Mark (...especially, but others as well),
Thank you, thank you, thank you...
...for your excellent dissertation in addressing the Nervex versus Vagner crown question, and in particular, for providing those detailed comparative photographs which do so much to clarify and punctuate all of the explanatory wording (...yours or anyone else's who was generous enough to chime in on this topic). I have long labored under the apparently mistaken belief that the fork crowns existent on my 1971 Gitane Super Corsa and 1973 Gitane Tour de France were of Vagner origin and have been to this point decidedly dubious (...or would that be Dubois?) of any claims to the contrary (...in fact, one of the very details that Dale touched upon regarding the presence of stiffening tangs toward the inside of the fork blade being associated with Nervex crowns and not Vagner crowns is exactly the opposite of what I had been told some thirty plus years ago - oops!!!).
Robert "now crowned with yet further enlightenment" Broderick ...the "Chronically Cloudy Clime" of Oregon Portland, USA
> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 19:54:28 -0700
> From: Mark@bulgier.net
> To: zoomdog@pure.net
> CC: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: Re: [CR] Nervex or Vagner fork crowns???
>
> Jay Dubiel wrote:
>
> > I'm confused. The statement that Nervex are made by wrapping
> > sheet metal and welding seems odd for what I have in hand and
> > pictured. Beneath the chrome there is evidence of a course
> > surface, pitting and heavy grinding marks which I would think
> > might indicate a cast or forged piece. The inner tangs are
> > 4mm thick, how does that get wrapped?
>
> I completely understand -- it does seem hard to imagine them wrapping
> such thick metal around, but they (Nervex/Dubois) were masters of it.
>
> I took some pictures of the raw crowns that make it clear that they are
> in fact hollow and made of sheet metal.
>
> The first pic is of the bottoms of the crowns, and shows off the Nervex
> hollowness well. The crown on the left is a Wagner, the other three
> Nervex. Look at the Nervex chevrons or "epaulets", clearly seen here on
> the _inside_ of the crown, showing that they are formed from sheet
> rather than machined in later, like Wagner chevrons.
> http://bulgier.net/
> (if the URL is too long and wraps, use http://tinyurl.com/
>
> This next photo shows the tops, showing what Chas. Colerich meant about
> the chevrons being pointed on the end with Wagner, but blunter or
> squared-off on the Nervex:
> http://bulgier.net/
> (or http://tinyurl.com/
>
> Two of the three Nervex crowns in my pictures have the feature cut that
> matches the classic Nervex Pro lugs. Feature cut on the third Nervex is
> plainer, looks better with Dubois or any regular non-curlicue lugs, and
> this is the cut on the orange fork in the photos Jay showed us earlier.
>
> Being hollow yet relatively large in their outside dimensions gives
> these crowns a very high strength-to-weight ratio. They are also
> relatively easy to heat up for brazing. I like 'em, but they were not
> popular with some framebuilders due to the relatively crude finish and
> the large amount of work required to make them look nice.
>
> Mark Bulgier
> Seattle WA USA