Some Aluminum Jobs

[pro70z28]

I thought I'd post some of the parts i've made for my "Z-28" project.
I may have posted some of these in the past, the older I get the less I remember. lol

This is the Bot cutting lift off hinges for the fiberglass doors
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/Hinges5-10-07-1.jpg

Assorted parts
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/Hinges5-10-07-2.jpg

Trial fit to see if all the parts work together
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/Hinge.jpg

All the parts polished and bases welded to the hinge. Stainless pins & brass bushings will be made on the lathe nwext.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/hingespolished9-15-08.jpg

Here's a video of the hinges completed & installed on the car.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/th_camarospystuff.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/?action=view&current=camarospystuff.flv)

[coach]

Gary, nice job. Care to share the details?
What tool, feed and speed?
What type aluminum was it and how thick.
I for one would like to produce parts like those.
Thanks for posting.
David

[pro70z28]

This is an aluminum brace for the rear end housing & shock mounts & for the four link brackets just cut on the Bot.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/8d8335b6.jpg

Here it is with the shock mounts attached. The shock mounts slide into a slot cut into the brace & then bolted together from the bottom.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/820b004c.jpg

Here is the assembly bolted in the chassis.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/38a7c78d.jpg

Here's the complete assembly. I made several mild steel parts for the rear end also. 4 link brackets, wheelie bar brackets, anti-roll bar brackets, etc. If I can find those pics. I'll post them later.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/CamaroRollerrearlow.jpg

[pro70z28]

Hi Dave.
I'm not sure what type of aluminum it is. It's 3/4" thick. I bought it at scrap price from a steel supply store that sells used stuff by the pound out back. I cut it with a 1/4'' 2 flute up spiral carbide bit. If I remember right the travel speed was .005 & the Z speed was .005 also. I have a 3 phase Perske spindle that I run between 45 & 50 Hz. I don't have the conversion table to convert that to RPMs but it's pretty slow. I like to use water soluble oil (Runs much quieter/smoother). I just look for nice chip size & a cool bit & let it cut. It's not fast at all but I can say I designed & produced the parts in house. It's a hobby.

[Brady Watson]

Great work, Gary. You can crank the move speed up to around 1 to 1.5 IPS and the RPM to 13,000 to 15,000 with either a 2-flute straight end mill or a single flute spiral-O router bit. This will get your CNC and your spindle in their normal operating range. The CNC has a lot of motor resonance down low & the spindle has next to no torque and not enough RPM for cooling the motor if it is shaft driven. Ramped stepdown/entry of the bit will avoid problems. Air cooling of the bit is recommended. I also recommend adjusting your Slow Corner Speed in the VR setting to 20 or 30. Getting the correct tooling & running the tool & spindle at the recommended speeds will greatly improve your surface finish & your tooling will last longer.

-B

[rb99]

Nobody here uses a cutting fluid?

I bought a system caled the Fogbuster and it would send a very precise small stream of cutting fluid to the bit. I covered the table with a protective material that I used when cutting metals.

http://www.fogbuster.com/frame.htm

cuts are much better and bits last longer.

RB

[pro70z28]

Brady. How much material do you cut per pass at that speed? I've tried several speeds/RPM's and haven't had much luck going faster than what I posted above. Spindle cooling and low end torque haven't been a problem. The converter compensates for any load put on the spindle to keep the RPMs consistent.
Faster, cleaner cuts would be great.
Then I'll have to work on cutting mild steel faster. I run .02 x.02 cutting those parts.

These are pics. of some of the mild steel parts.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/Shobot1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/Shopbot3.jpg

I wasted cutting the first bracket when I discovered I had to change the mount location for the wheelie bar brackets so the bars would fit. Just a few hours cutting down the tubes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/Rearendassembly3-21-06.jpg

[pro70z28]

Richard. That looks like a nice cooling system. I don't do enough metal cutting to justify putting too much into a cooing system. I've cut some stuff dry also and have had decent luck with that also. I just haven't been able to speed up the cutting much wet or dry. Maybe I'm not using a good enough bit. I use mostly Freud & Bosch because they can be easily picked up locally. I do order out the 4 flute end mills I use for mild steel from Hemly Tool Supply.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/Shopbot3.jpg

[rb99]

I used to be next to a large fab shop. I learned about cutting and welding aluminum and magnesium.

