So let’s return to my more than week ago’ intention to make some aluminum part for Honda CB-750 Seven Fifty project.
In fact that was a seat base.
I prepared tools, learned all I need to know about types of aluminum and found a piece of 3mm aluminum sheet of type which I needed. The last part was a hardest to manage, because everyone wanted to sell you a whole sheet with dimensions 1,5x4m, which is quite expensive. As I had no need in such amount of aluminum so I had to find the seller who had a remains of 3mm aluminum sheet (of particular type of aluminum on top of that).
But I overcame all obstacles and began first test’ work. I had no illusions about if I could make a good part just in first iteration, I just wished to know how and what exactly I can do with aluminum. I’ve got some experience already and after this test I would be ready to produce a seat base.
I cut off a piece of aluminum sheet, bent the two main bends and smith the “hood” which covered the fuel tank rear mounting. Then I took a look for Seven Fifty with its subframe modified with new tail tube and understood that what I call “another idea” just flew into my mind…
“Another idea” may be a result of long thoughts about some question. You just rotate that question in your mind constantly, trying to find the best solution and then one morning you can just woke up with it is ready in your head. Or in another case it may catch you unexpectedly, and you clearly see the new feature you may add to project or even new design direction.
Something like that happened with me after this look on CB-750 subframe, so next day I sculpted new seat model instead of further forging and bending aluminum seat base. And yet one day after that I cut new blank from aluminum sheet and began to form seat base of completely different new design. It might of been much easier to made such configuration using fiberglass, but I had hard-won piece of aluminum sheet and in addition my fiberglass’ subcontractor had a vacation, so I preferred to forge aluminum instead of work with fiberglass myself.
And here is the result of my work.
That was quite a complicated work and I earned a good lot of knowledge in process. I learned about how to bend and how to forge such a curved surfaces right on practice and I suppose I may be proud of this. Maybe, if I had a more experience before I’ll be able to decrease dimensions of two welded patches in front part of seat but, anyway, I am very satisfied by result I’ve got.
In the next post I’ll show new Seven Fifty cafe-racer design.