Shane Martin Knows A Thing Or Two About Bending Metal

Shane Martin Knows A Thing Or Two About Bending Metal

One the greatest aspects of web searches or my new favorite, searching on instagram, is finding raw talent. There are a myriad of things in which we can find distractions in and one of the things I enjoy most is to see new artistic fabrication ideas in steel. What we think of as one secular object, being morphed into an entirely different object is just too damn cool. The patience to create these pieces along with the thought process speaks to the true imagination that might be lurking within any of us. Maybe it's time to take a page out of Shane Martin's playbook and work up some bolts into something cool. 

A Big Giant Sword And One Man's Craftsmanship Spark New TV Series On Discovery

A Big Giant Sword And One Man's Craftsmanship Spark New TV Series On Discovery

Science fiction and the realm of fantasy within pop culture and more specifically video games are designed to break down boundaries into a new form of reality. One element that we earth bound mortals work with daily and that we still don't have a solid explanation for is the force known as gravity. The reason that gravity comes into play when speaking of sci fi is that we have a new craftsman about to launch on Discovery with his colossal swords. Their design and build is well put together but the size and weight create some very interesting visual tension about how a weapon should perform. Do yourself a favor and watch some of the youtube clips as Michael Cthulthu has built his reputation around fire and steel.

Turn Your Old Go Kart Frame Into A Gravity Racer

Custom built go kart frame for some gravity racing

Bringing new life to old parts that were never intended to go together, is a favorite past time of ours. Check out the gravity racing cart at about 95% done. A few tweaks here and there and need two quick support brackets and this project is a wrap. Cheers to the backyard builders world wide. Now its time for some downhill racing to begin.

Brown Dog Welding Crafts An Amazing Knucklehead

Can't afford a vintage Knucklehead? let Brown Dog Welding hook you up

Josh Welton of Brown Dog Welding is never one to rest on his laurels. Forever refining his craft in metalwork and pushing forward with his mechanical sculptures, he has truly blazed his own path. It might be quite easy to grab a few nuts and bolts here and there to weld together and make something feel mechanical. This is where Josh, steps well beyond his contemporaries by creating sculptural pieces that feel real and beg to be seen in a 360 degree panoramic view. Do yourself a favor and keep up with him on Instagram or on Flickr.

Use The English Wheel For Complex Panel Curves

As I get deeper into the sheet metal build on our Buell, constantly I am scanning youtube for builders that are sharing their vast wealth of knowledge of fabrication. Been putting quite a few hours into our 18 gauge sheet metal on the gas tank and really starting to get a feel for how to shape the metal just right. Will be posting more photos on the progress shortly. The videos below are a great insight into how to approach the metal in a practical way along with a technical aspect only years of knowledge could allow for.

The template to our new style of Buell tanks

Getting our complex curves on the english wheel

English Wheel and Sheet Metal Equals New Gas Tank

There is nothing quite as satisfying as building something from scratch. That rough idea in your mind that is just aching to get out and into some type of material. For us, this has been our ever so slow Buell Street Fighter build. We start on it, then have to move to other projects and then are able to come back to it. Now we are really starting to crank on it and get moving at a decent pace. Check out the progress on our new gas tank.

Cold rolled sheet metal and our new tank templates

Tank is made from foam insulation, which is great for sculpting out an idea

Another angle on our new tank style

rough section of sheet metal cut out

Heavy Metal thunder! time to cut sheet metal

Using a scribe to etch our guides in

Here is the working sketch of the tank on the sheet metal for what we need to shape

Here is the working sketch of the tank on the sheet metal for what we need to shape

Getting our sheet metal to bend at our will with the English Wheel

Working the metal with several different shape rollers

First round of rough shaping before we make a few cuts to begin pushing into shape

Some Custom Bikes Are Born On Paper First

Putting ideas to paper before starting on a project helps ideas flow. You can always design on the fly, but having a working sketch to go from helps to carve out a solid representation of the idea at hand. We stumbled across the blog of Darizt Design out of Java Indonesia and then just happened to spend another hour there going over their work. Damn great ideas and really enjoy the DIY attitude.

Darizt Design of Indonesia

Full sketch of bike to work through design ideas

What could be better than a solid blueprint to work from, dig the engineering

Frame sections coming together

Multi section frame, be interested to see how well those bolts hold it all together with flex from the motor's torque

The hidden mono shock is a clever idea for sure!

