As it happens, the result was neither of the above. It turns out that brazing is a skill like any other that gets better with practice, and as with any skill you make the quickest strides forward in the early days
Day 1 is complete, and I feel like I've already achieved so much
During today
- I laid my first ever braze
- Moved on to joining a tube to a flat surface
- Formed my first tube-to-tube joint
- Tested the joint to destruction
- And Mitred some tubes
Which altogether feels like a heck of a lot to learn in a single day. However it's a credit to the teaching standards that none of it felt rushed, and that I feel like I could have a reasonable go at repeating it on my own already. Bear in mind the last time I worked a piece of metal in any way was a pre-GCSE metalwork class, and I'm 30 now, you can take all of this as a hearty recommendation.
It has rather punctured the mystique of the framebuilder - after all, I'm a bit cackhanded and I spend my working days driving a desk, the ideal place from which to lionise those near-mythical torchmen whose names adorn many a downtube. But if I can do it, I reckon anyone sober with two working hands can have a go (though apparently a couple of pints can make your brazing better - I'm not sure i'm ready for that yet).
Dont get me wrong, I'm not going to be knocking out frames in quantity any time soon, but I can guarantee it wont be long before one of my own is under me.
Roll on day 2!
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