Mostly, tonight was clean-up work on the frame. This is from where all the small tasks come. The other day I added to the filet on the brake cable tunnel and the one side of the brake bridge. While things were looking much better, they both still needed some filing and sanding to be right. I also went back around the various lug edges one more time, and spent some time feathering the points of a couple of lugs. Then there was general all-over sanding and filing on the drop-out faces.
All of this sounds quick enough, but it goes best when I get lost in time. Impatience is the enemy of fine work. I don't know that my work yet qualifies as fine, but its getting closer every day. I've learned to walk away if I'm feeling impatient - which is a good trick. But better yet is learning to relax and just go with the process. I don't usually work an area to completion in one stage. Instead I seem to work around and around the frame doing a bit at a time on each spot that needs finishing. This seems to work fine, because each time a spot is left and returned to, it gets a fresh eye with a new vantage point. This, in my experience, is a good way to make sure that the cure doesn't accidentally create another problem.
Sarah's bike is especially nice for this because it is so small. I can hold it and envelop it sitting down, without a vice, or putting it in a jig. As I turn it to reach another spot, I readjust my position and am able to wedge it comfortably enough to work a file or scrape the edge of a lug. Its very satisfying and when dinner is announced, I'm disappointed. Not because I haven't finished, but because I have to stop.
No comments:
Post a Comment