The bike has a killer stance

Really sweet tank shape with the custom frame

120-Year-Old Mechanical Device that Perfectly Mimics the Song of a Bird, Repost from This Is Colossal

We have come extremely far in technology, but once an automaton such as the bird chirping box below reveals its secrets, it is fair to realize how great inventive minds were over a 120 years ago. You needn't be an ornithologist to appreciate this fine piece of machinery. Do yourself a favor and watch the gears and air box moving, while thinking on the sound you are hearing. This craftsman was a true visionary.

View original post on This Is Colossal





"Get out the headphones or turn up your speakers and prepare to be impressed by archaic 19th century engineering. Relying on dozens of moving parts including gears, springs, and a bellows, this small contraption built in 1890 was designed to do one thing: perfectly mimic the random chatter of a song bird. At first I expected to hear a simple repeating pattern of tweets, but the sounds produced by the mechanism are actually quite complex and vary in pitch, tone, and even volume to create a completely realistic song. I think if you closed your eyes you might not be able to tell the difference between this and actual birdsong. It’s believed the machine was built 120 years ago in Paris by Blaise Bontems, a well-known maker of bird automata and was recently refurbished by Michael Start over at The House of Automata. Can any of you ornithologists identify the bird? If so, get in touch. (via the automata blog)

Update: And if you liked that, check out this pair of matching signing bird pistols that sold at auction last year for $5.8 million."

Backyard Black Smithing With A Home Built Power Hammer

Characters like MacGyver and the fellas from Mythbusters continue to inspire, for one very specific reason. They think through a problem and create a solution. By painting their way out of a corner, clever ideas resolve an issue at hand or help to further expand their quiver of tools.

Ingenuity comes in many forms and creating your own tools is a particular fascination of ours. When it comes to metal, we are all ears and hands in this scenario. Have a look at this video about a home made black smith power hammer. Did you ever think about making an engine block for a table stand? Yep, we sure have many times and even made one. Below is also a fabrication table made from the crankshaft of the donor engine we bought. These guys upped the ante and for that clever solution and we salute you.

Find out more on blacksmithing tools from the Naked Anvil youtube page

Crank shaft as base for a portable fabrication table

Proportionate size with our old Cafe Racer in the process of being rebuilt

Brown Dog Welding Process Video

By now you have most likely seen some of the posts and interview we have posted with Josh of Brown Dog Welding. If you haven't and are curious to see his work in action, take a gander at the process video of him working on a new motorcycle sculpture.


Huge shout out to his buddy Matt for shooting such a great video and in the future be sure to look out for some bands in our camp to become part of their videos.


Check out all that is Brown Dog Welding

New motorcycle sculpture from Brown Dog Welding

New motorcycle sculpture from Brown Dog Welding in progress

Dale Dunning Metal Faces

Design ideas can be found in a multitude of places but sites such as ThisIsColossal.com bring out more ideas than should be legal. Consistently the site sheds light upon new creative ideas that just keep the ol' cranium in flux with, damn, how did they figure that one out.

One of the more recent posts that really struck us was the metal sculpture work of Dale Dunning. His typography mixed with steel and welded forms oozed right into our grease soaked heart.

Link to Dale Dunning on This is Colossal

Dale Dunning type face metal sculpture

Dale Dunning type face metal sculpture

Dale Dunning type face metal sculpture

Dale Dunning type face metal sculpture

"Just last week Colossal featured the work of Hong Seong Jang who used the long aluminum sticks of moveable type to create miniature cities. Now we have the figurative sculptures of artist Dale Dunning who welds together metal type and steel hardware to create intricate masks and heads. Of his work Dunning says:

The head that has been featured in my work for the last 13 years is a generic, simplified form not specific to gender, devoid of detail, resembling an egg. The head is universally recognized, easy to identify with. We live in our heads, see, feel, and experience the world in our head. It serves as the foundation upon which I can develop various paths to explore.

