bending paragon slider tabs

[WadePatton]

it has recently come to my attention that while some folks regularly bend the paragon or similarly thick stainless tabs (phred 2006), whilst others do not (phone calls and blog photos). the number of benders vs. non-benders is dead even (3/3) in the small sample i'm aware of.

i now wonder if more data would change that balance. the six i'm referring to are all full-time domestic frame professionals, but i won't name names--that got elaine in a lot of trouble you know, and i didn't clear that with 'em.

bender/no bender? vote early and often*

* don't worry about influencing my sorry ass. i'll probably mix it up until i make up my own mind-unless of course, there is an overwhelming catslide of opinion and my sampler was skewed yo.

[YiPsan]

I have done it both ways, and do not see which is better.

[bellman]

The times I have bent them I have only bent the lower tabs and not the top tabs. When I did bend them I clamped a 1/2" of the lower tab in the vise and put my biggest crescent wrench over the slider portion with the handle over the vise jaws so that the bend force is more of a "twist" than a bend and the majority of the force isn't on the far end of the slider slot and the entire slot is inside of the wrench jaws when you put the pork to it.

[WadePatton]

welcome renold! jump on that friday night party train (fnl)--show us the works/shop.

as to the sliders, now that i've committed to one way, i see that the other would have been "easier" given my current setup.

[pereiracycles]

I bend them. Mostly because I have always bent all my drops and I like the way it works and the way it looks. The stainless Paragons are damn tough to bend though, so it would make sense not to bend them. My $.02.

[Archibald]

I bend them. Mostly because I have always bent all my drops and I like the way it works and the way it looks. The stainless Paragons are damn tough to bend though, so it would make sense not to bend them. My $.02.

17-4 doesn't like to do anything against its will and its will is strong.

[dbohemian]

17-4 doesn't like to do anything against its will and its will is strong.

I sold some drop-outs of mine once. Get an e-maill.....Can't bend them. I said get a bigger lever. Get another e-mail. Still can't bend them. I say, "how big are you?" He says 120lbs......I think, at least that is one area that being a FAF (fat assed framebuilder) has it's merits.

[David Cheakas]

I've bent plenty of the Paragon sliding dropouts, but I was never really happy with them. Now I cut the slots at an angle. Recently I built a simple slotting fixture from a small compound table and a bench grinder. With this tool, I can slot the chainstays as well as the seatstays. It takes just a couple of minutes for each set of stays and I know the slots are parallel and uniform. I still kind of like the looks of the bent dropout, but this method works better for me.