Hey Fellas, I'm not sure if this has been posted before. I seem to remember Karen doing something similar on one of her builds. Let me know if it's old news. :wink:
I was helping a friend this week to repair some forks and it got me trying something that I hadn't experimented with before: Flattening fork ends. This is a walk in the park when you're dealing with a crimp that goes straight across like this one (below), but it takes a little more effort when you're trying to match a radius formed one. The one I was working one wasn't just a radius but more of an elliptical shape. Enough jibber jabber, here are some pics! :thumbsup:
Here is the easy style I made for a friend a while back. Some blocks in a press is all you need for these.
Here is the elliptical style I needed to make and the forming dies I made up. My brother was nice enough to machine these for me out of 1/2" steel bar. I was crossing my fingers that they would work out like I planned.
I then put the plates and the tubing in a press with some guides to keep everything in the right place. (I should have taken a pic):facepalm:. I centered the tubing in the dies, pressed it into shape, drilled the axle hole, and finally shaped the end on the belt sander to come out with this as my finished product. It worked out just like I hoped it would! :freakout: :freakout: :freakout:
I hope this gives anyone who's interested in forming tubing the confidence to give it a try. :drinkup:
I was helping a friend this week to repair some forks and it got me trying something that I hadn't experimented with before: Flattening fork ends. This is a walk in the park when you're dealing with a crimp that goes straight across like this one (below), but it takes a little more effort when you're trying to match a radius formed one. The one I was working one wasn't just a radius but more of an elliptical shape. Enough jibber jabber, here are some pics! :thumbsup:
Here is the easy style I made for a friend a while back. Some blocks in a press is all you need for these.
Here is the elliptical style I needed to make and the forming dies I made up. My brother was nice enough to machine these for me out of 1/2" steel bar. I was crossing my fingers that they would work out like I planned.
I then put the plates and the tubing in a press with some guides to keep everything in the right place. (I should have taken a pic):facepalm:. I centered the tubing in the dies, pressed it into shape, drilled the axle hole, and finally shaped the end on the belt sander to come out with this as my finished product. It worked out just like I hoped it would! :freakout: :freakout: :freakout:
I hope this gives anyone who's interested in forming tubing the confidence to give it a try. :drinkup:
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