Though I’m struck by the the final shape of his figures, I find myself almost more intrigued by the processes Dunning must utilize to create them. I’m told that the last piece above, Constellation 1/1, is made from 900 welded bolts and washers and I can’t even imagine how one would embark on such a time-consuming process. You can see much more of his work here. All images courtesy Oeno Gallery. (via my amp goes to 11)"

Dale Dunning metal sculpture made from bolts

Dale Dunning metal sculpture made from bolts

Dale Dunning metal sculpture made from bolts

Brown Dog Welding - Panhead Bobber Sculpture

Josh over at Brown Dog Welding does very unique and interesting pieces with his fine tuned metal craft. It is rare to see a sculpture this detailed and articulated in a true to life looking piece and also one that has been welded. With a bike build on this scale, really stoked to see where the next pieces will go.

Link to our interview with Josh of Brown Dog Welding

Brown Dog Welding's bobber motorcycle sculpture

Brown Dog Welding's bobber motorcycle sculpture, front profile

Brown Dog Welding's bobber motorcycle sculpture, detail of front end and engine

Brown Dog Welding's bobber motorcycle sculpture, overview

Brown Dog Welding's bobber motorcycle sculpture detail on the welds

Motorcycle Powered By Compressed Air?

Green technology is enabling or forcing many engineers on ways to think or rethink the continued evolution of motorsports. It is easy to argue from point of view and talk about how great a combustion engine sounds, but we are really into pushing forward with new ideas and creative concepts. We have a deep passion for all things involving gas and carburetion but what if you wanted to create a racing bike to break new records at Bonneville or your local drag strip. With that in mind, check out what some engineering students came up with for a concept motorcycle.

Saline Bird Concept is a speed record motorbike concept powered by a compressed air engine.

Like the Saline Airstream, the Saline Bird Concept is a race motorbike created for the Les Triplettes de Bonneville. The motorbike is powered by an compressed air engine fed by three air tanks with a total capacity of 27 liters. All of technical parts are mounted on a frame made of carbon fiber. The position of the biker is directly inspired by speed skier position for better aerodynamics.

The conventional body panels are replaced by leather skin parts that can be slipped on and off “like a sock” in order to switch between the different categories (with body panel or without it). It can also be turned into a road model by replacing the handlebar. Technical partners of the project include MDI (engine), LUXFER (air tank) and BRM.

The Saline Bird Concept was created by five design students at the ISD of Valenciennes (France) for their 2010-2011 final project.

Featured link on Car Body Design

Saline Bird Concept motorcycle

Saline Bird Concept motorcycle from rear axle

Saline Bird Concept motorcycle front end

Saline Bird Concept motorcycle with body panels removed

Metal Church With Jesse James - Parts 3 and 4

We were guessing with Jesse James bike build off on Discovery Channel that he would be working on a new show for the channel and our theories were proven correct. Discovery is a great channel overall, but we have always wondered why they kept the American Chopper show on for so long, as the show is more about high paid advertising and family drama rather than about motorcycles or custom builds. We completely rationalize with the idea that the corporate advertising pays for the channel and gives them the ability to produce more shows, but to what detriment? The family squabbles made a mockery of the Teutels and it became just another soap opera, same as ESPN. Not that their builds were something we enjoy or would ever ride, but imagine yourself as a teenager and thinking on a career path. By being able to see a machinist, builder, fabricator, mechanic etc. as a viable career choice, they are missing a huge opportunity to truly grow their market share. Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs portrays all sorts of tough jobs that are being done and are providing an honest living that aren't cubicle driven.

America has forgotten how we got started and what made us great. Many have forgotten what it is like to fix the random item that breaks at the home or how to do an oil change. College is not always the solution or striving for the proverbial white collar job. Trade careers are continuing to diminish as we are losing our industrial might which is sad. Hopefully with Jesse James new show, Discovery will once again focus on craftsmanship instead of drama. The same as most should focus on his amazing skill set compared to his personal life.

Granted many folks are voyeurs and live vicariously through others, so we ask this. Instead of watching life go by, become an entrenched part of it. If ya don't know how to dial in four carburetors, learn. If ya can't bend sheet metal or weld, go to your local community college and take some classes. Life is too damn short so go out and make something happen that you can call your own.

Leave a legacy and something to be remembered by, take the high road and make it work.

Jesse James TIG Welding - Photo from Cyril Huze Blog

Cyril Huze posted an interview with Jesse about the build off coming up next week with the Teutels and you can read it below or link back over to the original article.

