After riding and racing bicycles for years, I wanted to make a frame by hand. Along the way, I learned how to TIG weld, and built my own frame-building jig. 

Clockwise from top left: using Bridgeport vertical mill to miter frame tubes, the finished frame, my front triangle jig. 

Clockwise from top left: using Bridgeport vertical mill to miter frame tubes, the finished frame, my front triangle jig. 

In my senior year at Lick-Wilmerding High School, I did a year long independent study in which I hand built a bicycle frame. Along the way, I learned to use the TIG welder, expanded my vertical milling skills, and dealt with the immense challenge of custom building a jig to custom build my frame. I did all of the design and calculations by hand.