Und weiter geht's:
During the manufacturing process, our frames go through no less than five different alignment processes. 1. The bike is tacked together in a fixed jig. The frame comes out of the jig, then to the alignment table. 2. PARTIAL full weld is done on the main triangle including all tubes and gussets. Not all welds are completed all the way around, though, to leave more room for alignment, then to the alignment table. 3. The seat tube pivot and lower shock mount are tacked on, and then to the alignment table. 4. After getting checked with the pivot alignment check gauge, the frame welding is completed in full, and the frame goes back on the alignment table. 5. T4 heat treatment is done, and then the frame goes back on the alignment table. After this, the frame is ready for T6 heat treatment. Only very minor alignment can be done after T6.
Okay, Jet 9 production update time. Rear triangles are MOSTLY done. They're all at various stages in the production process, but all of them are at least in rear triangle form. Here's a rack of rear triangles waiting to go into T6 heat treatment. Once out, they'll get prepped for painting and anodizing and be off to get those processes done.
Front triangles are almost complete as well. XL and L frames are pretty much done as well, going through T6. Mediums continue pumping out of the production line and small frames will begin tomorrow. They should be able to complete small frame welding tomorrow, then alignment process and T4, followed by more alignment and then T6 the following day. This is a size large frame on the alignment jig after T4.
Rack of smalls. So production roles on, and this is a rack of small frames being welded. Note the interruption of the weld around the head tube. Only half of the head tube and gusset is welded on, then the pivot and lower shock mount are tacked and the whole thing goes on the alignment table, making it easier to align with more flexibility in the frame before a full weld is applied all the way around. After full weld, the frames go back on the alignment table again, of course, to insure proper alignment throughout. who new building one frame could be so difficult?
Okay, thank goodness for awesome QC (that's why I'm here). We discovered an issue with the linkage hardware. All of the recall replacement frames will use existing Jet 9 hardware from the customers bike, but for the frames that are available for sale (we are producing some of these at the same time), the vendor who m...ade the linkage hardware drilled the hole too deep for the hex wrench insertion, creating a thin wall section in the threads for the alloy cap. Luckily we caught this early and the vendor has time to remake them before we need them for assembly. Something had to come up, right? Glad this was a small problem with a quick and easy solution. We'll keep crankin' away. So far, everything is coming together just fine. Knock on wood!
During production of the frames, a solid steel bar is sunk into the seat tube all the way down to the bend, to insure that the seat tube remains straight under welding. Here's a batch of frames that have almost completed welding, waiting to get seat tube pivots and lower shock mounts installed.
The steel rods in the seat tubes keeps the seat tubes straight, but sometimes there's some deformation right at the top of the seat tube. Since the tubing is SO malleable before final T6 heat treatment, the factory is able to PRESS the seat tube back into a round shape right at the top. The frame sits over a solid steel jig which measures 30.9 OD to fit into our 30.9 ID seat tube, and a hydraulic press forces the top of the seat tube back into a perfectly round shape.
The XL and L size frames are starting to roll out of T6 now. Even though only a limited amount of alignment can happen after T6, there are still a lot of processes that need to happen still. The threads in the BB need to be cut, and the slit in the seat tube needs to be punched out.
Okay. Here's the latest update from the production front. All rear triangles are pretty much done, some of them just need to go through the final process for painting/ano prep. Below is a picture of the rear triangles coming out of the bead blasting machine. This puts a good texture on the frames for anodizing. Front triangles are going through the same process, but there are about 60 straggling pieces that didn't get built in the mass production due to downtube rejections, so those are going through production now. We will be shipping everything out to the anodizer and painter on March 30th.
One of the final steps in the process of getting these frames ready to go to the painter/anodizer is putting on the water bottle boss rivets. The frames will be finished by tomorrow morning and be packed and shipped to the anodizer and painter. I'll follow the frames there and insure that QC is done properly on all frames as they get ready for assembly.
Last day down in Taichung. Heading off to the painting factory today and then HOME.....
und habe noch keine Ahnung, was ich machen soll. Warten? Auf das wuchtigere aber für Trails bessere RIP umsteigen? Noch ein Hardtail zulegen?.....
