As I’m falling further down the framebuilding rabbit hole, I was able to arrange an awesome deal to buy out an old builder’s whole setup, including an older Anvil Journeyman fixture (looks to be a V2 model) and a lot of the associated parts for building traditional 1" and 1 1/8" head tube bikes with English BBs. As my interest at the moment lies with exploring some more “modern” standards, I’m going to be updating this fixture to work with larger headtube/BBs. As anyone who picked up Anvil stuff after the fact probably knows, there’s not a ton of available info out there, and I couldn’t find anyone documenting the process to “upfit” one to new specs. Thus, I figured I would document the process here to both solicit comments/insight from the group here and hopefully serve as a reference for anyone who wants to do the same!
My fixture in all its glory- still need to disassemble and clean it up as it was clearly sitting in an unconditioned shed in southern Alabama for a good bit. Thankfully it all works great, just needs a bath.
First step is measuring up the head tube area. The 2.0 version used a modified lower cone with a replaceable insert that fits into the head tube. This maxes out at a 1 1/4" head tube it would seem, which won’t work for my EC44/IS52 dreams. However you have to match the “step” height so that it lines up with the pivot in the fixture to ensure all the measurements work out. Thus, I need to machine both a new lower cone, and new inserts. My goal is to make an “XL” version in the same format so my existing 1" and 1 1/8" adapter still work, and the fixture itself is backwards compatible.
Here’s my adapter after measuring up the existing one. the overall diameter is 60mm so should be plenty future proof!
Starting with EC44/IS52 inserts:
Then of course, there’s the upper cone. Same problem- the taper ends RIGHT at 44mm, so a 60mm version is coming next:
Stealing inspiration on the size/design from the Cobra one. Interesting to see that the Anvil stuff seems to mix thread standards- M10x1.0 fitting for backpurge, but a 1/4-20 attachment.
Full assembly so far (with spare gas fitting so I can swap between the original and new parts in case the XL sizes get in the way of welding):
Next step is the BB. i want to support T47 Bottom brackets- the current central mount only works with English sizing and stops against replaceable spacers depending on the shell width. I have the original bag for the fixture with spacers that call out a 68 and 73mm, but I’m unsure it the original design was assuming some amount of shell oversize, and I want to build this in to account for the standard widths PMW offers.
I was able to find an ancient thread on the release of the Journeyman 2 fixture that calls out an 8" standoff from the base plate (link here) So my current plan is to use this to measure to the current depth stop in the fixture and set my spacer accordingly. Rather than design a whole new central pivot (which is huge and would require a lot more effort to maintain runout across all 3 diameters) I’m going to design “adapter” spacers that locate to the current boss and increase the ID to fit inside the T47 shell at the right offset- for now 68 and 85.5 nominal. I’m going to design to 87.5mm and 69mm, then use these shims to account for smaller sizes (like if Paragon eventually offers an 86.5mm steel shell!).
I made my own headset puck for 44mm headtubes but have never used a T47 BB. Making an adapter for T47 should be straight forward. Looking forward to seeing your progress.
BB next. Measured up the current post, then created a parametric sketch to make it easy to create new spacers in the future. The spacer will locate radially on the existing BSA mount, size up the T47 ID, and offset the correct amount based on the inserted shell width. Also designed up a quick end cap, and we’re off to the races!
Thanks so much for this doc @TDotBikes ! Aligns which what I expected but awesome to have it laid out. I think i’m going to go ahead and make 2 sets of all these parts, I figure they’ve gotta be useful to someone else and splitting it with someone should help keep my effective cost lower :).
I will post PDFs and STEP files when done, but let me know if anyone sees this and wants a set of parts for their Journeyman.
Here’s where I’m at. Uploading in case someone finds this down the road and realizes they need them! In the meantime, switching over to welding up a mounting bracket for the fixture to get it out of my wobbly Park stand and cleaning it all up good as new!
Spent my evening welding up a bracket to hold this beast and tearing it all down to clean it and lubricate. This thing sure had some crud built up, must’ve been sitting a long while. Still learning TIG so I’m giving myself a “probably will hold” rating. Way different beast welding the big stuff!
The boyz at Cyclefab in Seattle made their own ultra-skookum repair stand attached to a similar-sized pole that went from floor to ceiling, securely bolted at both ends. Not originally a part of the building, they added it where they wanted it to be. So strong, that’s where I’d stand if I was there during an earthquake.
I have those as well. I think they are used with the extra arm that came with the jig. The extra arm could be used in a variety manners, like holding a top tube or down tube (you need the tube holder along with the extra arm). There were a few different types of holders that fit on the extra arm. I believe those v groove clamps go on the extra arm to hold seat or chainstays.
