I wish I could - not enough used bikes for raw materials laying around. If you can get a hold of a bike and borrow/beg a welder, you should try a build - this is not a difficult project. There's only 5 welds or so on the frame and 4 welds for the seat brackets. Everything else can be done with simple hand tools (hacksaw, files, etc) and a drill. A grinder and wire wheel attachment would help, but is only a time-saver.

Budget - definitely ... scrounge bikes from the trash, EMT tubing is well under $10, and a can of primer and a can of paint is cheap. The most expensive items would be the tie rod ends and a die to cut threads (but you could probably just buy threaded rod cheap) No Welder - maybe ... you might be able to do some clever bolting, but it won't be very strong and might be dangerous. A welder can be pricey unless you're clever and a little risky and build one of the frightening 'ible welders. I would get everything cut out, cleaned up, and ready to weld and see if you can nicely ask your local school or trade college if the students could weld it for you. I've had some success with that in the past. Pizza and a couple of 2-liters of soda are usually appreciated. Do you have an uncle or brother-in-law or a co-worker that you can beg to weld it? Offer to scrounge an cut out a frame for him/her if they will do the welding. I've done that before to get access to a tool I couldn't afford. If you give it a lot of thought, I bet you can come up with a solution. My uncle has tons of tools (he used to own an auto-repair shop), so I would often bring over lunch to get access to a tool I needed. He'd often get interested and help out, too. If you put it out there, you might even find someone on the site that lives close that would be kind enough to help out. You can do it! Just get into that creatively-cheap-a$$ mindset and come up with a solution to your lack of resources - trash picking, thrift store-ing, scrounging, and bartering are great skills to develop and have :)

You need EMT from the local hardware store (Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.). It is metal electrical conduit and the cheap bike builder's friend. They are almost always galvanized (zinc coated). Please make sure that you sand/wire wheel/chemically remove the coating 2 inches or so away from where you will be welding. Also weld outdoors and use a fan to blow the fumes away from you (blow it across the work in front of you). Burnt zinc fumes will give you metal sickness which isn't deadly, but it's really unpleasant and long-term not too good for you. There is and 'ible somewhere that shows how to remove it with drain cleaner or toilet cleaner (can't remember the details, so you might want to look it up). I always sand the ends with emery paper until you get to the shiny metal underneath. If you can find a copy of "Atomic Zombie's Bike Builder's Bonanza" from your local library, it's definitely worth a read. The author (Brad Graham) is on the site and has posted a couple 'ibles as well. I didn't end up building any of his designs, but they are a good starting point if you haven't done anything like this before.

I've seen that one - I say go for it. Front wheel drive is odd at first, but you get used to it quick. Good Luck!

I always either do thrift store or trash pick ... if you put it out there to neighbors and relatives that you are looking for free junk bikes, that will often work. You might not get exactly the bike you are looking for, but I bet you'll end up with more old bikes than you can use (I've had that happen in years past). At this point, I find mostly 80's era 10 speed road bikes, crappy walmart/target "Magna" brand pieces of junk, 16" kid's bikes, and 20" bmx bikes. I use the 10 speeds if they are good quality, strip the magnas for parts if they are any good, use the 16" and 20" for stuff for my kids and recycle what's left over. Having said that, it's been around 2 years since I've done any bike building. My kids are growing out of what we currently have, so next spring may be the time to start up again.

It should - you'll probably want to bump your tubing up to the next size (or measure the bike frame tubes and match them).

It's pretty basic - add another steering tube and handlebars in reach of the driver. Attach tie rod ends to tabs the same distance apart from the pivot point of each steering tube. cut and thread a piece of round metal stock to connect the tie rods. If you have any more specific questions, feel free to ask. You may also want to check out my other recumbent instructable. It uses the same steering set up.

Yes - do it! ... and post photos! ;)

Check out my other 'bent instructable for an adult version. Recumbents are great if you want to go fast and want comfort. If you can scrounge free bikes and have access to a welder, you can make a fantastic bike for super-cheap!

You're all set, then! I would say this is an easier build than my other one, though. Also, you don't have to fool with chain management either. I wasn't terribly happy with the steering on this one. I ended up putting in a stop as the wheel could flip around backwards. It wouldn't do it while riding, but it freaked my kid out.

Front or rear wheel drive? Front would be easier to build - check out http://www.python-lowracer.de/ for ideas. There are several people that have made trikes in this style and they work well. Here's my version:

The center steer stuff is really squirrely - it took me several hours to learn to ride. There are severl trike versions that are pretty nice - you can keep your hands free while you bike!

It's not this , is it? I remember what you are talking about, but I haven't seen it in a while. My dad used to pick up lots of back issues when I was a kid ... I'd really like to know why my mail isn't delivered by rocket , though. It seemed like such a good idea at the time ...