Feeling Quite Chuffed With Myself.

[Slowy]

G&L Legacy came without a Trem bar. Couldn't buy one here, went to G&L's website. No problem: $17.95.

Plus nearly US$60 postage. Plus GST.

Yeah, right.

So it's 1/4" rod. Find some 1/4' aluminium rod which costs $14 for 1.8 meters. Naturally, NZ1/4" and US1/4" are not the same.......

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Don't have a lathe but it occurs to me that's not a problem.

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It all worked really well. Had to do it twice because I bent the first one too high and that created problems.
Second one works a treat!

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Anticipating black hands from regular use. Thinking the fix is either a spray of poly clear or electrical heat shrink.

I also thought aluminium might flex too much but it's fine.

[Mini Forklift]

Nice job!

[Slowy]

Nice job!

Thanks. There's a few more tooling marks than I'd prefer but if it bothers me enough (it never will; promise!), I can whip up another without them.

[jeremyb]

Nice one Bruce!!

[StrummersOfThunder]

Maaaaate!!!! Nice work !
Nothing better than the satisfaction of beating the insanity postage charge goblins and the ridiculous price for simple metal stick faires

[H671]

I also thought aluminium might flex too much but it's fine.

No worries, the aluminium will work harden & to resist bending.

[Slowy]

I also thought aluminium might flex too much but it's fine.

No worries, the aluminium will work harden & to resist bending.

How long will that take? Playing it this afternoon I was getting ideas for slight adjustments.

[MikeC]

DIY - the dying art

[Cdog]

Cunning bro. Ima tuck that idea away, nice job

[Bg]

'ang about, in that photo you have a bench grinder on the floor.... so why didn't you just use that. And rotate the rod by hand like any sane person would? Rather than going through this whole rigmarole

[H671]

I also thought aluminium might flex too much but it's fine.

No worries, the aluminium will work harden & to resist bending.

How long will that take? Playing it this afternoon I was getting ideas for slight adjustments.

Hard to say because it depends on the grade of aluminium, but small adjustments will be fine - just don't try to straighten it out to rebend.

[Slowy]

'ang about, in that photo you have a bench grinder on the floor.... so why didn't you just use that. And rotate the rod by hand like any sane person would? Rather than going through this whole rigmarole

Being sane, I considered it.
It would have removed material too quickly and I wouldn't have been able to brace it steadily.The result would have been erratic.
Locking the rod in place on the workbench allowed me to spin it up with the drill and simply press the file on to it for as long as needed to reduce the diameter evenly.
And I did use the grinder to round off the ends.


So there.

[Jay]

My BiL made me a S/S one for a modest price. Can ask him if you would like?

[Slowy]

My BiL made me a S/S one for a modest price. Can ask him if you would like?

Sure. It would be good to have a price. This one could work as a pattern once I've tweaked it.

[Bg]

'ang about, in that photo you have a bench grinder on the floor.... so why didn't you just use that. And rotate the rod by hand like any sane person would? Rather than going through this whole rigmarole

Being sane, I considered it.
It would have removed material too quickly and I wouldn't have been able to brace it steadily.The result would have been erratic.
Locking the rod in place on the workbench allowed me to spin it up with the drill and simply press the file on to it for as long as needed to reduce the diameter evenly.
And I did use the grinder to round off the ends.


So there.

Yes dear.... it would have been much more convincing if you'd said you didn't want the aluminium to clog your wheel... fnarr fnarr.