Pretend British guy totally new to shaping

[Liander]

Hi All!

My name is Timothy and I live in Belper, Derbyshire. Despite my very british name and living in a very british town I'm actually from Milan, Italy (please don't ask about the Barcellona match, I'm an AC Milan fan...).

The reason why I would like to be a member is that I have decided that I want to turn this:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_Pj...ptV05hWUk/edit

into something like this:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_Pj...BtMlM3LWc/edit

While the fairings will be built out of carbon fibre (anyone has a vacuum pump I can borrow? ), I want to fabricate the fuel tank and the rear fairing out of aluminium.

I have some good experience welding/brazing non-ferrous materials and machining metals in general (I'm a member of the Nottingham Hackspace where they have a myford lathe and are currently in the process of rebuilding a bridgeport mill, can't wait!) so hopefully that will help.

I have done a bit of research and would like to do the shrinking (hope it's right) by using the leather bag (that I will make myself) technique and then planishing using dollies and a steel slapping spoon. I don't have easy access to a tree stump and don't think they would be too happy at the hackspace if I started filling the floor with massive logs!

I will be brazing the parts together as I don't like MIG welding on aluminium and don't have access to a TIG welder.

Hopefully, with the material available on the site and a bit of help from the members, I'll achieve my goal in time to use the bike when warmer weather arrives.

Looking forward to it!

Cheers

[Peter Tommasini]

HI Timothy welcome to the forum
Peter

[galooph]

Welcome Timothy

Belper's a nice part of the world.

[HEATNBEAT]

Hi Timothy and welcome!

[weldtoride]

Hi Timothy and welcome.

As for a vacuum pump, I took the compressor unit out of an old refrigerator and used the suction side to pull down a vacuum for servicing automotive A/C systems. Works well, just remember to drop a bit of oil into it now and then. When it does crap out, the next vacuum pump is as close as the next dead refrigerator.

As for stumps, check out David Gardiner's video. His "stump" is simply a hollow made in the side of a cut off chunk of timber. I made one myself after seeing his in his video. I used a cut off piece of laminated lumber beam. I also have a stump, but the chunk of beam is easier to move around, and stores under a bench as well.

Hope that helps some.

[bryn jones]

Hi Timothy welcome aboard, my stump is only about 6" thick works ok call round and have a look i am in bolsover .