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Making your own luggage rack - Any tips? Making your own luggage rack - Any tips?
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Equipping the Bike - what's the best gear? Anything to do with the bikes equipment, saddlebags, etc. Questions on repairs and maintenance of the bike itself belong in the Brand Specific Tech Forums.
Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

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Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia



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Old 30 Aug 2012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Scott View Post
And copper or ally, could the epoxy double up as joint glue too?
I have done a fair bit of stainless steel handrail / ballustrading that is joined with epoxy and that works very well but uses precisely engineered fittings that have a couple of o-rings to control the glue.

In my opinion, copper tube just isn't up to the job for a rack though; it's too soft and I'm pretty sure that size for size, it's heavier than steel. Easy to work though and might be a way of putting together a prototype.

I use good quality seamless steel tube, with end plates or buckets at fixing points. I don't like off the shelf racks with the tube crushed and drilled for fixings. Easy, cheap but a bit crappy IMHO.

Here's one to throw into the mix........strength for weight, you'd be hard pushed to better wood. Some nice spruce would make a very strong rack :-)
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Old 30 Aug 2012
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Quote:
I have done a fair bit of stainless steel handrail...
In that case what is your opinion on these hex key joints, BYT?
Am I right in thinking they would need a fairly thick-wall tube not to deform under the screw and so you end up needing unnecessarily heavy tubing?

I think the key with copper is it's easy to join + the resin filling gives the strength as McC has shown. But it might get heavy on a full rack.

Quote:
I don't like off the shelf racks with the tube crushed and drilled for fixings. Easy, cheap but a bit crappy IMHO.
I agree. The last OTS bike rack I had had fittings like that. I was rather surprised. Acceptable if DIY but not when paying 220 quid +.

Talking of other materials reminds me of this one - a strap-on plastic platform rack, heated into shape.
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Old 31 Aug 2012
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Soldering
Information

You can solder
  • * Steel
  • * Stainless Steel
  • * Copper
  • * Brass
  • * even Aluminium (but the solider is expensive and hard to come by)

If you cover or fill the inside of any solder item it will make any repair that much more difficult.

There are various types of solder, some cheap, some with better vibration strength. Best to go cheap as that will be more common in places where you may need a repair.

Failures on most things occur near the ends - you can strengthen the ends by putting another short length of tube side the first. You could solder it there too (to further increase the strength) provided you are not going to brazed or weld it.

Copper is heavier and more expensive than steel. For those reasons most people use steel. Copper can be tempered using heat (just like steel) to make it 'hard' (or stiff in non techinical terms).

The plumbing joints that include the solider will be as strong as those without, they are just more expensive (but reduces the labor cost so cheaper for people paying for labor, and you probable cannot get thoes without solider any maore anyway).
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Old 31 Aug 2012
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So, would it be possible to use self-soldering copper joints with mild steel tubing? Or would some strange reaction occur (like mixing steel and aluminium)? That might be the simplest solution for the incapable-of-welding.

The perk to copper pipe is that it's easily available, soft enough to bend without tools, cuts easily and there are ready made joints available. If nothing else that makes it very useful for prototyping, more useful than the plastic conduit I've used in the past as it can actually bear some weight which means you can test hang, and even ride with, panniers.

Then once we're happy it shouldn't be too hard to take the copper and get a steel version welded up.

Chris: your image of the throw-over plastic rack...



...takes me right back to my square one and thoughts on semi-rigid panniers. Unfortunately I'm one of those people who can see something in their head, but really struggle to translate that into a sketch. I could make one, but draw it? Do you have any more info on it? Type of plastic used etc.?
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