Rolling Fenders

[the tinker]

Last night just to be funny on Dave Marko's Fender Storage thread I ran over a fender with the wife's car.
The first photo is of that fender being run over that appeared on Marko's post.
I was tossing that fender out tonight and decided to see how good I could bring it back with the roller.
This fender had the worst type of dent in the worst place.. Not only did it have the "standard" smashed in dent that fenders usually get, it had a long deep folded crease.To make things worse the damage was in the center of the fender right in with the factory fork indents. Hard to roll out without flattening them.
First with a sheet metal pliers I pulled back the folded section as much as I could.
Then with the nylon hammer I knocked the dents back a bit on the anvil.
Next I did 12 passes in the roller. Total time from start to finish less then 10 minutes.
Usually the braces have to come off . Since the damage was in the center of the fender I was able to leave them on. These rollers are fun once you get the hang of it.

Note that the factory fork indents are still there.

 

[GTs58]

Smash up job there Tinker. Is your roller only good for the large balloon fenders?

 

[the tinker]

Smash up job there Tinker. Is your roller only good for the large balloon fenders?

I have only tried a couple light weight fenders and was not happy with the results.
I did have 3 different top rollers that I sold a couple years ago that fit in the machine. One for light weight,one for balloon and one that was flat that supposedly could iron out a ding on say, a chain gaurd or rack. I sold them with an older roller but I never tried them out. Thinking back now, I regret selling them as I have never seen them before or since.
I had a pair of old "rain gutter" fenders that the tops were all dented in. The bottom roller fit perfect into the top ridge of the fenders and they rolled out perfect. I have seen other rain gutter fenders though that the bottom roller was too wide and would not work. The sides of peak fenders can be fixed but not the tops.
Deep fenders such as Monark tend to hang up on the hub of the bottom wheel but they turn out ok.
The edges of fenders and some ends are tough because of the folded edge. If one attempts to roll out a dent on the side or tip of the fender that has this knurled over edge it gets flattened out .
This can be overcome by taking a similar fender and cutting out a small section of it a few inches long. Then once this section has been removed, with your tin snips cut away this" folded edge" off both sides.
This section can then be carefully placed inside the fender you wish to roll . Doubling the fender and evening out the inside to avoid damaging the original factory edge of your fender. [ see photos of the different pieces I have]
I credit Wes Pinchot, the Fender Doctor himself, for teaching me this little trick.
If one looks closely you can see where the edge of the fender has been cut away.

 

[vincev]

Kool results Tinker.

 

[WES PINCHOT]

HI DAVE,
KEEP WORKING AT THE FENDER ROLLING.
YOU LEARN BY DOING AND DOING AND MORE DOING.
TAKES A LOT OF TIME TO LEARN THE ART OF ROLLING AND RESHAPING METAL FENDERS
TO THEIR ORIGINAL SHAPE. ALSO THE HAND WORK IN ADDITION TO ROLLING.

IT HAS BEEN MY PASSION FOR OVER 25 YEARS AND I AM STILL LEARNING.
KEEP AT IT MY FRIEND. I HAVE BEEN PHASING OUT OF ROLLING BECAUSE MY DAYS
ARE WANING AND THERE ARE OVER THREE HUNDRED ROLLERS OUT THERE NOW.

BUT, STILL GOING STRONG ON MAKING SMOOTH BRASS KEYS CUT TO CODE, REPAIRING
THE SCHWINN CYCLELOCKS AND LOCKING FORKS. ALSO MAKING MY ORIGINAL YALE/SCHWINN
COLLECTION OF KEYS INDIVIDUALLY AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE BY COLLECTORS THEY HAVE A
ONE IN THREE CHANCE OF BUYING AN ORIGINAL CUT AND STAMPED KEY FROM MY COLLECTION.
WES PINCHOT AKA
THE FENDER DOCTOR

 

[bricycle]

awesome job Dave, you are the Fenderatior!