After smoothing the dies with a grinder and double-checking their shape against the template, Marc checks the fit between the top and bottom dies.

Both dies are mounted into the Piccolo, and you can see what shape they will create. Note the tab at the back of the die-this is a stop guide for the edge of the metal that will be fed through the dies.

You can get the curve of a bumper (how it fits around the back half of a body) two ways. The hard way is to cut a straight piece of metal, then stretch it so it gets the right curve. The easy way is to cut the section with the curve already in it, then just form the edge. Using the second method, Marc and Marcel then fed the curved section through the dies.

What you get is a slightly curved center section (which follows the car body) with a lip formed over one edge. Two of these center section pieces are made-one for the top, one for the bottom.

Again using the old bumper as a form, the two sections are clamped in place before Marc begins to tack them together. Marcel keeps an eye on the sections so they fit together perfectly.

The top and bottom sections look like this after the seam is welded.

Marcel then grinds the welds to create a peak that runs the length of the bumper.

Once the center section and corners are made, they get clamped together over the old bumper. All sections are intentionally made a little too long or too wide, so Marc uses a scribe to show where cuts need to be made to fit the pieces together.

Marc trims the excess metal off each piece using hand shears.

Tacked together, the end and center begin to look like a bumper.

The next section to be created is the bumper's outside edge (the piece that runs toward the rear wheel). After tracing that template to the sheet, Marc trims it out on the power shear.

Marc uses the same dies as the bumper's center section to start with, but here finishes with the shaper to bend the ends over to the desired arc.

Not quite satisfied with the machine work, Marc goes to the stump to make it right.

Clamped in place, one half of the side section looks like it fits fine. From here the top and bottom side section pieces are welded together.

All five pieces (sides, corners, and centersection) are then welded together, and the welds are as clean inside as they are outside.

Marc finishes the bumper by fabricating mounting brackets on both the center section and the ends, placing them in the same locations as on the original bumper.

Side by side, you can see how close the new bumper and the original are. Have you figured out the application yet? The bumper is for a '60s-era Maserati, although, as noted earlier, Marcel's methods could be used to build all kinds of custom parts. Any brave souls out there?