cheap and ... not easy metal cafe seat :)

[rockcitycafe]

I was screwing around in the shop today, had nothing to do because I'm waiting for fiberglass to cure on part of my fairing and it's clamped to the bike so that I can't get the tank on, and I can't finish welding the mounts to my tank because I can't fit it on the bike... so I killed some time, I always wanted to make a dunstall style seat!!! I tried to get more pics of the tools i was using too

I'll finish the front soon, that's not really complicated


day two

 

[lil beast]

Awsome work Sean.
Glass and metal

 

[chrisf]

Very nice. Well done!

--Chris

 

[dcmspikes]

i dont like you. jk. nice to pound on some metal for fun. do have a shrinker/stretcher? my brother has one. its really good for those compound curves. like the wrap at the duck bill part. do you ever use steel?

 

[jason teamshralp]

looking good!

 

[rockcitycafe]

i dont like you. jk. nice to pound on some metal for fun. do have a shrinker/stretcher? my brother has one. its really good for those compound curves. like the wrap at the duck bill part. do you ever use steel?

not yet, I might get one soon but I find that I can shrink with a dolly and soft mallet and stretch with a dolly and hard mallet, there's a bunch of tools I'd love to get... I'm running out of shop space

 

[Rat400F]

Looks good!
What type of welder do you use for the seems?
What gauge is the aluminum you used?

 

[rockcitycafe]

its 16ga aluminum, i've been going down in gauge every time i buy more, there's a guy making alloy tanks that weigh like, 3lbs and i think he's using 18 or 20, so i might go there next

 

[Rat400F]

Wow, 20 gauge seems like it would dent really easy. I really don't have any idea though as I'm new to this. I'm planning a new seat for my bike that would hold a small amount of tools, fuses and etc. I think I'll use the 16 gauge, thanks.

 

[chrisf]

I've been using 18ga and 20ga 3003 for my seats. It is a PITA to weld, to say the least. The next batch will be 16ga like you're using. I think it is a happy medium of strength, lightness and weldability.

--Chris

 

[rockcitycafe]

yeah, welding butts i found to be tricky, corners was easier, i think the trick i wound up with was to start a really low amount, and let the ac wave burn the crap off the surface, and as you gradually work the heat up, build a tiny drop of filler in the puddle then bridge it to the other side, once you've got a bridge, seaming the rest of the butt weld is pretty easy

 

[dcmspikes]

out of curiousity, how does the soft mallet shrink the metal? i understand how the dies in the shrinker/stretcher work and the force of the hard mallet spreads the metal, but cant imagine how the soft one will shrink. thanks

 

[rockcitycafe]

i think what's happening is that the area around the impact is bent away from the hammer and shrunk slightly, as opposed to a hard hammer that compresses and expands the impact zone... all I know really is that it forms what I'm looking for, most of my metal experience is from experimenting, I went to school for art but it was one of those really "free" programs... had I gone with a craft program, I would probably have a better grounding, but the craft programs were a little too traditional for me, all hammers and dollies and anvils, brazing, casting to a limited extent, but I rarely saw metal crafts that appealed to me

 

[dcmspikes]

yeah, thats why i ask questions. i just like to make stuff. from fiberglass, to casting, to woodwork, to metal, to painting, to welding, to whatever i see. well its working for you. cant wait to see what you make next.

 

[rockcitycafe]

finished up the project

 

[chrisf]

That looks really good. A lot of time went into that. I think it will look good on the bike.

--Chris

 

[Rat400F]

Looks great, it makes me really want to get into welding.