seypat

I'm guessing hammered fenders are standard equipment on bikes used for pub rides. Correct?

squirtdad

but would that exclude beer, just because it is chilly? (from a guy who grew up in montana, where rules of the manhood required that you drink your illegal OLY bare handed at 20 below at alcohol hill)

52telecaster

I was a production welder for most of my working life. I appreciate your sentiment.

repechage

Reference:

Objects of Desire by Adrian Forty.
Design & Society from Wedgwood to IBM

BFisher

There's still a small part of me that misses that. I don't miss the headaches from eight hours of stainless, though.

My truck might need some floor pans, so I might get to do it again this winter.

The Golden Boy 

I like fenders- I've been rolling on a plastic set of SKS fenders- but I wanted aluminum. I don't particularly like the "hammered" effect so I went with the fluted fenders- and yup- scratches show up and your eye goes RIGHT to those scratches. Next set of fenders will be hammered.
I'm glad your dog is doing well. We lost a 20 year old sweet stripey cat friend this past weekend.

Years ago, I read this article about toasters from the first half of the 20th century- I wish I could remember more about what it was about- except the race for the perfect piece of toast. As much as we take it for granted, toast was a big deal, and the electrical gizmos to make toast were expensive and status worthy. So you see those beautiful toasters, with the gleaming chrome and the fancy actions-

52telecaster

I never looked back. I hated welding but by all accounts was pretty good at it.

merziac

Good to here that Greta should be ok.

Fredo76

Every day is Judgement Day at BF...

Bad Lag

Hand hammered -

The original way to create shapes.

Taking out the indentations was nearly impossible (expensive, slow,...).

Hand hammering hardens the material (cold working). This stiffens and strengthens the material.

Has an aesthetic all its own - distinctive but "old timey" (IMO).

Was replaced by mass-produced deep drawn shapes.

Deep drawing has a very different aesthetic (smooth, highlights any bending).

HERE'S THE RUB - smooth surfaces show every single scratch, dimple and dent and once bent is difficult to bend back without showing the damage. By contrast, hand hammered surfaces are nothing but "damage".

steelbikeguy

okay, we've discussed hammered fenders, but what about other hammered stuff?

I'm just thinking about hammered rivets on Brooks saddles. I've got older Brooks Professionals with medium sized copper rivets that don't have any hammer marks, but also a newer Pro with large, hammered rivets. I've also got a B.17 and a Swift with larger hammered rivets.



Legend says that the first Pro's with hammered rivets were Pro's where the rivets were removed, the leather was subjected to some special treatment to soften it up, and then re-riveted to the saddle frame. To make it look nice, larger rivets were needed to cover the area around the holes (no idea why), and the hammering was needed either to get that large rivet flush with the leather or shaped to match the leather's contours or some other reason.

Of course, that large hammered rivet became an indicator of some sort of prestige or extra value, so it became popular. As such, we find production Brooks models with large hammered rivets to this day. Is it wrong that I think they still look pretty cool?? ... maybe?...

On a somewhat similar theme... how do you feel about corrugated aircraft skins? Functional, or just for looks?

Ford Tri-motor:



Junkers Ju52:

The Junkers was being used as part of a marketing campaign for some high-end luggage that used corrugated metal on the exterior because... no idea why, but apparently it was novel and interesting. ... sorta like curly stays on a Hetchins?...

Steve in Peoria
(no hammered fenders yet),

gugie 

Yeah Doc, not being able to trust that your bike would point in the way you wanted it to must have been both scary and exhausting. I'm glad you found the root cause and fixed it, Your Davidson is too nice to not ride.

cudak888 

It's practically impossible at this point not to bring up the Citroën H-series van.




-Kurt

nlerner

^ You could certainly fit a lot of bikes with hammered fenders in that rig!

Murray Missile 

Some of the bike boom brands that have little value are actually every bit as nice as their better known contemporaries. I realize Takara was best known for gas pipe entry level bikes but they did market some very nice mid level models as well. I'm always keeping an eye open for one of their top of the line road models to go with my '86 Highlander MTB. As far as collector value mine has zero value but with a Tange Cro-Moly frame and fork and full Suntour XC Sport components it's a damn nice bike just the same and one of my favorites. I don't know which Takara you have but if you like it and want fenders on it go for it.

One more gratuitous picture of my beloved Highlander......... Once upon a time I had actually considered putting a set of hammered aluminum fenders on it but they'd interfere with the rear roller cam brake.

Murray Missile 

As a misguided youth I would get hammered on occasion, it never left me feeling very good the next day......

cudak888 

Oooh. We need the long-wheelbase variant.




-Kurt

steelbikeguy

how did the French end up producing something that homely?
I don't expect French stuff to work all that well, but I do expect it to look good.
Sometimes they look good and work well, like the Stronglight roller bearing headsets that I'm very fond of.

... or maybe it was intentionally homely, as a way to shame the riders who ended up in the broom wagon?

Steve in Peoria

cudak888 

Functional and cheap to manufacture.

Like a death stem.

-Kurt.

tricky 

Dealing with pet stuff? Rough. You definitely need a drink. I am glad she's gonna be ok. I will say that if your bar serves mojitos in Moscow mule mugs then I think you should find a different bar.

VRJAKE 

Wacky, the trends in this thread. Too new to it to not be somewhat astonished. Yet, may as well add a pic of fenders...woody style

steelbikeguy

I'm in favor of functional and cheap, but even the AVA stem that I used to own had some style. Incredibly flexy, but a bit of style. Scary flexy, to be honest.



The Citroen van looks more like something that VW would have come up with, not unlike The Thing (properly known as the Type 181, apparently).
Hard to believe that the Type 181 came from the same place as the neat little Porsche sports cars.

Steve in Peoria

cudak888 

Ok, FIFY:

steelbikeguy

ooh! skirts on the rear wheel, white walls, and two-tone paint! Nicest tow truck of its era, I expect!
My faith in French style is restored.

Steve in Peoria

Robvolz 

"The Junkers was being used as part of a marketing campaign for some high-end luggage that used corrugated metal on the exterior because... no idea why, but apparently it was novel and interesting. ... sorta like curly stays on a Hetchins?..."
Steve in Peoria.

The Rimowa luggage is a different story. A German luggage house that built luggage the traditional way, wood frames, canvas or leather. For kicks they made some pieces from scrap from the Junkers airplane company.

The factory burned down. Going through the debris, they found the only thing still intact was the aluminum luggage and decided that was the direction they were going to go.