Rain, Marrow, Silver, and Brass

I am batching it for a few days, plus it rained, so today was a productive day in the shop. I'm working on Vicki's town bike, a 3-speed step-through (or ladies' bike). I managed to fit up and braze the chain stays to the dropouts and to the frame. I also uploaded some pictures of my progress to the gallery page. 

I'm exploring some new techniques and parts with this build, so it is constantly entertaining. I'm really starting to enjoy the subtleties of heat control when it comes to melting silver. Sweating the silver through the dropout plug was new for me, but it went flawlessly. Every moment with the torch on is so intense and so engaging. it's a lot like fly fishing for me; caught up in the moment I focus completely and lose track of time.

Ah yes, the marrow. I roasted bone marrow for the first time today and it was delicious! I served it with crusty bread, sea salt, and a tangy salad of parsley, lime, capers, and red onion. Just the thing to fuel an afternoon in the shop.