I blasted the fork with boron carbide, to remove the plating from the work area and got to work. The first blade came out nice and easy, mostly due to the blade being cracked from a prior accident. Or perhaps just weakened and the heat did it in. The second was a tough bugger but came out clean. I may end up alright, tire clearance was huge so when I top 1/2" off to tighten it up I may come out ok. We shall see.
when assembling fork blades to the crown, how best to insure enough filler is in there?