The Motorcycle Bell Maker & CRATEX Tools | CRATEX Abrasives

So, now the idea of either ordering a custom-made bell or carving a motorcycle bell with your own two hands might start to look like the ultimate gift to a biker. In case you are willing to put your craftsmanship skills to a test, be warned: working on a such small, curved object is not a joke. It requires a lot of patience, a steady hand, a lot of skill and the right tools for the job!

And since CRATEX has the right tools, we invited our dear customer and top-level metal artist, Barry Bonnell to share the story of making a motorcycle bell for our sales manager's husband and son.

How to Make a Motorcycle Nell

As most probably know, the bell is about 1 ½" tall and 1" in diameter at the bottom. As if the size doesn't make it difficult enough, the shape makes the whole thing only more complicated. Or, as Barry put it: "There isn't a flat spot on the whole thing! It's all compound curves."

Barry had to constantly adjust due to the curves and small surface area. He stated it is cut in the Japanese Shishiaibori technique, or sunken relief. He used 5 layers of lacquer to darken the design and make it really stand out and show off the detail.

"The gravers I used were high speed steel “V” gravers ground to an angle of 116 degrees for the primary lines and 90 degrees for deepening and secondary lines. Each of the V gravers were ground to a 50-degree face and 15-degree heel using Steve Lindsay sharpening templates.

Also, I used a flat with a 50-degree face and 15-degree heel to round the edges of the Koi to make it more lifelike. I also used a Micromotor with a 0.4mm carbide dental ball burr to remove background. Inking is done with Rust-Oleum flat black paint.

The gravers were powered by a pneumatic graver system which turns a regular graver into a tiny jackhammer."

Originally, there was a skull on the Koi bell, so Barry needed to grind down and smooth the surface and prepare it for engraving. For this operation, he chose CRATEX abrasive points and was very satisfied with the results, especially because it only took him about 10 minutes to grind the bell smooth compared to an hour that took him in the past.

"They cut smooth and fast, with very little loading. The pewter caused more loading than steel does, but a quick touch to a steel practice plate restored the abrasive perfectly.

I used to do surface preparation with mold-maker stones, and it would have taken at least an hour to prepare the surface of the bell the old way. I’m very happy with my Cratex rubberized abrasives."

"After grinding and smoothing the bell’s surface, all the cutting is done under a Meiji stereo zoom microscope at about 15x magnification. It took about 10 minutes to grind the bell smooth, and about four hours to cut and sculpt the Koi."

The original story has published in CRATEX Customer Chronicals , so we invite you learn the story behind these particular bells as well.

Also, if you are curious about his work and want to get in touch with Barry, here's his Facebook profile.

Powerful Tool for a Powerful Bell!

Want to get your own set of CRATEX rubber-bonded points and start grinding and polishing your own motorcycle bell? Our online store will get a set on your way and to your door in no time!

You can purchase a Box of 100 CRATEX silicon carbide abrasive points or you can give our product a try by getting one of our neat Mini-Point Kits for an unbelievable price!

Also recommended: CRATEX Abrasive Cones

CRATEX silicon carbide abrasive cones are the best answer to many difficult polishing and smoothing problems and are ideal for operations on corners, round objects and hard-to-reach areas. Available shapes: Bullet Point, Cylinder, Pointed and Tapered. Available grits: Coarse C, Medium (M), Fine (F) and Extra-fine (XF).