bike wrench

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A place to ask bicycle repair questions, and for bike shop monkeys to share advanced non commercial wrenching resources (no YouTube self promotion). This is only for repair related topics.

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diy bike front or rear racks materials (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I had no idea that cromoly tubes were so expensive so Im now looking for alternatives..

a generic question I have is, does it really matter on what I use of its not for a competition setup?

I mean I dnt care if its relatively heavy.. my initial thoughts was using stainless steel tubes or even construction rods but everyone online seem to recommend only using cromoly..

edit: ordered 5x25mm wtainless steel tubes for 15eur (1.5m) the same in cromoly couldnt find them under 70eur..

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (4 children)

If you want it to be easily repairable (you mentioned this in another comment) I'd go with small diameter aluminum tube and a very very good radius bender if you can AC tig weld, or stainless steel (maybe 316?) if you can only do DC tig. The reason for this is because neither option "requires" paint, though the aluminum does benefit a little from paint. Paint makes everything harder to repair (assuming the repair involves a welding process) because you have to grind it off again if you break something or want to make a modification.

Also, I totally get wanting to make things. My hobby projects are normally zero percent about saving money and 100% about having fun. Most things I make in my shop would cost about 1/4 of the price if I just went to the store and bought them, especially factoring in time and consumables.

EDIT: I suppose this comment really gives away what region I live in lol

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I suppose this comment really gives away what region I live in

Does it? I can't quite recognize which part of your comment is particular to a specific region.

FYI for folks considering stainless steel welding, copious ventilation is required as the chromium component gives off some awful gases. To be clear, all welding processes give off bad gases, but stainless steel's gases sounds particularly unpleasant.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I'm not aware of a welding process that is safe for humans without at least a dust/fume extractor. That and a respirator with the appropriate filters for the application that fits under a welding hood is basically standard equipment even for hobby welding in my opinion. Also hex chrome is a particulate, not a gas, and tig welding uses solid rods (not flux core) and a much smaller heat affected zone so it's already better in that area AFAICT, but I'm not an expert in this area.

As far as particulates when welding go you should watch how careless people are when they grind their tungsten electrodes containing all kinds of dangerous additives with their respirator around their neck because "I'm not welding so I don't need it".

So yes, this is good advice. We should all think more about the things we do, even when working on home improvement projects and mundane stuff, that could end up damaging our lungs.

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