How do they do that?

[Warthog]

Seen some really nice, really neat work. How's it done?

Apart from welding, which I cannot do, what is the secret to nicely worked edges, curved sections, etc?

I can buy metal sheet from B&Q, or the Estonian equivalent. I can cut with tin cutters. I can de-burr with an angle grinder, and I can genle mould and tease into shape with a mallet.....

But, if you do not have access to a metal work machine kitted Lock-up, are there any tools out there that make your scope of creation that bit more varied and professional looking?

I want to venture toward garage engineer, rather than scrap-heap challenge runner-up. Know what I mean?

[jasonbc]

first thing is patience !!. Then a good set of files and if your feeling professional a ser if radius guages to get the right size. Or be like the rest of us and use your eye. And that famous phrase "ah that ell do nicely"

[Wee Jack]

The whole point of bodging is "function over form" ie make something that performs it's intended purpose, and if it looks good - it's a bonus.

Remember patience , patience , patience - what you are making is not already part of the bike - so the bike can live without the solution for another day , while you think about it and finish the job.

[Warthog]

Hmm....

Food for thought. I have a 20 ltr Jerry can that I had bought to stock pile in the 99 hauliers' strike (ws able to run my XBR 500 the whole time without visiting a petrol station!!), and I want to make a cradling bracket to hold this.

I then also want to the make new brackets with which to atttach the Project VND panniers I had onthe GS. Once you've used those: you don't want to go Touratech: their bomb proof!!

Once they are all made the bike is essentially ready to go to Kamchatka and back over 8 months!!

[Warthog]

first thing is patience !!. Then a good set of files and if your feeling professional a ser if radius guages to get the right size. Or be like the rest of us and use your eye. And that famous phrase "ah that ell do nicely"

Cool: but what is a "ser if radius gauge", and how do I use it?

Plus, how do you, for example, get a length of steel bar and, say, put a kink in it, if you are making brackets ....

As you can see its one of my plans, and the ones that fitted my GS were made by the guy who builds them, but looked so precise. A result my mallet would struggle to acheive...

[Dilbert]

To get a smooth radius in a bend on a pice of bar or plate you need to bend it around a solid section of steel pipe, to get a profesional finish though you will need to invest in some bending rollers.

If you want to bend pipe or tube, you really need a pipe bending kit to get good results and to support the pipe to stop it flattening on the bend.

I suggest you look out your local fabricators or blacksmiths and see if they will let you use their equipment (for a small fee) they may even give you a few lessons in how to use it.

[Dilbert]

Cool: but what is a "ser if radius gauge", and how do I use it?

I think he means "a set of radius gauges", these are pieces of plate metal cut with different size quarter circles out of them, bend your plate or bar or whatever and compare the bend to the size gauge that you want, so that you know all the bends are the same radius

[Warthog]

I think he means "a set of radius gauges", these are pieces of plate metal cut with different size quarter circles out of them, bend your plate or bar or whatever and compare the bend to the size gauge that you want, so that you know all the bends are the same radius

Ahhh. "Set of" I see.

So which radius gauges are best? "mild dylexia", "spell checked" or "drop forged"?

[Warthog]

Well, I have taken advice on board and just bought myself some nice tools!!

Metal rule, 3 x 200mm files and a metal pertractor. I have not opted for the radius gauges as my first project is making a bracket to adapt my R 1150 GS pannier rails to fit the Ural and very precise radii are not a major point, whilst accurate angles in my plates are more of a crucial aspect, hence investing in the pertractor!. Either way, the bits I bought are decent quality according to the store and, all-in, only set me back about £32. Not bad for the UK, although no small amount here!

Now, I just need to find the raw materials and I can start fettling!....I love buying tools...

[Dilbert]

....I love buying tools...

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