Anywhere to have some aluminum cut?

Pricing for 5 units is $165 shipped ($33 each). I also priced them with no bends and it saves $50! If I can come up with a professional way to bend the part myself, the cost would be $115 shipped for 5 units($23 each).

Any ideas on how to bend parts without a press brake?

Well, I made up a plate holder / turnsignal holder part that I can weld onto my bracket. Should I weld it and bend it afterward, an inch or so away from the weld? Or bend it first, then weld it? Or have it welded at the angle I need (about 45)?

Here's what I did today....will need smoothing and polishing, but it won't show when it's on the bike anyway.



and here it is with the part that I'll need to weld it too:

id bend it before you weld it myself,clamp it down on a bench with a good solid edge.
put the line you want to bend right on edge of bench with long side hanging over for some leverage,clamp a piece of wood on top of it with a couple good clamps to keep it from twisting and start bending a little at a time till its where you want it to be,you can always flip it the other way and use a soft mallet to get things flat if need be(poor mans black smithing! :laugh: )
if youre making it from aluminum you can always heat it up with a propane torch and let it air cool ,this will anneal/soften the metal to make it bend easier

wireman wrote: id bend it before you weld it myself,clamp it down on a bench with a good solid edge.
put the line you want to bend right on edge of bench with long side hanging over for some leverage,clamp a piece of wood on top of it with a couple good clamps to keep it from twisting and start bending a little at a time till its where you want it to be,you can always flip it the other way and use a soft mallet to get things flat if need be(poor mans black smithing! :laugh: )
if youre making it from aluminum you can always heat it up with a propane torch and let it air cool ,this will anneal/soften the metal to make it bend easier

+1 bend it first for sure
I always put it in a vise and heat it with a torch and bend from there, tap it with a hammer, get a flap disc for ur grinder and smooth out any marks,

Bent it first and had it welded today...all done! Glad I did it myself and saved that money now that it's all over.

Thats a awsome job Mike
Is that a crankcase breather you have there?
Behind the plate?
Good idea
Jeff

nice!

The breather is actually from my oil filler cap...I added a second breather after this last rebuild to help prevent any oil leaks. I had my crankcase breather run there before but just left the filter for that near the breather cover this time.

I'll probably pull the new taillight bracket sometime over the winter to paint, powdercoat, plate or polish it. It's not perfect but should work well and it hardly shows anyway.

turned out nice.
good job.

leon

Looks good! If you want straight lines cutting aluminum plate yourself, use a steel straightedge as a guide and clamp it to the workpiece. File just until you hit the steel.