Many motorcyclists are of an inquisitive nature. When they first take possession of a new or used bike, most will go over it with a fine-tooth-comb looking for marks, scratches or mechanical flaws or imperfections that should be addressed. To the passionate, this is a ritual that takes precedence over life's important tasks like washing the car, taking the garbage out, or going shopping with your spouse.
When it comes to their two-wheeled pride and joy, many riders prefer to do their own maintenance when they can. These are hands-on people and maybe even a little crafty in that they would like to produce their own trinket or two for their motorcycle. For those of you who have attempted to create a custom piece, you can attest to the satisfaction and pride you feel when you complete the project.
Years ago I made a set of forward controls for a motorcycle I owned, and in my mechanic days made many little parts here and there, beginning as prototypes and refining them until they worked perfectly. One thing I have never had the opportunity to try but always wanted to is shaping metal. These days, so many body panels are stamped out of a press at an unbelievable rate, but it wasn't always like that. There was a time when parts were hammered by hand and the end result was as close to perfect as one could get. The men who did this type of work were skilled tradesmen but today, this skill is somewhat of a dying art.
While metal shaping is becoming a lost craft, there are still people who are keeping the skill alive and one such person is offering to train anyone who is interested. Even if you have never picked up a hammer, you can learn how to make these panels yourself from a true craftsman. Maybe you've thought about shaping a special fender or gas tank for your motorcycle, or repairing a rusted fender for a vintage car. An aircraft body panel or even medieval armour is not out of the question with the knowledge you can glean from John Crossley.
John is one of the most interesting men I have had the pleasure of meeting and he's not a stranger to knowing steel, after all he's been shaping it for the last 40 years. He holds a PhD in Metallurgical Engineering from Darmstadt University in Germany and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University in New York State. He was a three-time Olympic competitor in short distance running and still trains athletes who will be competing in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. Both his mother and father raced as a sidecar team on the Isle of Man until a ruling came into effect in the 50's that family members cannot race on the same team. John himself used to race sidecar Trials motorcycles. Now that has to be one of the craziest rides going! His father was an engineer who collected cars and John also has quite a collection of cars and motorcycles himself. His great grandfather's brother started Crossley cars in England, a company that continued to produce cars, trucks, busses and industrial engines until the company was sold to British Leyland in 1964. And he is an accomplished automobile artist. Once in a while he will help out at the University of London in Ontario and is involved in developing prosthetics that can be controlled by the body's own nerve impulses. To say John has a few stories would be a gross understatement.
John apprenticed in England as a metal shaper during his younger years and for the past ten years or so he has been passing his skill to others in the hopes that the specialized trade doesn't die completely. "There isn't an apprenticeship programme in Canada like we had in England. I apprenticed as a Metal Shaper and that was my job. Here, the apprenticeship falls under Sheet Metal Worker and those people apprenticing may never have the opportunity to shape a fender or a gas tank," John said. Sheet metal work today might consist of ductwork, siding or soffit creation.
John holds his two-day weekend courses in his modest home workshop. Apart from a few specialized tools, it's a shop similar to many others; workbenches, toolboxes, pictures and calendars of cars and motorcycles on the walls. One difference is that some of these pictures of vintage or classic racecars are of John's own paintings. Like his metal creations, they are in perfect proportion and it's hard to believe they are paintings and not photographs of the real thing. Over the years the shop has had additions built onto it as space is needed and there is plenty of room for four students at each course.
In one corner of the shop is one of John's ongoing projects, a '40's something Cab-over truck that is undergoing major changes to its personality and appearance. In another corner leans a badly rusted fender with John's newly shaped headlight portion ready to be welded in. I inspected this piece quite closely and although John showed me where he welded the shapes together, I couldn't see any sign of welds and the surface was so smooth there was no need for body fill. On one side of the room there are welding stations, in the centre are a few pedestals adorned with leather bags filled with lead-shot waiting to be pounded on, while mallets lay on a nearby workbench waiting to be picked up and abused.
John's two-day course is restricted to four students at a time. This guarantees one-on-one instruction and the students aren't bumping into one another. I met my classmates, Randy and John; the fourth student didn't show up for the course so there would only be three of us in training mode this weekend.
The lesson began early Saturday morning with a coffee and John explaining proper terminology, like 'shaping metal', not forming, and other important words John felt compelled to tell us. He then quickly moved on to explain the various 'bucks' available to us, and the basis of our chosen weekend project. 'Bucks' are the three-dimensional patterns we used to shape our steel onto, and we would refer to the bucks constantly for proper shape and fit of our battered steel throughout the weekend. Students have a choice of a couple of miniature automotive style fenders or the choice of two gas tanks, one British style and the other, a long chopper style. Any piece the student makes is theirs to keep after the course as a souvenir. Incidentally, John's company, Trident Tool (www.tridenttool.net) manufactures, amongst other things, Norton Commando and Triumph Trophy fuel tanks for export south of the border and two different styles of fuel tanks to custom bike manufacturer, Livingstone County Choppers, also in the States. Trident Tool also manufactures many tools for the metal shaping trade.
Next, John described options to make our patterns from the bucks and how many pieces of steel our project might take. After a quick pattern making demonstration, we mark out our patterns on paper, transfer them to 20-gauge steel and proceed to cut the multiple pieces from the sheet of steel. This course uses 20-gauge steel for ease of use. The Canadian DOT standard for a motorcycle gas tank is 16-gauge (the lower the number, the thicker it is and therefore harder to work with).
I chose the long chopper gas tank for a couple of reasons; it would look better than a miniature fender hanging on my office wall after it's painted, and it didn't look like it would be that hard to do. I would later find out I was so wrong.
After John's brief demonstration of pounding the bejeesus out of a piece of steel and his final remarks, 'Don't be afraid of it, hit it hard. It won't bite back", we were ready to get to work.
All I knew about shaping metal was that it was done with a mallet and lead-shot filled leather bag, and that it was not invented by Jessie James on Monster Garage as many who watch too much TV might think. I also knew that metal shrinks and stretches but I didn't know how easy it could get totally bent out of shape. It was much to my benefit we were missing a student because this meant that John could fix one of my mistakes. Thanks John for fixing that one twisted piece of steel I was banging the crap out of. John must have somehow sensed that I didn't really want a candy-cane style gas tank.
Fellow student Randy was taking the course to learn how to fix car bodies with metal instead of bondo. Randy chose the English style gas tank to work on. I think I heard him mutter something about making it into a mailbox. John, the other student, is retired and has found time to restore a 1955 Ford convertible he'd been holding on to for a while. John chose one of the miniature fenders to make but also brought a portion of the floor pan from his '55 Ford to get some advice on how to repair it...
... MMM
To read more of this shortened article, be sure to pick up this issue of Motorcycle Mojo Magazine. Current Issues are available at Chapters/Indigo and other fine newsstands across Canada and by subscription. Previous issues are available in the Mojo Store.
