Seat Stays, Practice 1

Today I worked on a potential finish for my seat cluster.  The seat cluster is where the seat stays join the top tube and the seat tube.  There's more variation in how builders construct this joint than in almost anything else on the bicycle, and many builders make the seat cluster their signature.. 

Seat Stay Diagram: The Movie

While I'm not up to the challenge of doing anything truly unique yet, I decided to try something that I've seen on a few of the prettier custom bikes that have come though my work.

First I mitered the stay so that it would fit up against the side of a 31.8 mm tube.

Then I cut a piece of said tube, and brazed it onto the stay.

I treated it like a fillet, where you build a smooth transition between one tube and the other.  It was more brass than I really needed for this cap, but it was a fun experiment.  I think that I could really enjoy fillet brazing.  Something to think about when it comes to frame #2.

Here's the finished piece.  It'd be attached to the side of the seat tube with the longer side in.  I think that two of these will look pretty sweet on there.