01.05 Bicycle Disassembly Assignment

Assignment Deliverables

1. Disassembled Bicycle Components
   • Remove components from the bicycle frame as demonstrated.
   • Preserve useful mechanical components including headsets, bearings, hubs, cranks, bottom brackets, wheels, and other potential moving parts.
2. Cut and Prepped Bicycle Frame
   • Separate the head tube from the bottom bracket and seat tube section.
   • Preserve as much usable frame tubing as possible.
   • Deburr all sharp cut edges.
   • Remove paint and coatings approximately 3–4" from cut ends that may later be welded.

Cutting the Bicycle

Remove reusable components before making destructive cuts.

Whenever possible, keep useful bearing assemblies intact. A functioning headset, bottom bracket, or wheel hub provides a precise rotational mechanism that would be much more difficult to fabricate from scratch.

Do not immediately cut the bicycle into small pieces. Larger frame sections can always be cut smaller later.

1. Identify the Top Tube and Down Tube.
2. Mark your planned cuts before cutting with a hacksaw
3. Cut the Top Tube at one of the indicated red cut locations.
4. Cut the Down Tube at one of the indicated blue cut locations.
5. Secure the bicycle frame before making each cut.
6. Make controlled cuts that preserve as much usable tubing as possible.
7. Save useful tubing offcuts and unusual components.
8. Deburr all sharp cut edges with a metal file before handling or storing the pieces.

The goal is to separate the head tube and fork assembly from the bottom bracket and seat tube section while preserving both as useful components for later fabrication.

Preparing Metal for Fabrication

Remove paint, rust, grease, and other contaminants from areas that may later be welded. Use the Sandblasting Cabinet, strip discs, or other demonstrated methods to expose clean steel.

Remove coatings approximately 3-4" from the cut ends. You do not need to strip the entire bicycle frame at this stage. Concentrate on areas that are most likely to be cut, fitted, or welded during later fabrication.

Remove Paint with Sandblasting Cabinet

Avoid unnecessarily grinding into or thinning the bicycle tubing. The goal is to remove the coating and expose clean metal.

The bicycle you begin with is only the starting point. Over the next several weeks, its frame and mechanical components will become both raw material and a mechanical toolkit for exploring the fundamentals of metal fabrication and kinetic sculpture.

Grading Rubric

Assignment Resources