Clamping a straight edge to the pannier to plasma cut the excess away.
Again, this IS a cut. If you've never used a plasma before, you would not believe how friggin' awesome these things are.
One shell complete. Whoops! What happened here? The plasma cut flange is narrower than the factory sheared side. I now see the problem - there is 1/8" of gain on my bends. So, the 1st flange is 7/8" instead of 3/4". My plasma cut is 3/4", so it's 1/8" smaller. No worries. I know next time.
And then there were two. Notice I compensated on bag #2 and both flanges are equal.
I noticed a couple very slight imperfections in the bends, and I think one of the gussets under the top clamp must be lower than flush. I'll take a grinder to it tomorrow.
That's all for today, boys and girls. I'm pretty excited that the brake actually worked. Tomorrow I will cut and bend the tops and sides. There should be time to start welding if all goes well.
until next time...