Fabricating bezels

[NOBLNG]

I have been fiddling with making some tail light bezels for a ‘64 Chevy. These are .020 wire wrapped around a drill bit and very lightly squashed In a vise. The nice thing about this is that any diameter or width of bezels can be made just by varying the wire size, drill bit size, and the amount of “squash”.

Edited October 17, 2020 by NOBLNG

[NOBLNG]

The pics are extreme close-ups and they look a little better to the naked eye.?  I was hoping to save the nice silver finish, but they may need to be painted or molotowed. They did need to be squashed between two very smooth surfaces, as any texture will be pressed into the surface. Also it takes extremely little pressure to squash them into a flat faced bezel. Make lots of extras because there are a few rejects...and some will wind up going awol! 

Edited October 17, 2020 by NOBLNG

[Ace-Garageguy]

Good trick to remember. Thanks.

[NOBLNG]

I think my first attempts were a little messy. I believe I pressed the solder flux into the bezels, and likely should have cleaned them well before pressing them. This is another attempt using 26ga (.015) wired, rolled, pressed and the ends trimmed, no solder this time, and the silver finish is intact.  I intend to fill the cavity between the inner and outer rings with X-27 clear red, as well as the centers of the inner and outer lights.

Edited October 18, 2020 by NOBLNG

[NOBLNG]

I’m getting better at it?. A little less “squash” looks a little better. Also, instead of using my nipper to separate them, I find a sharp hobby knife makes a cleaner, squarer cut. A very light squeeze with tweezers makes the seam just about undetectable.

 

 

Edited October 19, 2020 by NOBLNG

[Bainford]

Looking very nice! Sharp tail lamps.

[SfanGoch]

interesting. However, slicing thin rings from aluminum tubing of the appropriate diameter would be easier and would create identical, uniform sized rings without seams to clean up. The only thing to be done would be to polish the rings on abrasive paper or on a sharpening steel to obtain the correct thickness.

[NOBLNG]

On 10/22/2020 at 5:11 AM, SfanGoch said:

interesting. However, slicing thin rings from aluminum tubing of the appropriate diameter would be easier and would create identical, uniform sized rings without seams to clean up. The only thing to be done would be to polish the rings on abrasive paper or on a sharpening steel to obtain the correct thickness.

Indeed, but what if you can’t find the appropriate diameter??

[SfanGoch]

Interesting factoid:

If you make a close inspection/measurement of just about any portion of a model car (things like drip rails, trim, etc.), you'll find that there are size equivalents found in styrene strip and metal and/or plastic tubing. This is also the case for other types of models. So, finding the appropriate size isn't difficult.