Your product look great!

RB

[porscheman]

Though slightly off-topic, I'd like to know how many cubic inches of engine and rear-wheel HP/torque are going to be sent down to those big steam-roller tires??? Hopefully a 500+ cu-in big block!!

Project looks awesome, especially knowing you've fabricated many parts on your Bot. Would love to see more pictures as the project progresses and when the car comes out of the paint booth.

John

[pro70z28]

Here's another project on the "Z".

I made an aluminum dash bezel.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/a295844e.jpg

I made mock up gauges by printing the faces from pictures on the autometer web site. got the specs from the website and cut PVC mock-up gauges to help get everything in the right place.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/df067abb.jpg

Bent it to the right angle on the brake
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/1ef12e26.jpg

TIGed some braces/mounting tabs on the back side
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/Dash34-19-08.jpg

Here it is installed. It stays with the chassis and the fiberglass dash slips over it. easy maintenance this way.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/Steeringcolumnmock-up-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/Dash4-19-08.jpg

[pro70z28]

Thanks Richard.
John, The economy might change the final outcome, but the plan is to run a 540 BBC with an F-2 procharger. Should put out right at 1,500 HP. The 25.4 chassis is NHRA & IHRA certified for 7.50. Don't look for it to be complete too fast. (Economy). But, I'll keep plugging away at it as funds/time allow.

Steam rollers are bolted to an aluminum Aerospace rear end, with a Danny Miller aluminum center section 4:10 pro gear, 10 bolt pinion support & Mark Williams 40 spline spool & axles.

Trans. is a Rossler 210. That's a 400TH with a 210 low gear. Tans brake and all the light weight internal go fast parts.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/bc7170ba.jpg

This is just a windowed mock up block & heads. Notice the Shop Bot made "PVC Dominator" mock-up carb.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/bcff61be.jpg

[pro70z28]

One other aluminum project, then I better get some work done.
This is the brake pedal for the "Z".

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/c287091f.jpg

Flipped it over to hog out the other side for weight savings
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/0114fbba.jpg

Cutting brake linkage on the Bot.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/572c8b36.jpg

Then turned it on the lathe
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/3636c974.jpg

Pedal done. I cut the pad out of a truck mud flap.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/78c89a10.jpg

Linkage done. I thought I'd take this picture on a spa sign I was doing at the time. I thought they went together lol.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/9a0df938.jpg

There's the master cylinder assembly. Mounting bracket made on the bot.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/2d9bc031.jpg

[pro70z28]

BTW: I have to give credit to Jerry Bickel for the brake pedal geometry. They show the specs for the pedal assemble they use on the CNC master cylinder in their catalog, so I designed my pedal from his specs.

[robert_a]

Richard:
the link for fogbuster has a trogen horse virus attached to it

[john_l]

Mine picked up the same... DONT CLICK THAT.

[rb99]

How could a link to a web site be a Trojan?

I have full Norton running...I will run a scan.

RB

[pro70z28]

A week ago I picked up a Trojan on the PC that runs the Shop Bot from a font web site. Had to wipe the hard drive & reload everything.

[carlcnc]

OFF topic!

don't mean to hijack this thread but,
If anyone else runs into trojans from links on the forum,would be good to post a "dangerous link"
message . lot's of people could get unknowingly infected
thanks
Carl

[rb99]

To clarify, was it the Fogbuster website that has the virus?

Is everyone sure it was not the way the web site was built that is causing and alert?

