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Cycle Source Hande Made Tech Feature
Hand Spinning Fenders With Led Sled Customs
Ever wonder where
your shiny new sheet
metal fender started
out in life? I mean,
you picked the style,
maybe the gauge of
metal and the size of
rear wheel you needed it for,
but did you ever give any
thought to how it was made
for you? Well, we hadn't
really thought about it until
one day when we were
talking to the cats from Led
Sled Customs out of Dayton,
Ohio. They not only schooled
us on the origin of all things
hand spun, they brought us
into the classroom, a full size
semi-trailer that they keep out
back just for this type of
work.
Before we go too far into
this, I'm sure you guys have
all seen the big piles of
fender blanks that today's
computerized machines can
put out at like 30 a minute,
but the roots of that process
date back as far as the
Egyptians.
The process of hand
spinning metal came to the
United States in the early
1800's and this technique is
still used in so many
applications it staggers the
mind. Within the motorcycle
industry this process has been
used for fenders, oil tanks,
gas caps and gas tanks,
almost anything that you can
think of that is sheet metal
and round has been spun into
shape. The art of hand spinning
however, is almost a lost art and
before the last few old cats
retire and take this technology
on with them, we wanted to get
it down on record.
There are many benefits of
spinning metal as opposed to
stamping, tensile strength being
on the top of that list, but the
best thing I can say from
watching a man doing this work
is that he was a craftsman.
Knowing how the metal will
react by the pressure you are
applying, the direction the end
is moving and the position of
your tool requires a sensitive
touch and a strong back. Seeing
metal in a nearly fluid state
while four foot long tools
worked it around a form made
me wonder why we have given
machines title to so much of
what we do today. Still ,there's
no standing in the way of
progress.
One thing I feel like I have to
mention here is that this is the
type of work that goes on in
shops owned by young dudes,
choppers and hot rods, and
while the rest of the world
might not be aware of it, they
are learning the old ways and
mastering much of what a lot of
people have forgotten along the
way. And yeah, some of it is
necessity based, but these cats
are proud to work with their
hands again, and in that, they
are the future. So, we got a lot
to cover here, let's get to it!
Kevin lines up the finished product of the work
we're about to look at.
Before we get started on the
art of hand spinning, let's just
give you an idea of what we're
working with here. The machine
that we will be spinning on is
like a giant lathe that's about 6
feet long and has one rotating
head that holds a form (mandrel)
PRE-SPINNING SET UP: and a tailstock that holds a
follow block. The sheet metal
is placed between the form
and the follow block and eased
down onto the form with a
series of tools and stages.
The tools are all heavy and large as
well, so pack a lunch for a day
in the spinning shop.
Mount the wooden form
(mandrel) onto the rotating
side of the lathe. This form is
made from pressed maple that
had to be shaped to make the
fenders it would form.
Lock down the tool post. The
holes serve as positions for
the tooling rollers that will
shape the flat sheet into a
fender blank.
Here the sheet is between the
form and the follow block, the
tool post is in position and
with the right speed selected,
the work can begin.
The selection of tools for
spinning are all big and heavy.
Most of these had to be hand
made by the shop, using four
foot long steel rods, positioning
blocks and rollers.
Travis locks down the dowel
that holds the first of two parts
that make the scissor tool into
the tool post. This side will
control the medial movement of
the roller, or how deep the roller
sits against the sheet.
Now he places the second part
of the scissor tool on top. This
half will control the lateral
movement of the roller, or the
side to side motion required to
set the metal down on the mold.
Here's a good perspective on what it takes to work this tool!
It's important to point out that this work requires a great touch.
Too much pressure and you could crush the mold or make the
steel too thin. Go too fast and you ruin the sheet and end up with a
giant floppy ash tray.
With a general purpose lubricant
applied to the face of the sheet
metal, Travis now starts to
sweep back and forth, pushing
the metal down on the mold.
While the center of the sheet
starts to go down, the outside
curves back around. With each
pass, Travis has to sweep all the
way out to the edge, shaping the
outside flat again.
Notice how the spinning lines
show the motion of the metal
as it moves across the form.
This happens in three stages:
1. The break down 2.
Forming the metal 3.
Finishing.
After 10 minutes of careful
execution, the sheet is against
the form and ready for
finishing. This fender has a
raised center line, the form
was made to achieve that rib.
Travis now marks the cut line
of the fender. In this case, the
fender will be for a 180 rear
tire, so it needs to be 8 inches
finished width.
Using another tool with a
carbide cutting tip, Travis
removes the outer skirt of the
fender blank. This tool was
also modified in house for this
purpose.
After the fender blank is
removed from the form,
Travis takes a large file and
deburrs the outer edge. The
blank is then ready for
shipping or finishing.
As you can see here, the raised
portion at the end of the blank
will make a great rib down the
center of the finished fender.
Inside the shop, Pat marks the
center line and plasma cuts the
blank into two separate halves.
From here it'll take shape fast.
Pat holds the two halves
together while Kevin tach welds
them along the rib. After this
step he will complete a solid
weld along the rib and it will be
a solid fender.
Pat smooths out the rib on the
welds on the inside and
outside of the fender with a
grinding wheel.
Using a pre-made template, Pat
uses the plasma cutter to remove
the excess metal along both the
sides of the fender blank.
After roughing out a guide
line, Pat then shapes the
fender tip using the plasma
cutter.
Again Pat uses the grinding
wheel to clean up the cut edge.
From here the fender is pretty
much ready to go on the bike
for dry fittment.
Led Sleds have specific molds
for Metzler tires. Pat says that
they are 100% guaranteed not
to swell so they can make the
clearance real tight. If it were
a fender for most other tire
manufacturers, the clearance
would need to have a little
more room.
So there you have it, not as
simple as pushing a button
and POOF, there's a fender.
The results however, far out
weigh the quality of mass
produced pieces. For more
information on the work that
these cats do, check 'em out
on-line and maybe you'll get
some Led Sled school on
being cool! Thanks to Pat and
the crew for another great day.
CYCLE-RESOURCES:
Led Sled Customs
4860 Upper Valley Road
Dayton, Ohio 45424
PH: 937-879-4645
www.ledsledcustoms.com
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