What tool used to make what piece?

[HotelBushranger]

Hey fellow bike builders,

I'm trying to figure out what tool or piece of equipment is used to make which part for the bike? For example, I'm struggling to work out how one would fabricate a headlight bracket; something with both a hollow, spherical, vertical shape as well as a horizontal bracket. Do you make the two peices seperately then stick them together? Or is it a one piece?

It'd be great if the more experienced and engineering minded of us could contribute to a list of tools and products so the rest of us could get a better idea of what to buy and what to get good at!

Bushy

[out_in_front]

Hard to get the idea from what you describe - a sketch would help. But I am guessing that in an industrial process you would use a die press to make such a spherical part - start with a flat piece of plate and punch it into a curved female mould with a male punch - or am injection moulder that injects molten metal into a split die and when it cools it comes out as a curved piece of metal.

Both are a bit expensive to do from a backyard production perspective as the machines cost a bomb (hundreds of thousands of dollars - or more) and use a heap of electricity etc...

The bracket would be easier - laser cut the flat pattern and then use a sheet metal press to bend up the angles - or you could use an anggle grinder and drill press to cut the shape / holes and then head to a sheet metal shop to get the bends added (sheet metal presses are not cheap either - a manual one could still set you back several hundred dollars)

[BERT]

If you mean the "headlight bucket" . The metal bucket that the lense etc fits in as found on older bikes it was probably pressed.
Male die, female plug and a hydraulic perss = wahlah

[HotelBushranger]

No I mean something ala:

[El Skitzo]

You would make something like that with a CNC machine, or if you're real clever and don't have access to a CNC, could probably make them on a milling machine.

No reason why you couldn't make something "similar" out of flat metal and some metal tubing, correctly cut, drilled and welded together...

[HotelBushranger]

True...probably the quickest/easiest/cheapest option. Apart from simply ordering it off the net, but that defeats the purpose doesn't it

[clintooo]

would be do able, the hard and expensive bit would be finding a bit of plate and or bar in Ali that you could make it out of. Could be easier to do it with a bit of bar, then weld on the other headlight hanger section.

But you would need, lathe, mill and AC tig. So quite a few grand of equipment (you could buy a nice bike for that alone).

But I know what you mean, trying to make it yourself is part of the fun. Fortunately, I have access to a small machine shop at work, plus machinists to tell me what I am doing wrong. I would be quite time consuming to make by hand, but not impossible. However, I would buy em off the shelf and spend your time doing something else on the bike.

[clintooo]

by hand I mean non-cnc equipment

[Captain Starfish]

You'd belt that out on a normal little milling machine pretty easy. It would take time and some careful planning, and you'd need to make up some jigs to get the angles right. Guarantee they're done out of a solid block of Al on a CNC machine.

[duffman]

^ Agreed

Could also be wire-cut from a slab of aluminium (top view), and then all the holes CNC'd from the side.
Much less waste and machining. Not feasible for small volumes though.

[HotelBushranger]

Yeah, I doubt it would be very economically feasible to have something like that made for you as a once off...

[Veefore]

For a part like that a drill press, hacksaw (bandsaw would be better), some hand files, taps and dies. Add an angle grinder to make it easier to rough out. Then just a shit-load of patience and precision.


Hot Rod magazine once did a profile article on one of the great parts makers and he said with the tools above you can make anything for a hot rod (or bike). That was back in the day when billet parts were just becoming popular and CNC machines weren't available.

CNC milling machines and lathes certainly make it easier and take a lot of the craftsmans skill out of it but if you really want to feel a sense of accomplishment making something with handtools is extremely satisfying. (Post also inspired by watching a show on ABC1 last night called Mastercraft I think it was.)

[ApatheticEnd]

I'd knock the drawing up in CAD myself and get a shop with a CNC to cut it for you. Over to the anodizer, or better yet, coat it yourself. Bit of design/tech/craftsmanship, and a bit of easy way.

[Gixxerguy]

That could be done on a manual universal mill, but not quickly. Would definitely be made on an NC mill. The basic shape could be wire cut and the holes could be cut out more accurately on a wire cutter, but they'd have to already be drilled for the wire cutter to work, and after the basic shape had been wire cut, it would have to go back on the mill to have the recesses cut in it etc. This would mean Mill, Wire cutter, Mill. I don't see any shops bothering to do that, the quality may be better but it just wouldn't be feasible compared to doing the whole thing on the NC mill.

[darkfibre]

OK, I am certainly no machinist, but have learned a lot by just going out and trying things. This is made easier having a low end Chinese milling machine sitting idle at work.

Headlight brackets, gave away some ebay pieces of tin in the pay it forward thread, and made these;





Slight hand made differences between left and right. Some days I hate how odd they look, and other days I bask in a sense of achievement.

More milling and we have a Koso instrument adaptor;



I must admit I work backwards from the idea of tools needed, first I try to visualize what I want to make and have 'item needed' in my head. Then I try to work out what tools are needed to make the item, and can I find a creative/simpler way to make it with the tools at hand.

My system forces creativity, but can also make you endure dismal failures. If you can convince/delude yourself that it was not actually a failure but 'version 0.1 alpha requires a totally new method'


But the journey is not only fun, you learn a huge amount on the way.

Current project made on a lathe and mill are manifold adaptors;



I have improved, and hed help from other PSBers;

[HotelBushranger]

Nice! Yeah I don't have the money/space for a mill or lathe at the moment, but would love to learn from a mentor

[darkfibre]

Does your work have machining gear? Chat to the people in that department. Many people are not secretive about their abilities, and are happy to spread their skills. Some may be potential mentors, whose priorities are to help you achieve a goal.

[HotelBushranger]

Nah, work in a chem warehouse...just joined the Vintage club though so was thinking about sending out a message offering my services to work on the older bikes (want to learn), maybe I can sort out something similar with machining equipment too.

[Billy]

minimum tooling required would be:
*end mill
*radius tool
*drill
*tap
*3 axis cnc mill and many many hours off work on said machine.
(could also chuck in a ball nose end mill to make things easier)

the tooling alone would cost more than a part off a USA website

[El Skitzo]

But don't let the talk of expensive milling machines put you off having a go at making your own one off pieces.

Have a look at this lever which Kim Boyle (BCM) knocked up recently. You could just about do this with hand tools...