Bike Repair Stand

My son keeps on growing and now needs a full sized mountain bike...we found a good old frame and begged, borrowed + bought all the bits to start building his 'new' bike...

...now all we need is something to build it on!

Our neighbour has been great in donating a lot of pre-used bits including a clamp head for a bike stand, now all we need is a tripod...

...an old steel bike that is slowly rusting in the garden could be what we are looking for...

...come with us and build yourself a funky [re]cycled bike stand...

An old bike - make sure it is a steel frame, ours was a 26inch wheel bike

A bike stand clamp - With a little ingenuity it should be possible to make one [check out my Bike Wardrobe Instructable for a timber bike clamp]

A short length of threaded bar + four nuts - M10 [make sure will fit in front forks]

A can of spray paint to make it look good

TOOLS

A bunch of general tools - hammer, screwdrivers, metal saws, spanners, allen keys...

A welder - Beg or borrow as I did

Angle grinder - cutting + grinding discs

A bike chain remover tool - or just cut it off!

Strip everything off the old bike leaving just a bare frame

Cut the front half of the bike frame off leaving a usable triangle rear part of the frame that we will need for the stand.

Grind off the ragged bits of old frame to make it look good

Take the front fork and check it fits into the seat post tube.

Strip the handlebars though keep the handlebar stem [the part that fits into the bike frame]

This will be needed to add an additional foot to the frame to stop it tipping forward.

Open up the rear wheel hanger brackets so that the handlebar will fit where the rear wheel used to be...

...and weld it in position.

This was my very first welding project since completing an evening welding class a year ago...

...my welds are not necessarily the best or neatest though they only need to make a good connection of the handlebars to the frame.

If you are new to welding why not check out the Instructables welding course, I completed it just to get my head back into what to do...

...I really liked the part where Audrey tells the story of her being advised by an old hand that welding is just like using a very hot glue gun! It does feel like it.

The bike clamp came with a bar + plate for attaching to a bench or wall.

This needs to be attached to the top of our new bike frame tripod, in the front wheel hanger brackets that are now at the top of the frame.

Thread two nuts onto some M10 threaded rod [check the size is good to fit in the hangers]

Clamp it to the back of the bracket and weld to the bracket, I tack welded the nuts to the threaded rod as well so the rod would be good and secure.

Big thanks to my mate Col for the use of his welder, he is a sculpture who makes the cool metal men seen in the background.

Clean up the welds with an angle grinder and grinding disc.

The bike stand frame wants to look good...

...so get out the spray cans and give it nice new coat of paint

Trim the threaded bar on the clamp bracket, give it a spray...

...bolt it to the top of the frame...

...and attach the clamp.

You may not have a bike clamp to hand...

...with a little ingenuity you may be able to make up one with some metal and bolts...

...or check out my Bike Wardrobe video which shows me making a timber bike clamp for the bike shed I made for clients [it is at about the 3 minute mark on the video]...

...or check out the Instructable that I made of the build.

The timber clamp is chunky though it may be able to be adapted to work.

I am super pleased with this stand...

...it looks cool...

...works really well...

...and I have a few more ideas for it, to give it other uses when not being used to build a bike...

...a foot driven grinder attachment would be cool...

...any more ideas?

Leave them in the comments, it would be great to hear from you...

...now to build a bike!

I am entering this project into the Build a Tool Competition. If you have enjoyed this project, I would really appreciate your vote. Many thanks.

This project is part of my YouTube series where I try to make cool and interesting projects.

Please check out my channel if you want to see more of the projects, if not there will be more coming to Instructables soon.

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