Wednesday, May 4, 2011

What the buck?

So my welder and I didn't have the same vision when it came to the tank, so he asked me to make him a wooden buck for him to form the tank on.  I designed what I wanted with the CAD software I use at work and then used that to make templates to cut and shape the wood.  It took a little while, but at least the tank and seat will look exactly how I want them.  I will be dropping them off today so he can start working on them.

The Design

Making the Buck
My dad glued up some pine boards and then we cut out the general shape (using templates from my CAD model) using a really big band saw.  I then used a large file and a sander to get it to the final shape.  I made cardboard templates to help be get the corner radii right and keep things consistent.



The Finished Product
The final tank won't have a pointed front because it will be cut out for the frame tunnel.  Also, the seat will be trimmed to match the profile of the tank where they meet.  The flat part of the seat buck is actually a little long so we can trim it to fit.






Here is the lonely engine waiting for a bike to call home

and the three tanks that didn't make the cut