John W.'s Profile

1 Review

"Motorcycle Metal Fabrication ... from Sheet to Street"

In my opinion, there is noone who represents the process of converting an idea into three dimensional sheet metal quite like Ron Fournier. I have had the great luck to have attended one of his schools in Michigan. Ron is a great teacher. He doesn't miss a step. Ron is very methodical, very precise and has a reason for doing everything he does, all of it learned from his own experience as a metal shaper. And, all the years of his experience are there for the student to absorb, if the student is alert to it.

In this video, Ron does exactly the same thing that he does in his classes. The viewer not only gets to see what he is doing, but he tells you why he is doing it. He leaves nothing out, including an explanation for why he prefers one tool over another for a particular shape of cut to an explanation for why a buck is constructed as it is or whether or not he will wash a part when he is finished with it. Be sure to stay alert for the explanation of the patterns he wheels on the English wheel. It is ALL there. Add to that, the viewer can stand over his shoulder and watch as he starts with a sheet of paper and progresses to a complete motorcycle.

For me, the only thing a little unnerving about this type of video is the opportunity for time compression that any video allows. The good news is that the viewer doesn't have to invest time in watching repetitive processes. The bad news, for me anyway, is that I never get to see if the left side was done exactly the same way as the right side, if there was something done a little differently that I missed, or maybe that the instructor would have told me something that he thought of while doing the second side that I didn't get to hear. But, I have the same problem when this technique is used in any video. Personally, I would rather have a longer video and actually see that second operation.

In this video, Ron Fournier packs so much insight into the time that is available on two disks, that the viewer can come away feeling like he has just had a private two hour lesson with one of the very best.

I give "Motorcycle Metal Fabrication: from Sheet to Street" five dollies out of five.