BikerB

Well-Known Member

• Feb 4, 2021

• #1

Rather than the one asking for advice I thought a new thread for folk to contribute to and give advice would be helpful.
I am starting to do things at home now and playing around learning and building kit as I go, there must be others out there doing the same things?
Anyway, did a couple of fork legs for my bandit tonight, has a few false starts for various reasons but have a couple of half decent ones done now ready to clean and assemble tomorrow.

Got some kit to start building some better equipment to do this and will post pics of what I eventually build, hopefully other folk will show theirs
I am going to start with a coating cabinet rather than a cardboard box as I am currently using!

 

Bantam1

Well-Known Member

• Feb 4, 2021

• #2

BruceB said:

I am going to start with a coating cabinet rather than a cardboard box as I am currently using!

Click to expand...

You've powder coated those fork legs? Thats impressive, where did you bake them?
I usually go for a polished aluminium look on my fork legs.
Electro zinc plating small parts is a technique worth trying out and you can easily create a small diy process.

 

BikerB

Well-Known Member

• Feb 4, 2021

• #3

I normally polish as well but the Bandit original finish was powder coat so replicated it.
I bought an old integrated domestic oven for £20 off gumtree and installed it in the garage. The first one took three goes to work out the temps and times the the second one was first time. They are not 100% perfect but good enough, certainly a lot better than they were with some corrosion bubbling under the powder coat. Practice makes perfect and the thing that caused trouble was the mass of the alloy delaying heating up to temp and delaying the curing.
I have the kits for electroplating but just getting around to trying it shortly, just assembled a new table in the workshop to set it all up

 

Landyfox

Well-Known Member

• Feb 6, 2021

• #4

Great idea. I will be watching this thread closely.

 

Flossie

Well-Known Member

• Feb 6, 2021

• #5

I spent days and days stripping the old finish off my 1200 Bandit forks, swingarm (that was the worse) engine castings, grab handles, rear peg hangers...everything that was alloy including the wheels. Then spent weeks and weeks mirror polishing the lot.
She looked the dogs wotsits but I came to regret it. Spent more time trying to keep it looking good than riding her.
Nightmare.
Flogged her years ago.
Oh, float bowls, clutch and brake levers, master cylinders, Speedo drive etc, I went mental!

 

BikerB

Well-Known Member

• Mar 30, 2021

• #6

I got fed up trying to balance parts in a cardboard box to coat them so the last couple of evenings I have been knocking this up. Its not very big but I am limited by storage space and that I have a domestic size oven.
Don't slag the build, it ain't finish yet and filler does wonders, I am not a joinerer.
When it is finished and the fan, filter and lights go in it should make things easier and less messy

 

frog hopper

Well-Known Member

• Mar 31, 2021

• #7

Don't slag yourself off, I am a joiner/cabinet maker by trade and to be honest that is better than some of the stuff I think suitable for purpose. It all comes down to what works, is it important to be finished like a regency table? or is it going to be made to achieve a goal and the looks don't matter?
My particular expertise is making stairs to fit in odd shaped areas and still be within regulations, it can take me up to a month, but they are pretty well perfect in every respect. I have also worked on sites making rough shuttering for concrete casting. It's all horses for courses.

 

BikerB

Well-Known Member

• Apr 1, 2021

• #8

frog hopper said:

Don't slag yourself off, I am a joiner/cabinet maker by trade and to be honest that is better than some of the stuff I think suitable for purpose. It all comes down to what works, is it important to be finished like a regency table? or is it going to be made to achieve a goal and the looks don't matter?
My particular expertise is making stairs to fit in odd shaped areas and still be within regulations, it can take me up to a month, but they are pretty well perfect in every respect. I have also worked on sites making rough shuttering for concrete casting. It's all horses for courses.

Click to expand...

Its plenty strong enough and will do what it needs to do, just a bit of a perfectionist or anal or a PITA depending on your point of view

 

BikerB

Well-Known Member

• Apr 13, 2021

• #9

Cabinet now finished and wired up. I should probably fit a retainer to the filter but on trying it the suction pulls it against the seal anyway so this is probably optional. The whole thing is set up so that just plugging it in and connecting the air line it is ready to go. I didn't make it any larger than this simply because I don't have the storage room and I am using a domestic oven so no point making it larger than the size of the largest part I can fit in the oven.