Bike builders that have machine tools/shops

[indian22]

Thanks Tom. I pray that you feel better this morning and that Covid is not presenting.

I'll be actually using the mill today, along with the lathe, bandsaw and combo belt sander/disk. I know the shop isn't yet organized, but I will stop with putting so much time in my efforts. Daily use will actually prompt final posirioning and storage of tools and parts. All bits will find their location gradually. The key is to follow my old commercial shops hard rule, clean up and return everything to it's place at the end of each day. Personal tools, shop tools and parts being used for jobs in progress all either stored or arranged for the next days work.

I don't have much room, but I've enough to get some work done now and am assembling the tools to make my work a lot easier.

Rick C.

 

[Tom from Rubicon]

What a difference a day makes. If you prayed for me Rick, it must have done the trick.

Mona will be out of town for Mothers Day so we went today and did the ritual Spring Flower purchases today.
Green house we go to because of their very reasonable prices has gotten very popular and gets cleaned out quick.
Last year Mothers day was slim pickins. Did abundantly well, getting there today. 4 petunia wave hangers and assorted flowers for our patio based pots.

Tom

 

[indian22]

So glad you're feeling well Tom. Monday this week I had a 24 hr bug with flu symptoms but was right as rain the next day. With Covid around I tended to also fear the worst. Prayer does work and the glory goes to God.

We've been in a drought here for several months but yesterday received a nice rain mixed with some dime size hail at the start, no damage though. I prayed daily and in his timing it came.

Women always appreciate flowers so what better way to spend time with your wife. If we're honest a lot of us guys like the flower's too. Did you ever pull the petunia blossom and suck the nectar as a kid? Sweet treat!

Have a great week.

Rick C.

 

[fasteddy]

One thing I find about being old is that you get to pronounce new medical terms with clarity and great confidence.

Great to hear you both made it through your illness and it wasn't one of the Covid's.

Steve.

 

[Tom from Rubicon]

Rick,
Sucking petunia's and the bogie woogie blues.

Steve, I find no comfort here in the US accurately articulating latin medical terms to most of our physician's.
If you talk smart, most go paranoid. At least here..

Tom

 

[MEASURE TWICE]

About 2 weeks ago I got a second booster of Moderna. Flue shot last year also. Windsurfing was on hold for a while as sore shoulder from 2nd booster, but nothing else. Seeing about Saturday Windsurfing again.

Tom, glad your felling better!

 

[fasteddy]

Tom, one of the greatest laughs I had over the years was when a friend of mine went to the VA to see his doctor. When he'd finished talking to the doctor he told him he'd already looked it up on the internet but wanted a second opinion. He said the look on doctors face advised a rapid exit.

Steve.

 

[indian22]

Steve the internet provides amusement, insight and knowledge, but we are just as responsible for verification of the data. Trust but verify is a worthwhile approach in all our affairs. I'm glad we have Doctors and web sources to verify "Expert opinions" which term does not bolster my confidence by much.

I'm old; know some med terminology and still can't pronounce them worth a darn.


Rick C.

 

[PeteMcP]

Glad your fever symptoms weren't Covid related Tom.

Be aware that efforts to self diagnose symptoms via the internet can be harmful to your wallet. Six or seven years back here in the UK, I was confined to bed with a fever temperature of 104 degrees. Jen ventured onto the net to help diagnose what maybe going on and logged onto a US (or so it said) site which gave impartial 'expert' medical advice. Never really came away with anything of help, and in a few days I was back on my feet again. But a couple of years later I was looking at a bank statement (something I rarely, if ever, did 'cause Jen had always handled our household finances) and queried an UK£18 standing order that had been leaving our account every month for over two years. Probed a little deeper and discovered the 'medical' website Jen had visited had requested a UK£5 fee for its services, then subsequently used the same payment details to administer a monthly standing order payment of US$25 unless the box to 'opt out' (well hidden in the small print) was checked. The good news is I took this up with my bank and they refunded two year's worth of the payments, the limit their refund policy stretched to. Be warned - the net is full of such 'scams'; not just medical related. I've spotted similar schemes concerning vetinary, auto mechanical and computer issues.