Link to original article and photos on CyrilHuzeBlog.com

Jesse James, Paul Junior and Senior duel in the ultimate TV build-off on the Discovery Channel and you are about to decide who is the best builder. In advance of the 2-day TV event (Episode “Chopper Finale” December 5 at 9 pm when the 3 customs will be revealed, Episode “Chopper Live” December 6 at 9 pm to vote and see the winner), Jesse James took some time to answer my questions…ramping-up the smack talk against the Teutuls… A couple of revelations, too.

Cyril. Although I can’t show pictures of your bike before Monday’s and Tuesday’s episodes, can you explain to my readers your approach for this build-off, what type of bike did you build. Jesse. I just wanted to build a bike purely for myself. I wanted a style and materials that “I” want. At the end of the day I’m keeping this fucker, so I might as well do something that I will dig.

Cyril. How much help did you get? Jesse. Ha! The only real help I had was unloading the truck of raw material coming in the door of the shop. Really I had Bacon with me the whole time helping run parts and this and that. Which I could not have done without him. Jeff Decker and Cole Foster also stopped by for a couple days to help out. It was so great doing this with my friends.

Jesse James getting proper measurements for ride comfort - Photo from Cyril Huze Blog

Cyril. Do you think that the bikes you build today are very different from the ones you were known for years ago? Which way? Jesse. I think this is a big step out of my comfort zone. It’s leaner and meaner and uses a lot of materials and skills that I have been afraid to work with in the past. Mostly because I wasn’t that good at working with them. I think I needed to push myself on this build. Just to prove that I can do what I do from my new shop at home. 17 years of having the power and resources of West Coast Choppers in my back pocket. Now that is all gone. Time for me to prove that I was really the driving force behind all of it. I have to admit I was a bit nervous hanging it all out there on my own.

Cyril. Do you have a personal and/or professional gripe with those 2? Jesse. I doubt if I would piss on either one if they were on fire :- )

Cyril. Would you hire any of them in your Austin shop? To do what? Jesse. Absolutely Not. I have 19 y.o. kids at my Austin Speed Shop that would work circles around any one of them…

Cyril. Your definition of a great custom motorcycle? Jesse. Frame, Motor, Trans, Small tank, Brakes and lots of Love. Minus a reference point.

Wooden mold for a custom tank by Jesse James - Photo from Cyril Huze Blog

Cyril. Do you think it’s possible that one of them, or both, surprise you with a bike your really like?

Jesse. I really wish and hope one of them would build something Bad Ass. Something I would tip my hat too. Sadly I think we all know it will just be more of the same. They really want to beat me so they will be emptying the parts room. Welding as many wings, and scoops, and fins as possible.

Cyril. It seems that it will be a popularity contest more than anything else. Can a bad boy get more votes than 2 “family men”?  

Jesse. Yeah, Jr. started trying to mooch votes and couple weeks ago. Pretty Lame. I have an idea! How about we show people the bikes first, then ask them to vote.

Cyril. There are ultimately 2 possibilities for you. Tell me why you will win? Why you could lose? 

Jesse. I think there are actually 3. I think this is my chance to remind people what I really do. I think there is a large amount of people that think I’m famous just because I married a Hollywood actress. I really hope to show people that since Monster Garage ended that I have done nothing but devote myself to my skills. I really think that I am 100 times better now. I hope people see this and I inspires them to follow there passion like I have.

Cyril. Does the result really matter to you? 

 Jesse. I’d love to win, but if I don’t it will not change my feelings about my bike, not even 1%. It’s a Bad Motherfucker, and I love it!

Cyril. With the result of this competition, is your return on the Discovery Channel with your own show on the line?  

Jesse. We start filming an All New Series in January for the Discovery Channel.

Cyril. What kind of TV show you prefer to have? Building? Teaching? Entertaining? 

Jesse. Bigger Better Monster Garage, Time to Put Discovery on the map again and cut a new Groove in Television.

Metal Church With Jesse James Parts 1 and 2 - Sheet Metal Fabrication

Did yall happen to catch these shows posted on youtube a few years back by Jesse James called Metal-Church? Was able to find them after a bit of digging and they are definitely gems when it comes to understanding basic sheet metal fabrication and attempting to build your own gas tanks in particular. We have a load of sheet metal work coming up on the 1951 Chevy 3600 with not as many tools as we would like to have. In our mindset this means, a lot of research to see how those in the know do it with a variety of techniques or molds that could be made from wood to help pound out some basic shapes. 

