Building a recumbent – building the rear triangle.

Having attached the rear triangle after the first weld it was time to attach the seat post and suspension. 

First the seat post.  I measured the angle on the tubing as per the manual and cut it.  The cut was a bit rough so I ground it flattish.  I find cutting with the angle grinder very rough – I’m considering investing in a decent hack saw.

To help the first weld I put a plank of wood on each side and gripped the whole thing in my workbench.  Once this was done then I just welded round the other three sides.

As you can see my welding is getting a bit better"!

Then I checked that the 26” wheel would fit – the donor frame having held a 24” wheel.  It didn’t!  Two small tubes caught on the wheel.  So I cut them off.  Wheel fitted find then but I realised the pivots that the brakes screw on to were also in the wrong place so I cut these off too.  Cutting is much easier than welding!

I then welded them all back on again further up the frame.  This was difficult – the main problem being trying to hold the components in place while starting the weld as you can’t use your hands because of heat and, in my case, I have the welder in one hand and the mask in the other.  Ended up using a “G” clamp for the cross tubes and a clip that I bent for the brake points.  Burnt my fingers at this stage by grabbing something I’d just welded to see if it was solid – ouch!

Eventually got all the bits back on.  Then it was a matter of cutting the suspension attachment from the donor and welding to the back of the seat post.

Next job – building a seat!