51 New World

[rennfaron]

My '51 traveler.

And yes, varsity was a later entry at '53. I was looking at this incorrect catalog - https://bikehistory.org/catalogs/1951.html

 

[Roger Henning]

This is a picture of my 1953 Varsity at the time I got it. It also has some World names on it. Roger

 

[rollfaster]

Very interesting, learning something new every day!

 

[SirMike1983]

The "World" winged graphics are common for the early-mid 1950s lightweights. Just because a bike has the "World" graphic does not mean it is necessarily a "New World" bike. The Varsities and Travelers certainly had them as well. "World Traveler" and "World Varsity" are good names for the bikes to differentiate them from the later "Varsity" and "Traveler" series bikes.

Also correct is the reference above to brazing. The joints shown here at the bottom bracket as brazed - steel tubes are joined via melting a different alloy with a lower melt point than steel and building-up a joint using that softer, lower melt point metal. Some of the joints on these frames are electroforge welded whereas some of the joints, such as those at the bottom bracket as highlighted above are brazed.

The joints above are not really ugly so much as they are not totally filed and dressed. The steel tubes are cut and mitered/ended so that they fit together snugly as a dry fit. Then the softer, lower melt point alloy is introduced during a brazing process where by the alloy melts and fills seam between the mated steel tubes. More brazing material/alloy is added until you get the "fillet" of material, which is what you see as the little cone around the joint. Once you have the fillet, you have a workable joint. The question is how much finishing do you want to do to smooth the fillet. A high-end frame builder in those times would file and then sand down the joint until it's smooth and streamlined. But here, we're dealing with a mass-produced utility frame and a brazed joint down low on the frame where a customer is not going to be too picky. So the finishing work done is less involved. Look at a 1940s Continental around the head tube fillet braze joints if you want to see cleaning joints. They did smooth those much better than the joints shown above.

The reasons for why one would fillet braze rather than weld a frame are another subject for another thread. But it's not uncommon that a frame of this vintage would combine electroforge welding for some joints and brazing for others. They're nice frames overall.

 

[rennfaron]

Nice write-up Mike! When did the hat in the ring "new world" end production? I have not seen anything into the 50s. I always understood that the traveler took over from where the new world left off.

Agreed on the "world traveler" and "world varsity" names.

 

[rollfaster]

The "World" winged graphics are common for the early-mid 1950s lightweights. Just because a bike has the "World" graphic does not mean it is necessarily a "New World" bike. The Varsities and Travelers certainly had them as well. "World Traveler" and "World Varsity" are good names for the bikes to differentiate them from the later "Varsity" and "Traveler" series bikes.

Also correct is the reference above to brazing. The joints shown here at the bottom bracket as brazed - steel tubes are joined via melting a different alloy with a lower melt point than steel and building-up a joint using that softer, lower melt point metal. Some of the joints on these frames are electroforge welded whereas some of the joints, such as those at the bottom bracket as highlighted above are brazed.

The joints above are not really ugly so much as they are not totally filed and dressed. The steel tubes are cut and mitered/ended so that they fit together snugly as a dry fit. Then the softer, lower melt point alloy is introduced during a brazing process where by the alloy melts and fills seam between the mated steel tubes. More brazing material/alloy is added until you get the "fillet" of material, which is what you see as the little cone around the joint. Once you have the fillet, you have a workable joint. The question is how much finishing do you want to do to smooth the fillet. A high-end frame builder in those times would file and then sand down the joint until it's smooth and streamlined. But here, we're dealing with a mass-produced utility frame and a brazed joint down low on the frame where a customer is not going to be too picky. So the finishing work done is less involved. Look at a 1940s Continental around the head tube fillet braze joints if you want to see cleaning joints. They did smooth those much better than the joints shown above.

The reasons for why one would fillet braze rather than weld a frame are another subject for another thread. But it's not uncommon that a frame of this vintage would combine electroforge welding for some joints and brazing for others. They're nice frames overall.

Awesome info, appreciate it. So since this a single speed coaster, what do we call it? Varsity and Traveller were geared bikes.

 

[rennfaron]

The "world" model which was the cheapest lightweight at the time came with coaster brake. It was "world traveler" and "world" to kick of the 50s then came the "world varsity" in '53.

https://waterfordbikes.com/SchwinnCat/flschwinn_1951_1960/1951_mdls1.html
https://waterfordbikes.com/SchwinnCat/flschwinn_1951_1960/1952_10.html (left middle)

 

[GTs58]

Nice write-up Mike! When did the hat in the ring "new world" end production? I have not seen anything into the 50s. I always understood that the traveler took over from where the new world left off.

Agreed on the "world traveler" and "world varsity" names.

From all the research I've done rounding up all the New Worlds I could find, I think that 1948 was the end of the line for that model. I have not come across any F or G serials, 49 & 50, so it's looking like 1948. I think Bozman has the latest SN recorded on @Miq s New World list.

https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/late-war-schwinn-new-world.101092/#post-655406

 

[Miq]

Nice write up on welding SirMike!

@sam and I were discussing the welding on New World frames when I was putting my Gramp's 1941 New World together. It was clear that body lead was used to create the fillet look on several of the joints on the BB but under them was a steel weld. The kickstand braces were actually fillet welded with brass (the alloy material in this case) and you could see the yellow brass poking out.

The welds on Rollfaster's bike look like legit brass fillet welds. Not sure they are ugly. I've heard the term "stacks of coins" for building up steel welds, but when you are brazing with a torch and alloy I can imagine it making a lot smoother fillet like the ones with brass above and on Rollfaster's frame. (or the fillets I look for under magnification on the lead free solder joints of surface mount electronic components)

@GTs58,
@Bozman 's 1948 New World with the 7 digit E serial number is the latest one I've seen.

 

[Alan Brase]

Nice write up on the welds, Mike. Another place you would see smoothed out brass welds (brazed) would be on a Superior or a tandem. These were more expensive and warranted a higher degree of finish.
WRT the "World " decals: My first ever adult bike was a 1954 Traveler. It did NOT say "world" in the winged decals. And I think 1954 was the first year of this.