Last week my buddy broke a gear in his lathe. As it was made-in-china, nobody had spare parts. So he stripped the carriage, removed the gear, and jury-rigged a replacement.
This put me out of business for the duration.
Yesterday, I went back and was able to make some bending dies on his lathe.
These were needed to give the Grand Flasque flanges a concave profile.
That way, the spokes would come off the flange pointing towards the rim.
see http://www.flickr.com/
I tried bending the 3mm thick flanges in a vice to no avail. So I ran off to my favorite used equipment seller and bought myself a fly press. (always wanted one so this was a great excuse to get it). Once I locked the fly press onto my 1/4 ton surface plate/workbench, it made the job (of pressing the flanges) a snap.
Later I tried riveting the flanges to a hub.
see http://www.flickr.com/
Amir Avitzur
Ramat-Gan, Israel