My first came in under £100 for the frame - about £30 for the bamboo, about the same for the glue (I bought two West System mini packs and used about one and a third, perhaps - next time I don't know if I'll bother with the minipack because I barely used any of the fillers.), plus maybe £20 for the metal bits and the sisal cordage I used for the joints. So it can be done on the cheap. Tools and setup are much cheaper than any other material.
Sisal and hemp are cheaper than CF by a reasonable margin but I wouldn't use them again. I was also lucky in that I didn't buy the very best bamboo, nor did I buy very much of it, but it worked fine - I had plenty of useable stuff nonetheless, but a friend of mine had the bad luck of the draw and most of his split - if he had bought a small quantity like I did, he'd have about enough for a Raleigh Shopper style frame.
Despite using common or garden Moso bamboo I was very happy with it and plan to use it again, though I'd be interested to use something a bit stronger. What did you use, Wardy?
My second frame (soon to begin, will probably have my own thread to avoid confusion) will be a lot more expensive, because I'd like to use stainless sliding dropouts. Normal dropouts were about £12, I think - these will cost something mad like £75. I think it will be worth it. I may chicken out.
My first came in under £100 for the frame - about £30 for the bamboo, about the same for the glue (I bought two West System mini packs and used about one and a third, perhaps - next time I don't know if I'll bother with the minipack because I barely used any of the fillers.), plus maybe £20 for the metal bits and the sisal cordage I used for the joints. So it can be done on the cheap. Tools and setup are much cheaper than any other material.
Sisal and hemp are cheaper than CF by a reasonable margin but I wouldn't use them again. I was also lucky in that I didn't buy the very best bamboo, nor did I buy very much of it, but it worked fine - I had plenty of useable stuff nonetheless, but a friend of mine had the bad luck of the draw and most of his split - if he had bought a small quantity like I did, he'd have about enough for a Raleigh Shopper style frame.
Despite using common or garden Moso bamboo I was very happy with it and plan to use it again, though I'd be interested to use something a bit stronger. What did you use, Wardy?
My second frame (soon to begin, will probably have my own thread to avoid confusion) will be a lot more expensive, because I'd like to use stainless sliding dropouts. Normal dropouts were about £12, I think - these will cost something mad like £75. I think it will be worth it. I may chicken out.