Most builders aren't fabricators-they simply have an eye for the completed project. Many builders don't even know how to weld, and some barely turn a wrench. But then there are the guys who do it all, like Mitch Bergeron. He could order a fender out of a catalog, but instead of waiting a week for it to get to the shop, he can make one out of a sheet of aluminum he already has. He sees a project from start to finish, from the initial idea to bolting together the driveline and wheels to piecing together components that match one another in design and work with the bike as a whole. Check it out as Mitch gives us a look into one of the aspects of full-custom bike building. In these photos, he makes the process of shaping metal look easy, indicating his mastery of the craft.
Using a piece of construction...
Using a piece of construction paper, Mitch cut out the basic design of the fender in 2-D.
Then he simply traced the...
Then he simply traced the shape of the fender on a sheet of aluminum.
With an air-powered sheetmetal...
With an air-powered sheetmetal nibbler, he quickly cut the sheet into a shape resembling a skateboard.
He smoothed the edges of the...
He smoothed the edges of the soon-to-be fender with a 10-inch disc sander and finished off the edge with a metal file.
A lead-shot-filled leather...
A lead-shot-filled leather bag is a pliable surface that consistently reacts to hammer blows. The consistency of the pliable surface is what a builder uses to anticipate the shape a hammer blow will create in a given piece of sheetmetal. Mitch started to shape the sheetmetal with a shot-filled rubber mallet to make deep craters in the metal.
The next blows to the sheetmetal...
The next blows to the sheetmetal were far more shallow, so a hammer with more surface area was necessary. These impressions in the sheet averaged out some of the deeper blows.
Smoothing out the metal with...
Smoothing out the metal with the planishing hammer was the next step. This tool uses compressed air to hammer the metal hundreds of times a minute.
After a few minutes under...
After a few minutes under the hammer, the fender began to take shape but getting it just right took a little more time.
Mitch finished the fender...
Mitch finished the fender with some work on the English wheel.
In about an hour, he turned...
In about an hour, he turned a two-dimensional sheet of aluminum into a three-dimensional fender.
The new fender was positioned...
The new fender was positioned on the bike and then he designed a bracket to graft the fender to the frame.
Two hours later, Mitch had...
Two hours later, Mitch had created a fender and fitted an unconventional fender mount to the fender.