(63 days until the 2012 WHPSC)
Buck it!!!
This is one of the steps I was dreading. I need to bend 1/4 inch thick chromoly plate into a "U" to form a fork crown.
I welded a piece of thick walled tubing to a 1.5 inch thick piece of steel plate. The buck is robust, but I anticipated the chromoly plate would put up a good fight. Armed with an oxy acetylene 'rosebud" and a five pound sledge hammer, I heated and smacked the metal around.
Voilà!
Here's what the crown will look like on the wheel
Triple-checking where everything is going to fit
Machining the fork crown to accept the steerer tube
Introducing the crown to the steerer tube
Another view of the crown and steerer tube