetting block, a dummy axle, the head tube support, the cones and two vee towers.

The fork is fixtured over the drawing in a manner similar to the rear triangle.

After first building the front 1/3 and the rear 1/3 of the tandem frame, the completed sections are positioned over the drawing using four vee towers.

Four vee towers support the two seat tubes while the boom tube is added.

Tandem internal tube and top tube are added last.