Sorry I've not kept in touch the last week, but it's not because I've been sleeping at the wheel :)
Put in 96 hours at the fire house and another 44 here at the shop, so have not had a lot of time to post.
One of the cool projects that I worked on was Jason's 29er Unicrown fork. Jason is a bigger rider who wanted a custom fork to match his current ride that balanced performance with weight. I ended up choosing some butted Tange 29er blades and some scallopped dropouts to give a sweet tapered appearance from the top of the crown down to the drops. I was not sure that I like the blades at first, just a bit bigger than I imagined, but now that it's built up, I'm really digging them.
Here's a shot of the top wall profile looking down the gullet ;)
All layed out...ready for mitering
Welded up in the fixture...
I normally make my own disc tabs, but wanted to try a lower profile tab that was available. I believe they use the same on the Salsa forks. End result, they look nice, but the design does lend it's self to some under cutting during welding due to the small profile, so you really have to stay on top of it and feed the filler in pretty steadily.
Checking it out with a wheel is always a good step to take before going to paint...would hate to have something not fit right now.
Before paint, the fork is aligned on my table to insure it turned out as straight as an arrow; one of those Military ones, not the old knobby arrows the Indians used ;) Into paint we go...three coats of sanded primer for good durability
and a deep midnight metallic blue to match Jason's IF.
Now for the big pic of the week, here is Cubby, our new shop pup. He is a miniature Austrailian Shepard and is 14 weeks old. He loves his recliner!
Can't wait for him to get a bit bigger to run on the trails.
And finally for Whites Bicycle, a shot of the polished Aluminum bars for paint color...it's got a bit of a metallic flake in it and lays down very nicely. Should look good on that 29er Yo fork!
cheers,
rody
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