Stretching the centre starts the curl, so pleats form at the edges. The pleats are gathered together by hitting them softly with a leather slapper, curved anvil underneath.
I read about then made a little tool that will put extra pleats in if an insufficient number form on their own. It's ok on steel but leaves deep marks in Al, so I didn't use it here.
Some fellows use a pedal shrinker on Al. It's a small unit that can be mounted on the back of the English wheel. I might go for one of those.
For now I'm doing the shrinking operation the hard way.
The end result is the mudguard edges are thickened from sheet thickness of .063" to about .070" and the centre ends up at about .058" +-
Glen
I read about then made a little tool that will put extra pleats in if an insufficient number form on their own. It's ok on steel but leaves deep marks in Al, so I didn't use it here.
Some fellows use a pedal shrinker on Al. It's a small unit that can be mounted on the back of the English wheel. I might go for one of those.
For now I'm doing the shrinking operation the hard way.
The end result is the mudguard edges are thickened from sheet thickness of .063" to about .070" and the centre ends up at about .058" +-
Glen