Where could I get my forks shaved?

xs65071

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Looking to shave the mounts on my lowers I don't have a lathe to do so, wondering if I took them to a local machine shop they could do it? If it would be expensive Or if anyone on here does it on the side. Building a chop and I need all the mounts shaved.
 
I shave fork legs, but I'm pretty backed up with work right now.

If you have a shop local to you they can likely do it for cheap.

Chop the lugs ahead of time as close as you can get them with a grinder. DON'T try to grind them and smooth them out. You will most likely overcut. Just get them within 1/8".

Tell them what finish you want and make sure to stress that you want as little taken off as needed to smooth them, unless you want something more decorative. This was done with a custom ground HSS tool.

IMG_20141006_210909_zpsvjvsxh7e.jpg
 
Thanks, so a local (non motorcycle) machine shop should be able to do them? And yeah I was going to grind them down first make it less work for them. And those forks are sweet, I'm just looking to get smooth as possible and I will polish them. Thanks for the response.
 
Yeah, any shop should be able to do it. It's a super simple machining job. Cost should be minimal. I usually just shave them flush and then hit the whole lower with a brillo.

That will at least even everything out and be a good start for polishing.

I wouldn't charge more than an hour to do simple shaving, especially if you have the lugs chopped before you bring them.
 
I did mine the exact opposite metal is suggesting, lol. Cut off wheel then used a flap disc. There for sure "5 footers" but it didn't cost a dime. I will eventually have them smoothed on a lathe, just did what I could do with what I had at the time.
 

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I did mine the exact opposite metal is suggesting, lol. Cut off wheel then used a flap disc. There for sure "5 footers" but it didn't cost a dime. I will eventually have them smoothed on a lathe, just did what I could do with what I had at the time.

They can definitely be shaved that way. I've cleaned up some that weren't too bad. But more often than not people go way overboard with a flap wheel and take off a lot more than they realize.

If you do flap wheel something round just remember to go light and sand at a 45 across the contour. Less chance of creating a flat spot that way.
 
Good tip, I've for sure got a little bit of flat spot going on here and there. If you had time what would you charge to do shaved legs with those grooves in them?
 
With the grooves would be $125. Without just to clean up $85. We're getting another mill tomorrow though. I'll be setting that up/programming it and tramming everything on it for a bit. Still not taking on more work at present.
 
Those grooves look really good...Just curious, but can something like that be done to a set of forks without removing the lugs? I personally value the front brakes too much to want to remove them for looks, but adding grooves might be a great look (for a future build).
 
Those grooves look really good...Just curious, but can something like that be done to a set of forks without removing the lugs? I personally value the front brakes too much to want to remove them for looks, but adding grooves might be a great look (for a future build).

You can. It would just be missing the grooves where the lugs are. Or they could be readded by welding them on.
 
A lathe works great but grinding off the tabs with a cutting disc and carefully grinding with a flapper wheel the high spots works well too. Plus it gives you a deep appreciation for all the work that goes into the steps of polishing. Before and after below. They still need a final buff once the build is ready for reassembly.
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That may be my next project I might start with the grinder if i can't get them done in machine shop for decent price.
 
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