RB

[woodturner]

A little help please! I also clicked on that link and nothing appeared to happen. My computer went as far as trying to open Adobe in the middle of the screen and I canceled it. I didn't think any more about it. Now, today me system seems awful slow and I can not print some drawings sent to me as a .tif, that I then re-saved as a .pdf since I can zoom in a lot quicker than a .tif. Should I be alarmed? How can I tell if I have an issue (trojan horse)? Thanks in advance.

[coach]

Ed, have you run and updated your anti-virus?
I run anti virus (AVG Free edition) and spyware Doctor. I get virus' all the time due to 2 teenagers downloading music......amongst other things.
The spyware and Avg clean up the computer.
http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor/
http://free.avg.com/homepage-appf8
Hope this helps.
I have also resorted to system restore to an earlier point......(day before you had the problem.)
Sometimes that helps. I am by no means any type of computer authority.
David

[steve4460]

Try "windows live one care" they have a free trial for 90 days and after that its $50.00 for one year for that you get to install it on 3 computers on your network . It even has tune up and back up built in . It works allright the only drawback is it takes at least 512 MB of RAM to run .So read the system requierments before getting it . Good luck with getting thoes nasty viruses of the PC . That sometimes takes a phone call to techsupport . since some of these viruses don't let you install any antivirus software .
Try downloading this http://www.malwarebytes.org/
to remove the virus and then get the windows live one care trial.
Bot on.
www.windwardsigns.com (http://www.windwardsigns.com)

[john_l]

I missed the last few days of this but anyway... to clarify, I didnt get a computer virus or trojan horse from the site. I run Spybot Search and destroy and it picked up on something it identified as a trojan horse trying to install as soon as I clicked the posted link above. Thats what I meant by "I got it too". Spybot identified it as something like klez.worm... yadda yadda yadda.

[john_l]

It takes time to do the dance but I have used Security Tango successfully in the past... http://www.securitytango.com/

[frank134]

I have not found anything on the site. I run ad-aware plus spybot. Nether of these programs found a problem.

[kg4mon]

Brady. How much material do you cut per pass at that speed? And stepover?

[Brady Watson]

Rick,
It depends on many things...How thick the material is, the bit diameter, HSS or carbide, how intricate the design is, if it's 2D or 3D cutting, and what alloy it is...The speeds I mentioned are a good baseline for cutting AL. I just cut 15 sheets of .063 6063 last week, and cut at 1.5 IPS & 15,000 RPM. Bit cooling was adequate enough using the dust collector and a 1/4" single Spiral-O with 1/2" LOC. I would limit your stepdown with a 1/4" tool to 0.03 to 0.06" per pass until you get a feel for what the tooling and router/spindle/you can comfortably take.

For those that haven't really cut much AL, there are a few things that you need to realize. First, hold-down is very, very important. AL is quite dense compared to most other things that people machine, as as such, wants to move around on you. Vacuum hold-down is the best method for material thinner than 1/8". Any thinner than this and you WILL warp the sheet using screws, causing a belly in the sheet that vibrates & lifts, ruining your edge quality & maybe even ruining the part. Over 1/8" you can screw & bolt materials down as necessary. Carpet tape can be used in a pinch, but keep in mind that if you are doing long files (like 3D) AL will absorb the heat, transferring it to the tape and it will fail. Clamps are also OK when used properly.

Also, machining AL is different than most other materials you have cut since it sounds completely 'wrong' when it is cutting. It vibrates and has resonances to it, telling you that something is wrong, when in fact everything is OK. You DO NOT want to plunge straight down into the material!!! This will load the cutter and the cutter will in turn, break since it's cutting edges will now be shrouded by AL oxide that has brazed itself to the tip of the tool. ALWAYS use ramps into the material as the tool steps down.

Keep an eye on what's going on while it is cutting. BE SURE to wear eye protection from the time you put the material on, until the cut parts AND scrap are placed on the floor. Static electricity can cause the AL to shoot stright into your eyes when you lift the parts & scrap off of the table! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Also, take care of your skin when AL chips are rooster-tailing out of the router. They are hot & will burn your skin big time. While it is cutting, collect a few cool chips and measure their thickness with your digital calipers. This is your chipload. I usually run in the 0.01-0.016 range with 6061 & 6063 without problems.

