My initial build, if it went well, i figured I would be making two more warriors for family so we can all ride together.
And so they begin. I started on July 17 and both have been for their first test rides by Sept 18th. I recieved the laced wheels on Sept 2nd. The first warrior in this thread took about 3.5 months, these two took about a month each, I built them in tandem, it was quicker and easier to make two or four of a part, than get out and set up the same thing multiple times.
It was definitely easier the second time, I kept all the jigs I made the first time, so I didnt have to build something to build something.
There's a saying about projects being 80% done with 80% to go. It felt on the first build, like the finish line kept running away. In an effort to stop that same feeling with these, I planned to build them like ikea furniture. I tried to have as much built and ready ahead of time so i wasn't having to fabricate major parts then work on the trike, then fabricate again, etc.
This idea worked very well, I took four sets of rims/hubs to a bike shop and dropped them off to be laced up. They said it would be about a month, which gave me time to prep everything I could. By the time I picked up the wheels, The only part of the plans I didn't have cut and waiting were the control and steering rods. I didn't make the angle cut or weld on the steering booms until i received the wheels, but the rear forks and back rest were all ready. You'll see altoid tins in some pics, Those were used for parts for the headtubes, I labelled them which trike and tube and had a box of parts for each trike.
This approach worked great. When it came to assembling the trike, i was able to concentrate on the actual assembly, instead of stopping to build a part, then back to assembly, I just picked the part out of the box and it was ready. During the first build I was under the impression the frame was the majority of the work, then learned its not its the easy part. It took more time to make all the parts, than than to assemble the frame.
I highly recommend making ahead of time as much build as you can, cut, weld, grind endcaped tubes, the tabs can be cut, drilled, had the copeing cut and welded ahead. the axle tabs, rear forks, dropouts, brake supports, etc. Just leave a little extra material for final adjustments, half to an inch depending on the part.