Frankenbike Progress - Building The Box
We’re getting closer to the official launch of the Frankenbike, and over the last week I’ve been building the cargo box.
As this DIY bakfiets has been cobbled together from other bikes and the frame angles have been done by eye, I’ve not had any drawings. So the box had to be built in-situ, with the measure-it-twice-cut-it-once mentality:
The box is being built from 12mm exterior ply, which I bought at B&Q for about £24 for a 1200 x 2400mm sheet. I got it from B&Q as they also have a cutting service, which meant I could get the sheet cut to the appropriate widths for final trimming & shaping. The box will be attached to the frame using some 50mm L-brackets - I also used these to tack the various parts of the box together during assembly:
Once I had a box that pretty much built, I removed it from the frame and took it home for finishing. As well as getting it tested for size, I took it to pieces again, and glued all the joints with exterior grade wood-glue. This also gave me the opportunity to straighten out some of the alignment - much easier to get things square when on a flat surface!
Finally, it got thoroughly sanded, any defects in the plywood edges filled, and the whole thing varnished, using marine-grade varnish:
So we’re another step closer to finishing. Left to do:
- Final bit of welding - fixing brackets to the frame, and a retainer for the stand
- Build the components onto the bike, so that I can…
- … ride it home
- Strip all the components again, and paint the frame
- Fit all the components again
- Go terrorising local shoppers in their cars