Be brave, be safe & above all else, be observant. You will learn more by paying close attention to what is happening as the part is being cut than ANYTHING else. This is how I learn...

-B

[kg4mon]

Yeah O.k. That's excitly where I'm at, Just thought you might be doing something different and getting a better result. I cut alot of .063 and .125 sheet AL for a local sign guy. I made a custom AL intake for a inline chevy six I'm building and machine some .250,.500 and even some 1" stuff. I broke a couple of 3/8 onsrud bit on the 1". Those were 1" carb spacers. Everything seem to pretty well. I just use a spray bottle with coolant, I might try a cooler mister if I do any more.

[kg4mon]

Here is some pics of the intake on the motor and one before welding.


1448


1449


1450


1451

[pro70z28]

That's pretty cool Rick. Nice work.

I made these 4 link brackets on the bot, cut from 3/16'' mild steel plate.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/Rearendassembly3-21-06.jpg

[pro70z28]

Just read your post Brady. I'm going to try your settings to see how it works.
This might be a stupid question but how do you set up a ramp cut into the work piece? I am using Part Wizard.

[Brady Watson]

Rick & Gary,
Beautiful work! I love it when people dare to push the limits of the Bot...especially when it involves building something automotive related. What is that a 230/250 Chevy? MonoJet carbs? (although the float bowls look like a Holley...or a Carter?)

Gary,
Unless you manually code a ramp into your file using the file editor, then it is not possible to do this with PWizard...The upgrade to PartWorks is WELL WORTH the price, as it would open up many, many new doors for you with all of the added machining options it now includes. It's pretty much ArtCAM Insignia at this point...but way cheaper. It used to be that you had to either shell out for Insignia or Pro to be able to create ramped stepdowns...Not so anymore thanks to the boys at Vectric & ShopBot's never ending quest to include the best software possible with their tools. I'm really impressed with how far things have come from the Vector & PartWizard v1.0 days...

-B

[pro70z28]

Brady, I've been kicking around the idea of getting a 3D program this summer. When I bought the Bot my sign software had a 3d program but it was thousands of $$$. It looks like 3D software can be gotten much cheaper now, so I might just take another look.

[kg4mon]

It's a 250, With some major mods, Those are the new demon 98 carbs from barry grant. This motor should be between 425 and 450 hp. according to some dyno software.

[Brady Watson]

Pretty neat, Rick. Those motors are pretty bullet-proof even when they are in stock trim...I had one in a Camaro. That motor would be pretty sick with a turbo and XFI/DFI...but the carbs are cool too.

-B

[pro70z28]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/dashPrimer2.jpg

Lately I've been getting the fiberglass dash in the "Z" fit around the intercooler.
Looking at it, it occurred to me that if those hose clamps were to loosen up the outlet tube could become a in-car projectile.

[pro70z28]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/flange1.jpg
So, I had some time this weekend & I decided I'd get the hose & clamp set-up replaced. I pulled out the old slab of aluminum and started whittlin' away with the ShopBot.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/flange4.jpg
Flipped one over & cut an o-ring groove

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/flange3.jpg
cleaned them up on the lathe & cut the mating surfaces for a nice air tight fit.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/flange5.jpg
Finished and ready to install.

[pro70z28]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/flange6.jpg
My aluminum welding skills aren't the best, but I got 'em melted together.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/flange7.jpg
Intercooler side with o-ring

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/flange8.jpg
all bolted together and back in the caah.

]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/pro70z28/flange9.jpg
dash cover back in. No more hose & clamps. I feel safer with this set-up by my shin. I've seen some ugly footage of those clamps letting go.

That's what I did this weekend.

[rb99]

Wow great work!

You have taken the job to new heights!

Cheers,

RIB

[pro70z28]

Thanks Richard. Wish I had more time to work on it.