Hi,
Just back to clear up a few things.
Yes, I built all my own frames. I never built them to be sold under a different name or brand.
And it’s BandEs, not Is.
in the beginning, I had full pans stamped out but used Parma nosepieces. I angled the front taps to give them a ‘signature’ look. Eventually, I had my own nose pieces stamped. They were ‘full’ meaning they didn’t have the half hole in them yet. And along the way I had new, lighter pans made.
The original frames were the 420G and featured twin rails of .063”. Later, I produced the ‘55’ which had twin rails of .055”. Along the way I built and sold the 420M, a .072” monorail. Other models that followed was the ‘Omega,’ my first ‘panless’ frame followed by the ‘Omega P’ which was kind of a quasi-perimeter. I was told the late Monty Oren was pissed at me because of the way I placed the front pin tubes and felt he had to change the ones on his.
I also started having steel noses stamped out material so thin Kersken could have bent them with his mind.
My only non-wire frame was the ‘Mondial,’ which can be found in another topic; ‘Is this a pro frame?’ by the late Frank Elasky.
The name 420 was derived from me measuring other successful frames from the center guide post to center rear axle. I used one of those cheap metal rulers and the one I chose measured 4-5/8”. On the scale, which measured in .032” it was 20.32”. So I used the 20 for 420G, the G for Group. Since I’ve never smoked, drank, or used drugs, it was until decades later that I learned 420 was a cannabis reference. Which left me horrified!
BTW in the very top photo, the shiny-looking frame is a very early 420G. Except someone removed the original guide holder and replaced it with a steel one. Either broke it off or slightly changed the length. I never did that.
I also built Pacesetters for Limpach, did the whole Champion Magnum for Carl Ford and for a very brief time, some frames for Joel at his place.
Hope that helps.