Inside the Monster Garage With Jesse James

Crafting mechanical works of art is bike builder Jesse James’s passion. See the process through the lens of photographer Nathaniel Welch.

The Shape Shifter. One of master bike builder Jesse James’s favorite tools is this Yoder power hammer, which he found abandoned in Compton, Calif. By applying different compression techniques, James uses the Yoder to stretch and shape sheetmetal, making it go wherever he wants it to: “It’s sort of like tuning a car—you have to constantly fiddle with the metal to get it right.” James, shown above working on a gas tank, draws inspiration from metalworkers of the past, including 19th century coppersmiths like lamp designer Dirk van Erp: “He used a hand mallet to make those beautiful globe shapes.”

By Chuck Tannert

Photographs by Nathaniel Welch

Published in the November 2007 issue.

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Something funny happened on the way to the mass-produced, homogeneous future: Everything became customized, from pick-your-chip laptops to cheap, made-to-measure chinos. Handcrafted machinery, in particular, became all the rage, winning popularity, the respect of rich guys—even its own TV shows. In other words, the culture caught up to Popular Mechanics, where we’ve always appreciated the craft of metalworking. Jesse James isn’t just one of the country’s best-known bike builders, he’s one of the best. These photos were shot over the course of a year by PM contributor Nathaniel Welch at West Coast Choppers, James’s shop in Long Beach, Calif., and are being gathered for a new book, Jesse James and His Beautiful Machines. As well as any images we’ve seen, they capture the process and spirit of custom bike building at an elite level.

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