Today marks one year since I left Bend to start my apprenticeship.  Carl and Loretta had an awesome surprise party for me.  Loretta made all the food, not to mention some of the best ice cream cake ever!  Dave Kirk even made it down from the mountains known as Story Mill.

 I’ll tell you what; it sure doesn’t feel like a year has past.  The job is the highlight of my week, so it’s never difficult to show up.  I’m really starting to roll on my frames, and I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot in one year.  The apprenticeship is a lost method of teaching in the framebuilding world, and I’m thankful Carl is one of the only builders keeping it alive.

 I also had the chance to make a new head tube adapter for the frame fixture.  We needed a new “puck” to fit the larger diameter of a carbon head tube with an internal headset (we have others for 1 inch, 1 1/8, and King Inset).  I turned a new one down on the lathe.

We also started working on the prototype carbon bike.  I’m very excited about this bike, because it’s a size that Carl, Jared, and myself can ride.  I think that carbon fiber is an excellent material for bikes.  However, the unfortunate mass producing and marketing of it has left a sour taste in a lot of mouths.  Many people will accuse carbon for not having any “soul”.  I feel this is a problem due to construction and geometry choices, rather than material.  As a material, it’s damp and stiff; at least more so than other options.  However it’s very tunable, and in the right hands, can give great road feedback to the rider.

It’s also very entertaining to work with.  It behaves so much differently than metals during machining and fitting of parts.  It’s hard to put into words; you just have to build something with it to realize it’s not just another material.  Carl and I are already taking bets on frame weight.

I’ve been doing a lot of finish work lately.  Carl just keeps them coming!  The tap handle for the seat tube reamer finally gave up the ghost after 16 years.  I had three bikes piled up to go to paint, so we fashioned up a new handle.  We made it out of a piece of bar stock steel and welded it on.  It’s a little cowboy, but now it has a ton of leverage