Hello everyone, I want to learn the trade!

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Hello everyone, I am starting to think about what I would like to do as a career when I am older and out of highschool. I am 16 years old, and in the 10th grade. I love biking, and there is absolutely no doubt I will continue to do it, and was thinking that it would be cool to create full suspension frames for extreme mountain biking and start off a custom company when I'm older and more experienced. I wanted to ask all you professional welders, how did you guys start? What kind of plug-ins, including financial, mental (as in brain power), and skill do you need to have to be able to do something like this? Where would you reccommend for me to start? I am very interested in this idea and it is something I would love doing because I am a mechanical, in garage kind of biker, and I love to ride. I am o.k. at math, but it is definately not one of my good sides .Thanks much, Shredder111
Reply:How to start- Get out there, if your high school has a welding or mechanics class (you are lucky) take the class, or take a class in Jr College (this will help you have priority enrollment once you finish high school). If you don't have that possibility find a local shop that can show you the basics if you are lucky. As far as money to get the tools, you could spend millions, I am a Hobie welder and have well over 70K in tools alone. As far as mental ability, you can always have notes, but need to know more than basic for design.If this is something that interests you then go for it and soak as much as you can in.
Reply:Hey Shredder,Just do it. If you need any help with anything on a bicycle let me know. I have been a bicycle mech on & off since 13. (Yep, paid mechanic since 13, I'm 34 now) here is my two cents. You dont need 70K in tools to start a Custom Frame shop. There are a few free bicycle geometry programs for your computer. I would learn to draw in scale first.(Before using the computer) Its pretty Easy just go get an engineering rule from office max. Also learn to Braze (Silver) That is an easy start. Find someone who has an old frame (Steel) and chop it up then practice mitering the tubes together and fillet brazing them. (This is an old school method) then go get a gas welder and start fooling around. After that you will ned a Tig machine to do what you are talking about doing. There are schools for frame building I think one is UBI http://www.bikeschool.com/Try them out. you will learn all the math you need to know there. There are some pretty standard angles and refrences for each type of bike road, mountain, BMX, etc.... Your value as a frame builder is to the high end cyclist who wants the perfect ride. I have sold several custom frames from people like steve potts & Doug Fattic To name a few. Also try to find a Henry James Frame Jig (One of the new ones) they are the best for beginners. After that you will want to look into custom jigs for your full suspension stuff as most jigs are for hardtails.Seriously if you need any guidance from a bike guy let me know. I know alot of people in the industry.Last edited by GWallace; 01-02-2007 at 10:29 PM.Grant
Reply:To start any business you must be an expert (thats easy enough.)Determining if you are an expert is the dificult part.  You are ambitious, bright and know what tasks you are good at, which you are not.  You are half-way to your goals, many of us don't get that knowlagable for years.An example of knowing if you are an expert on bicycles is knowing (before reading the article) everything on this page.  The guy that wrote it was obviously an expert and would be your competitor for building frames.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_frameBest of luck in your career.  Keep us informed how it goes.
Reply:Thanks a bunch for the input, this information will come in handy when I am a bit older, especially that school in Oregon. I use many of the current company's they are sponsored by on my bike today, so I know they must be well accredited by the mtb world. As far as welding goes, how many of you guys have a excellent paying career in this field? Or, what are the options of welding? I know it is also a part of a passion, but are there any proffessional, as well as well paying jobs? It's either this or an architect, and I already have a school picked out where I can major in architecture right after highschool I have always been interested in welding/ structures and it seems that now is the perfect time to make my decision of what to aim for. It would be great if I could open a frame shop for mountain bikes when I am older and experienced, and live fully off of that, but I know that will take a while to start before I get rolling What do you guys think? Thanks, Shredder