Good luck!!! It sits to high. I have played with the idea.. Plus Fc owners are tooooo cheap to pay for the part design...

 

Two piece aye? I assume the bolt holes line up too closely to allow the LIM to be attached by counter sunk fasteners and the upper to be fixed by the original hardware.

Tomorrow we finish an order of 15 brackets for a company, then 100 simple ones, then freedom to make a deal on a new machine happen.

Here are three pics of the prototype of what we are making. A few changes were made ... like the nut and washer was for mockup only ... it was replaced by a puck turned on a lathe with a lip on it and threaded in the middle.







This is all made with a manual bridgeport and lathe ... can't wait for CNC ... and with any luck 4 axis!

 

What about sending you guys our own CAD files to have you machine them? No R&D needed on your end.

 

Here is where my inexperience shines. I think, but am totally unsure about, CAD files have to be converted to something like g-code or something and you still need to work out tool paths and such.

One way or the other a huge amount of effort would be saved ... I just made the above statement to illustrate it's more than loading a CAD drawing and pressing play ... I think lol.

What did you have in mind?

I've been thinking a lot about product design. For starters you have to have the base parts to start with. Lets take the TII/FD LIM/UIM adapter for example. I have to have those pieces to design and test fit such an adapter. I thought that maybe you offer the first one too whoever can let you borrow those parts at the cost of the raw materials only. It's an idea but it's one of many things to consider.

 

keep in mind this is not a business that has to pay for things like insurance and warehouse space among many other things. This is a garage operation going high tech (so long as things go as planed). The input costs will be low ... raw material, shipping, and a level of profit that A: keeps the price low but B: makes doing it worth the time. Having so much less overhead than a full on CNC machine shop might have makes it practical to produce things at a cost that lines up with FC owners wallets.

FD owners might be willing to pony up more for complex parts because they are all millionaires right? lol. But seriously it's always something I've kept in mind ... figure out things to make that need CNC to make but can still be offered at a low price.

 

Well sure, I'm willing to bet there's software to help you do that, too. There's quite a base for hobbyist CNC'ers, there may even be some cheap/freeware.

Nothing in particular atm, I was just throwing it out there for anyone who might want to go that route.

I've seen product developers borrow parts from forum members before (often potential buyers) for that purpose, and often there's a discount involved like you mentioned, so that's not out of the question.

 

Most of the spacers are 3/4 inch already going 1 inch will not hurt anything. That would allow the flanges to be 1/4 thick with a 1/2 inch of space in between. I have been pondering this for sometime. I really dont think it would be all that difficult. Just replace the lower intake manifold studs with 1/2 inch long thread allen head bolts then tighten them down threw the hole for the upper intake manifold studs. The top holes would be slotted so a regular bolt could then be slid in and held with an open ended wrench. I dont think it would be that bad and an allen head and a regular hex head shouldnt be to difficult to fit into 1/2 inch space.

 

Just got home from doing more bracket work. Late night. More Tuesday.

My brother confirmed that providing your own CAD file is perfect and CAM is then used to generate the toolpaths and finally post process into the code appropriate for whatever machine your working with. Getting the CAM work done still takes time so one off pieces with a ready made CAD drawing are going to be reasonable but not "cheap".

Let's see how posting from my phone works out.

 

12-16 hour days of helping my brother are over ... for now haha. I've been spending long days and nights in my bother's garage machining brackets for robotic laser welders for a company here in Georgia. The deadline was very short. We built 10 full units and 5 partial (6 full units were delivered a few days before the pics below so only 4 are pictured). Most of the parts are milled from solid blocks of aluminum and two of the pieces are turned from stainless steel. I thought I might post a few pics and such for those who dork out on stuff like this.

This video show an automatic tapping head ... once the tap pulls on the bottom the mechanism inside reverses the tap and goes double speed back out. Also shows the VFD (variable fequency drive) which allows speed control. You can see it trying to compensate for the load as the numbers change.

(CLICK FOR VIDEO)


This video didn't turn out too well but it is of my brother plowing through a chunk of aluminum to hog out most of the metal in the middle. These aren't finish cuts only mass removal. If you can spot the lathe (it's greenish) in the videos you win ... it's what I used 75% of the time to turn down stainless steel pins and pivot 'pucks'.

(CLICK FOR VIDEO)



THUMBS (click for bigger pics)

 

Now that the short order stuff is done we can get serious about buying and setting up said CNC machine.

 

****, i didnt know you lived in ga!! makes me want to drive there and beg you to make a TB adaptor.

 

How about a 4 port (Tii) to 6 port adt. I'm sure the guys looking to turbo there n/a would jump all over it. I would have when I was doing my swap.
Instead I port matched it.

 

you would also need to space the turbo out appropriately.

 

How about an aluminum stereo trim, I break that damn thing everytime I look at it. I would pay a kings ransom for a durable one.

 

Haven't looked at the thread in a bit ... been sick as a dog. Indeed I'm in Georgia. My brother is in Dallas (Georgia, not Texas), and I'm down in PTC. He recently lost out on an EBAY bid for a nice CNC. Continuing the search for a good deal. My brother stays VERY busy so I have to try and poke and prod him about keeping up the hunt. With 3 kids (one type one diabetic), Halloween, the oldest's birthday, a day job, and a retaining wall to finish in the back yard ... it's pretty hard to keep him looking for a nice VMC.

Any news will be posted here ... once one is acquired I'll have to scour the forum rules ... It wont be an official business so I'm not sure if I'd need to get set up as an official vendor or not.

 

It's official ... my bother just wired money to buy a 1991 HAAS VF-1 vertical machining center. It's a smaller travel/table than he or I would have liked but it was too good a deal to pass up.

We thought at first we would go get it ourselves but considering the price of fuel and the danger of making a 24 hour cannon ball run from Georgia to Ohio he decided having it LTL shipped was a much smarter move.

The machine already comes with some tooling which adds to the pretty nice collection my brother already has going. IIRC it has a 16 position tool changer and is ready for a fourth axis ... only requiring an indexer.

Now we need to work out minor details and actually get the thing down here. We must prepare to receive it (have proper space cleared for it), get a bigger phase converter (it runs on 3 phase and this is in his house so you have to MAKE 3 phase), and sort out what software suite(s) to use.

I'm getting amped about this and need to scour the rules. I want to post a similar "what cnc parts do you want on your X gen" but don't want to get in trouble for copy posting.

 

i really am diggin this. why arent more people on this idea!!

 

aluminum *****

 

were at in ohio did you purchase it?

 

how about a cup holder that bolts in the same way the power fc handheld does? i would buy that in a heartbeat

Lloyd

I hate not having a cup holder. Is it was nice AL I would pay good money for one. It would have to fit the drive thru cups.

A self tenisoner for the belts. It is a pain to have to reset that every 100 miles or so. maybe something that pushes the Alt up.

 

It won't be shipped down right away. A rigging crew still needs to be found/arranged here in GA. The rigging company in Ohio will be storing it for the time being.

Some pictures. (It needs a good wash down)








This is the tool changer on the left and the head on the right.



The pendant.



NASA must have built this O.o



Included tooling that will add to my brother's already nice collection.

 

Sexy......

 

Anyone know any good rigging companies that move this thing? Location is Dallas Georgia ... prob need to go to regional forum and ask. Already have the Ohio rigging company set up.

 

You better make sure that 20 yr old machine works well or you're asking for trouble. HAAS is a medium quality machine at best. Have you seen it run?

 

Id like a RE-LIM that had porting to suit a Semi PP but would still bolt to the stock RE UIM. Anyone keen if I make the CAD model ?