Why It’s Taking So Long

A friend/former co-worker snarked in my Facebook this weekend about the pace at which I’m building frames. Something to the effect of “you’ll be doing one per year” — in further discussion, he indicated that it was more just an issue of him being jealous. The remainder of that conversation isn’t really germane to this post. I realized that if Morgan were thinking it, it was probable that other people in our circle of friends/acquaintances were thinking similar thoughts, so I wanted to address that here.

First, it’s an apprenticeship. This isn’t some pump-and-dump UBI course where they slam dunk you through the basics of framebuilding in two weeks and when you leave, you have what you have and that’s it. We’re covering everything from welding (both TIG and brazing), to design, to business, and so on. Since September, I have learned more about frame building than I thought possible. We started with welding, and we moved to design, and now we’re on implementation. I have two frames underway, and parts stockpiled for two more.

Secondly is a time consideration. Because of our schedules, and the distances involved (it’s 50 miles one-way to Paul’s place), we try for once a week. Sometimes, it’s less than that. So we cram as much as we can into 7-10 hours every Sunday we have a chance to get together. There have been stretches where we haven’t seen each other for three weeks.

So that’s why it’s taking so long. Because it’s a time-consuming process to learn all of this, and I want to make sure I do everything right. See also: the old adage about two ways of doing things — the fast way and the right way.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to write up a price quote for my boy, Clint, for whom I’ll be producing the Coolest Bike Ever Made™.