Anyone who follows us will be aware of how we over the years have amassed quite a collection of metal-working machinery to help us make our aluminium petrol tanks. The crowning glory in our arsenal is the wonderful Ranalah English Wheel (or Wheeling Machine as it should be referred to). Our Ranalah is number 404 off the production line, dating back to the 1940s when it was made to manufacture the Spitfire Aeroplane.
Dominic Chinea and Ranalah
About a year ago, I was delighted to find out (through the wonders of Youtube) that Dominic Chinea – best know for his metal work on BBC’s The Repair Shop – has bought the Ranalah name and is producing a brand new wheeling machine. I contacted Dominic to let him know that we have an original, and found that he was just as passionate about keeping the old skills alive as we were. We had a geeky conversation about Ranalah, and I was excited to see what he could make of the company.
Dom’s Triumph Tiger 90
And then, a few months ago, out of the blue Dominic sent us a message. He had just spontaneously bought a basket-case Triumph Tiger 90 on ebay and had realised that the tank was knackered. Luckily, he had remembered our conversation and so knew the perfect people to ask. When he approached us to see if we could make the tank, we said yes on one condition – he had to come and see how we made it. Much to my surprise, he said “hell yeah!”
A new hand crafted tank
That is how our day transpired. Dominic turned up with his cameraman Dan and we spent the day going over the processes of how to make a Motorcycle Petrol tank the old fashioned way! He had a crack at welding and of course wheeling and a few other processes and we had a ball. So in a nutshell, the guy who now owns Ranalah has a tank on his bike that was made on an original Ranalah wheel. It was like it was meant to be!!
