Todays Project - What did you do today?

[dallen]

As PixMan said Nickel Aluminum Bronze, it a bearing bronze thats toughs as nails. But it also have a really high shrinkage rate which is the reason for the hot tear.

OldGoaly, the web is already thicker then what its suppose to be by .062, the tear came from hopefully the gate where the metal entered the cavity cooling off too fast. The first one I poured (actually second one) had a big shrink hole in it in the same spot. The actual first one the mold didn't even fill due to the gate being way too small, but I did end up with a nice round 2 inch long hunk of bronze out of it from the riser that I had in the mold.

DA

[PixMan]

I don't do many "pay" jobs, but here's one I tackled today. It's a motorcycle "model specific" mount to fit a 2011-2014 Triumph Tiger 800's windscreen support bar. By clamping to the Ø12mm bar, it positions the 1" ball is such a way to afford fitting RAM® GPS (sat-nav) mounts. On my own bike it puts my Garmin Zumo 550 just above the clocks (instruments) and puts the GPS screen in the same focal plane as them.

I've sold only two, so this would be serial number 4. If I was actively marketing these I'd have a lot more sold, but I just can't get what they really cost in time. So for the few people who seek me out, $40.

The blank after "op1". One of these days I'll get around to making a ball turner attachment for my lathe. I roughed this out with a form tool, fit it to a radius gauge with a file and polished it. The measurements around the ball vary for .996" to 1.000", so it's "close enough" for the intended purpose.


Milled away a touch more than 1/2 the diameter, rotate the spindexer by 180º, drill & counterbore from the back for the M6x1x12 stainless steel socket head cap screws. I make a second piece long enough to be the mating clamp part, leaving just a little long after cutoff in the lathe to aloe facing the end to length while clamped together with .030" (0.8mm) shims between them. With the shims still in, I put the assembled part into the spindexer again to drill and bore the Ø12mm cross hole.


All done. I'll ask my customer if she wants the "Scotchbrite" buff or just shiny like this before shipping out on Monday.


It takes about 5 hours to make one this way,

[EdK]

Nice Ken. I assume it's made of some sort of SS since it'll be exposed to the elements. You got it to within .996 - 1.000 using a file and polishing?

Ed

[PixMan]

Aluminum, Ed. I did advise the buyer that I could ask my friend Russ to toss it in with the next shipment of aluminum parts that he sends out for anodizing and that it would cost a few dollars and add lead time. She said she doesn't ride in the rain enough to worry about it, and mine's been on my bike for a year like that with no ill effects.

[DaveH]

Looks very nice Ken
$40 for 5 hours work - $8 an hour + the material

DaveH

[PixMan]

Material didn't cost me a dime. I got a lot of 10 to 12" bar end drops from a screw machine shop where I used to work.

It's more a favor for a fellow Triumph Tiger rider than a money maker. If I were to make them in quantities of say 50 at a time, I'd get Russ to quote the lathe work, under a minute each for the ball turn and cutoff. Milling, drilling and tapping on a toolchanger-equipped CNC machine would be under three minutes. Some fixturing time, perhaps an hour or two for making two pairs of soft jaws. It would be a profitable part at those cycle times.

[Mayhem]

So why not do it Ken? Throw them on eBay and "advertise" on bike forums...

Fantastic work as always.

[PixMan]

(09-06-2014, 07:45 PM)Mayhem Wrote: So why not do it Ken? Throw them on eBay and "advertise" on bike forums...

Fantastic work as always.

Thanks Darren. It would be a very limited market for them, and because there are a variety of GPS/nav-sat units out in the market that all need different dimensions from the Ø12mm cross hole for mounting on up to the ball, I'd have to offer a choice of sizes. Too much trouble for me, I'll just make one upon request as I've been doing. I probably will get to making a ball turning attachment before the end of the year because I just don't see me getting a CNC lathe anytime soon with nowhere to put it.

[Mayhem]

Well that makes sense Ken. You will have a few days coming up in October in which we may be able to get a start on your radius turning tool...

[Mayhem]

Managed to throw a second coat of paint on the walls and this time the pics show the true white colour (take note Rob ).

   

I also had to do the frame around the AC unit differently and I'm still not happy with it, as the metal cover flexes and pops of one of the sides. It's not particularly sturdy. I think I know how I can fix it but it will do for the time being. I'll need to remove it when I get some more wood to do the gap between the tops of the current sheets and the top beam of the shed walls. That will cover the cable drops and finish it off nicely (I think).

   

I'm surprised just how much brighter it is in here with the paint on the walls. I still have some dual batten fluros to replace some of the singles, which will also be an improvement (you can see them on the floor in the first pic). I may get them up next weekend...

I still need to get rid of all the looms hanging on the blue wall and move the mill to the other corner.