I'm building my second fork (just finished the first one, but I managed to make it a little crooked), and the crown I got for it is a bit boxier than I like. I was thinking of laying down some brass on the "shoulders" and then sanding and filing it to add some gentle curves. I'd limit filing the steel down to knocking the edge off of a few corners.

I'll be doing it prior to brazing on the steerer tube and then brazing that and the blades with silver after it's cleaned up.

Anyone with more experience have a feeling on this? I've seen more experienced builders do it in a couple cases, but I'm also pretty new. Is the extra heat cycle on a crown a concern?

Sorry for those of you who post at velocipede... I figured I'd toss it up in both places to get a range of folks.

Thanks!
Jim

I would start with a crown you like more and suits your dimensional needs. Then build a sound and aligned fork with that.
Plenty of time to get fancy later. Minor shoreline work is one thing, but adding bulk and removing original material is something I would leave for another day.

I'm not sure I can picture what you want to do. I wouldn't be overly concerned about the heat if you are adding small cosmetic fillets, or filing a bit of material.