For more info on basic metal fabrication dig into the multitude of youtube videos available. Or do the next best thing go seek out someone that knows their shit and learn a few new things. We are dealing with a lot of rust so we have been getting some solid advice from John over at K & J Antiques as he rebuilds vintage gas pumps and knows his way around sheet metal and painting. We will have some progress photos of the Chevy Shop Truck later this week.

Chris Hunter Of Bike EXIF Interview

Picking out the best bikes to feature on any website, publication or within a show, is a tough decision. The masses are ready to go at the throats of anything they do not deem cool enough, or see as half assed, which sucks. This notion proves that quality over quantity is truly the correct formula to promote all that we enjoy about motorcycles, in our media embedded mindsets. The way in which Chris Hunter conducts BikeExif.com is full of poise and integrity and promotes motorcycles in the highest form. Thank you Chris for doing such a great job with the site and keep up the great work. Awesome to see ya wearing a Dime City Cycles shirt as well.

Chris Hunter of Bike EXIF from Jellyfish Media on Vimeo.

Drilling Square Holes

As a kid we are told what shapes fit where and what is possible and impossible. Technology is beautiful when it can be used to created what was once thought inconceivable. The idea of drilling a square hole is so damn cool and beautiful all at the same time. For you mad engineering scientists out there, we back yard builders thank ya...

How To Build A Custom Stage and Booth

A crazy idea struck us earlier this summer. We figured that building a new setup for all the shows we do at motorcycle, hot rod and music events would be a good idea. Of course this was all on the fly and didn't even really think on drawing up a fully fleshed out idea as our clever concept entailed obtaining all recycled material or at least mostly refurbished steel and wood.

Several sketches and quite a few beers later we posted a note up on the local craigslist looking for scrap steel. Within a few days we got an email from a couple about an hour away that had an old steel staircase that needed tearing down and offered the steel for free if we hauled it away. How could we pass up on the opportunity to spend ten hours and over 30 cut off wheels cutting down an entire staircase? Yes, we are gluttons for punishment as this was all accomplished in close to a hundred degree heat and southern humidity, our normal operating temperature.

With all the steel finally at the shop we could take measurements and really see what we had to work with. The beams were our main interest along with the pipe as that would be our main structural support for the floor deck and poles to support the roof. The steel was under a huge amount of tension with the step supports that were welded on as they had begin to flex over the forty years that the stairs had been in use. As we we were cutting off the support brackets the steel was snapping back into its original shape. If that won't rattle your nerves handling big beams, not sure what else will, as you can guess this stuff isn't light.

Knowing how big our projects can get I cast out a blank series of text messages for "volunteers". One lone ranger opted to show up and help and we thank none other than Jukebox Hank for rolling down for three days for some sweat equity. Without his help in getting all the grinding and metal prep done on the box frame, we truly would have been up shits creek. The setup of the beams should have been a three man job to line things up and weld in the brackets to hold the corner bolts but we did it with two and several cinder blocks. The beams now lock into place with a series of four large bolts and the supports of the crossmember wood and steel pipe hold it all together so its easy to assemble and disassemble. In all actuality, one person can build the entire platform now without any other help as I had to do close to seven times to really dial in the construction of it on the fly.

One of the last pieces that we needed was refurbished floor planks. Luckily we have a Habitat for Humanity a couple of miles down the road and was able to purchase a stack of eighteen 2 x 6 x 10's in a variety of lengths. With the planks, our floor could now be completed and we cut those all to length and placed them in a specific alignment to lock the wood in tight and employed a few shims to really tighten it up.

Our plan is that now with a solid floor we can also use this for indoor shows as a bike platform or a raised deck for a variety of setups. We dig having an old country store feel as it matches the vibe we are going for. This stage has been truly labor intensive to build, but it solidifies exactly what we are doing and doesn't look like a lame cookie cutter tent at outdoor festivals. Add in our wrench knives flags and a variety of roof options and we are set for just about any damn show we need to do. 2012, here we come!

Total Cost, just under $180 bucks with excess cut off wheels, bolts, welding wire, etc. etc. Who says cool things have to cost a lot of money, go out and make life happen.

Soundtrack to stage building 101 provided by Antiseen and Crank County Daredevils

Antiseen - Broke Down Blues by RustyKnuckles

Crank County Daredevils - That's How We Roll by RustyKnuckles
Crank County Daredevils - Coming Down by RustyKnuckles