Steel frames have many advantages over other materials, one of them is that most can be repaired.

Traditional steel frames in earlier times were:

 Butt brazed....where the two opposing tubes are mitered to join up and then brazed together, giving the appearance of a seamless joins, it also is useful where extreme angles or different diameter tubes need to be joined up. depending on the brazing material used butt brazing is very strong.

Lugs are the system which hold the tubes together, also mitered to join up , but then inserted into the sockets of the lug, the brazing material used can range from a silver /copper/nickel rod of various formulation to brazing rods of various alloys. Depending on the gauge and wall thickness of the tubing, plus the quality of the lug....which can be a pressed steel folded into the requires shape, or investment cast lugs ( the lost wax process which goes back to Roman times). Investment casting uses various steel formula's including now stainless steel.) Investment cast lugs are very precise and can be cast in many shapes and forms.

Tubing used traditionally in quality steel frames has a history going back to the early 1900's, some of those were  Accles and Pollock Birmingham who formulated light weight seamless steel tubing that had the ability to air harden when brazed. Many of the frame builders through to 1930's 40's and 50's preferred A&P tubing because of this feature. Reynolds tubing with the famous formula of 531 because of the magnesium content in fact weakened when brazed and required controlled brazing to limit this. It has only since the 90's that Reynolds have adopted the air hardening tube types....as though it was the new and innovative tubing !

We have a choice of tubing manufacturers with Columbus Italy, Reynolds UK ,Kasei Japan, Easton USA who produce high quality tube sets, and with the move back to steel new formulations including Stainless Steel. Fringe makers produce 4130 cr-mo tubes of varying quality.

Our preference is Columbus and Reynolds which we have been working with for years.