Mar. 31, 2015 | By Simon
It’s been a wild and crazy past few years for bicycle design thanks in no small part to the conveniences of digital fabrication that have enabled a new generation of bicycle makers. Aside from being able to customize a variety of accessories and add-ons for existing bicycles, some have taken to creating their own modular solutions for users to be able to create their own bicycle frames from a variety of materials using a series of joint and connector systems that are both easy to fabricate and accessible for many.
Most recently, a group of designers from Tel Aviv, Israel have created the Jigless Kit, which consists of an easy-to-assemble set of parts for users to fabricate their own bicycles at home out of old jeans using the assistance of 3D printed parts.
In total, the JIGLESS kit contains a full set of pre-cut light aluminum tubes and 3D printed parts that are made from PLA. The design is focused on eliminating any need for users to need heavy machinery that is typically needed for fabricating bicycles. As a matter of fact, the entire kit only needs one screw for the entire assembly.
In creating the kit, one of the many issues that the designers dealt with was reducing the weight of the parts without compromising the accuracy and tolerance. This led to a finished product that - when shipped - has an overall package weight (printed parts and metal frame) of roughly 1 Kg. Among other attributes of having a lightweight bicycle kit design is that it becomes much cheaper to ship to the end-user, which essentially makes it a much more affordable and accessible option for those interested in creating their own bicycle designs at home.
But where did the concept for the Jigless Kit start?
After many long hours of observing the bicycle frame manufacturing and production process, time was spent further studying the technologies, materials, and engineering methods used to bring a rideable design to life. Once the team felt like they had developed a usable system that was both effective for riding as well as shipping, the concept of 3D printing the build-assisting parts was born.
The basic Jigless Kit includes all tubes and connectors including:
3D Printed parts
- Lug-cores (tube connectors)
- Micro-structures
Metal parts
- Full tube set and dropouts (made of lightweight aluminum)
- 1 down tube
- 1 top tube
- 1 seat tube
- 1 head tube (ready for headset install)
- 1 bottom bracket shell (made of cromo 4130), 68 m"m width, english threaded
- 2 chainstay aluminium profiles
- 2 seat tube aluminium profiles
- laser cut 2 horizontal aluminium dropout
- 1 screw 4mm|30mm
As for building the bicycle, the building the kit consists of four steps that the team has divided into ‘modules’ for completing the bicycle frame once it has been shipped:
- Setup - denim harvest, measuring, masking, marking tubes
- Tacking - connecting tubes and lugs cores together
- Wrapping - reinforcing lugs and tubes with composite (epoxy+denim fiber)
- Finishing - filing, sanding, coating lugs
Once the bicycle has been built, it can be configured to accommodate most riding styles depending on the components chosen to install after the frame has been assembled.
The Jigless Kit starts at $144 and is available on the team’s project page over on Indiegogo.
Posted in 3D Printers
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Thanks to u guys for a new inventment, pls i would like 2 lean more wit u guys, do u have a school or a workshop were u teach people, i will like 2 be a student wit u guys.
the jigless designer wrote at 4/15/2015 8:30:48 AM:
not group of designers just Tag.Me.Not
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