Frame Jig . McCandless

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Frame Jig . McCandless


Norton didn't have the facility to produce the Featherbed frame themselves, nor could Reynolds (the tubing manufacturer), so Rex brought his own jigs over from Ireland, and personally built the Works Norton frames from 1950-53

http://thevintagent.blogspot.com.au/200 ... frame.html
 
Matt, Read the comments about frame rigidity. McCandless would have loved the isolastics ? It is not rocket science, and Peter Williams knew better . Norton Motorcycles should have bought a Cadillac dealership.
 
T'would be interesting to see a featherbed frame actually fitted into that jig, wouldn't it ?
At the moment, bit hard to see how that would work....
 
Those front aluminu, things are angled , so looks like the front down tubes abutt there .
Likely location clamps are hinged , and throw over to lock parts in place .
Presumeably the steering heads up in the grotty bit at to right .
Appears to need assembling . :?
and cleaning . :shock:
 
can you see how this one would work, this is the Jig for road going Slimlines that I built, there were 3 smaller jigs that attached to the main jig for rear subframe , numerous tabs etc. the complete jig rotated 360 degrees for ease of welding
Frame Jig . McCandless

Frame Jig . McCandless
 
madass140 said:
can you see how this one would work, this is the Jig for road going Slimlines that I built, there were 3 smaller jigs that attached to the main jig for rear subframe , numerous tabs etc. the complete jig rotated 360 degrees for ease of welding

Thanks very much for the jig photo, looks very strong and square yet not too difficult to fabricate...I built a Lotus 7 frame from scratch a few years ago and want to try a motorcycle frame next
 
its a shame I dont have pics of the other 3 sub jigs, for the rear subframe, etc, enormous amount of tabs on this frame
I had them all laser cut in bulk, bolt the subframe to the main jig or chassis and then bolt the tabs to the smaller subframe and weld away, very easy once it was all sorted. I made my own tube benders to get the correct radius for the
different bends needed on the main Chassis. Slimlines are much harder to make than Widelines, I now know why not many Slimline frame suppliers are around. and the ones I've seen dont appear to be correct.
 
I would have thought you would sell more wideline featherbeds than slimlines ? There are plenty of historic racers, and who would use a slimeline for a triton ?
 
"and who would use a slimeline for a triton ?"
obviously many , for the very same reason Norton went from Wideline to Slimline.
 
I heard a story about a mid 60s racer, Ray or Ron Flack, who built a kneeler solo with a Manx motor and gearbox. Apparently Mr Flack used NO JIGS, he marked out the basic design/layout in chalk on the workshop floor, cut and welded or bronze welded it up by eye as he went. I vaguely remember seeing a kneeler at Brands Hatch, wobbling around towards the back of the field.
cheers
wakeup
 
those sidecar guys are a different breed, I know a few , beats me how they get thru scrutineering.
 
I remember being up in the mountain watching the 1988 IOM TT when the sidecar boys were racing in the F1 & F2 sidecar race. When it was over I started to ride my bike back to Douglas and saw a Blue flashing light in the distance, when I got closer there was a race marshal trying to flag down anyone who would give them some help.
2 sidecars had somehow collided and both went through the wire sheep fence straight down the side of the mountain slope. I stopped to help them retrieve the chairs, one was a F1 & the other was a F2 Yamaha TZ350 powered chair. One had what looked like a lowered built wideline frame, the bike had bounced through the air and didn’t have a very good landing as both the top tubes were badly kinked/bent.
 
As Barry Sheene would say, how were the riders ?
Bikes can be put right in the workshop...
 
wakeup said:
I heard a story about a mid 60s racer, Ray or Ron Flack, who built a kneeler solo with a Manx motor and gearbox. Apparently Mr Flack used NO JIGS, he marked out the basic design/layout in chalk on the workshop floor, cut and welded or bronze welded it up by eye as he went. I vaguely remember seeing a kneeler at Brands Hatch, wobbling around towards the back of the field.
cheers
wakeup

I read once that Rob North built off the triple engine cases and used wooden formers,who knows.

I see my own jig in the corner of this pic when I was cutting up my first TL1000 to fit a SSSA.
200 mm box section,12 mm plate for fork,cradle and swing arm positions (various fixtures) which were fly cut and DRO drilled,reamed and threaded in a large Bridgeport.
The head was 20 mm plate with a 75 mm square pivoting billet and a 40 mm ground bar to set the steering head angle.

Frame Jig . McCandless
 
Rohan said:
As Barry Sheene would say, how were the riders ?
Bikes can be put right in the workshop...

Alive but with broken arm, e.t.c; as you would expect from a high speed crash like that :(
 
If you put a real engine in it could be interesting.
Pardon me saying, but that one looks a bit gutless ?!

You follow Glen here building his "Glenli', a vincent in egli type frame - made in stainless....
 
Might look gutless, but it is 600cc and has TZ750 port timing . It should be enough enough for anyone. A TZ350 will beat most commandos on most circuits, however the comparison is a nonsense - it doesn't mean anything. If you race a commando, what you need to beat are 900ss and 851 pantah ducatis. As I've said before, I disagree strongly with racing my Seeley against two strokes, and large capacity four cylinder bikes. It is a waste of a good bike when you do that, and even if you win it means nothing.

Rohan, I wonder if you've actually ridden a racing two stroke ? I recently made a choice , and sold an excellent TZ350 Yamaha t o buy the six speed TTI box for my Seeley. The Yamaha was faster , lighter, braked better - I just happen to like the old four stroke twin much better . It I simply like the feel of the bike, the torque and the handling. In addition, I don't like pouring expensive parts into a GP bike when the level of racing doesn't warrant it.
 
acotrel said:
Might look gutless,

It is gutless - literally - there is no crank in it !!!!
So I can say with some certainty that it would do a VERY slow lap of any track you care to mention.
I've ridden faster pushbikes.

If you get my drift...
 
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