Single Wheeled Bike Trailer

Step 4 Grinding Conduit

Once the pieces were cut out, I needed to grind the ends of the various support pieces so that they fit snugly with the frame. By tapering the ends, I ensured there would be maximum contact between the supports and the frame in order to increase the strength of the brazing bond.

I used the course grinding wheel to do the initial cut and then the fine wheel to finish it off. After a while, I had the horizontal supports, the fork supports and the wheel guard tapered and fitting nicely with the frame. (When it came time to add the stress spars, I tapered one end of each spars -- see note below.)

The picture below shows the trailer towards the end of the build. The tapered edges can be seen on the three vertical supports. The top frame will rest on the top of the three supports. The tapered edges will allow the vertical supports to better fit the top frame (similar to a ball sitting in a bowl) vs. having the top frame rest on a flat surface (like a ball sitting on a plate).

NOTE: I did NOT grind one of the horizontal supports. Instead, I flattened both ends and brazed them onto the bottom of the bottom frame to provide a spot where the two stress spars could be attached. I didn't plan on this during the build, but when I decided to add the stress spars later on, having this attached in this fashion made it easier to attach them to the trailer.