DIY tavarateline
Ok little rocks and pine cones, this is how you make a front rack for your bike. I guess this is one of the racks inspired by CETMA although I’d like to think mine is way cooler. The only heavy duty tool you will need is a MIG/MAG welding machine, but I quess you could do the connections by soldering with copper or by TIG welding which would be my preference as well if I had a ton of money (1000 euros).
I used tubing which is readily available in any proper hardware store in Finland. We call it “huonekaluputki” or furniture tubing since that is what this junk steel is best for. It is not very light nor it is the strongest of steels but that’s the way we like it a-ha. The pipe I have is 10mm and I pick it up at 6 meter lengths althoug most stores sell you the length you need. This whole rack with fittings took 7 meters.
You can bend the steel with a pipe bending tool that plummers use to bend copper pipes. These tools are available for different pipe sizes so be sure to pick the correct one to make nice bends. A vice is good to have for the tool although baby pipe like this won’t put up a big fight, you can easily do the bending against your knee.
Once you are ready with bending everything, you weld it together. I like welding because once something has been welded it won’t come off from heat or strain. My welding is shit, I am no good, but the rack can still take a 50kg girl sitting on it. The fittings for the spars that attach to the lower part of the fork I welded from stainless steel. Ideally you should use a special welding electrode for welding regular steel with stainless but this is not a piece of nuclear powerplant and the welds will protected from corrosion by paint so I’m not too worried. Nuts and bolts will break any coating at the ends of the fittings and making these small pieces from stainless will keep them nice and shiny. I hope. Just remember to use stainless nuts and bolts because regular ones will rust superfast in the vicinity of the holy stainless.