 

[indian22]

I buy almost exclusively using the net. If possible I buy locally but so much that I require isn't availible here. I've not been scammed after thousands of purchases, including buying cars, trucks and cycles. In fact I've had only a hand full of disputes all of which were quickly rectified. My good fortune I suppose.

Spent over 3 hours working with the mill setup. I pushed it pretty hard in 6061 aluminum bar stock, using 1/2" end mill on 3/8" collet shank and I'm pleased to say the mill performed above my expectations as did my toolbox roller stand. I confess that I was concerned that the metal tools stored without insulation in place, world vibrate and rattle when putting a load on the cutting tool. Not so, though I will add a layer of insulating material, corrugated box flats, soon. The mill runs without much vibration or noise using this aluminum stock, but steel may give this machine problems. That test comes later. I confess that standing in one place for several hours was demanding. It's been a minute since I last used a mini mill and a manual Bridgeport would complete what I finished this morning in minutes, not including setup time.

Not my favorite job: grinding drills, unless one has a proper, dedicated station for this task it can be a job. So a couple of years ago I bought a "Drill Doctor" and it's been a help on drills 3/16" and larger to 1/2" which I can see well enough to hand sharpen the big boys with a bench grinder and stones. The Doctor isn't fast on large diameters, but 7/16" down works well. 1/8 " down are too small for securing properly in the grinder. All in all not a bad solution for guys which have some vision problems. I have a good size coffee can half full of good candidates for sharpening with the Doctor.

Rick C.

 

[indian22]

Another 100 degree plus today so I'm starting early and quitting when it gets too hot.

Tools still coming in, ER 40 collet set came late yesterday, as did my square and hex ER 40 collet vise blocks. Granite test stand also arrived.
I need a small Granite surface plate too. Layouts and inspections are so much easier with a high tolerance surface & perfect edge registration.

I've several test and measuring/setup items coming really the list is pretty ridiculous, but I can use the overkill, sure makes some difficult to make parts quite easy and quick to turn out to dimensions.

Rick C.

 

[PeteMcP]

Could do with some of your balmy temperatures here Rick. Almost half way through the year and I'm still having to put the central heating on in the evenings to ward off the chill. It was my Brother-in-Law Keith's 85th birthday yesterday May 9th - was also Jen's, she would have been 75 yesterday too - and so Jen's sis Sheila invited me over to Amble on the coast for snacks and a birthday drink to toast the pair of them. Took the Munro for a spin and the ride home at 10pm was bracing. Today it's a sweltering 60 degrees. WHERE's MY SUMMER?!!!
Looking forward to getting more rides on the Munro under my belt. It's a great machine. Plenty power for my needs. And while assembling it I did notice the cast-on inscription on the hub motor indicates 48v and 800w - not 350w or 400w as is mentioned in the Munro's advertising blurb. I'm guessing this is an 800w motor restricted to 400w. In my initial correspondence with the London seller, he said he'd supply instructions advising how to access the bike's full power.

 

[fasteddy]

Pete, If you can find your summer, ours shouldn't be far away. It was a pavement melting 62F here but at least it was sunny. Sunny again today but that will be it for a while they say.

The Munro has 800w of power? Probably has a programmable controller so you can adjust it. That is an unexpected bonus.

Steve.

 

[indian22]

Pete we've a couple more 100 + days forecast for this week and winds have been over 25mph almost every day for the last 3 weeks. Last Summer and Spring we had zero days over a 100 until late August, but that's not typical either. This May, two weeks, we've had more days over 100 degrees than we had all last year!

Good to have family at hand to comfort each other.

Rick C.

 

[fasteddy]

Sixty five and sunny. Got a lot done but They have said it's back to rain once again but then they said the last two sunny 65F days were rainy.

Steve.

 

[indian22]

Get er done in the sun!

 

[indian22]

Hi guys got at it early and put in about 4 hours of shop time this a.m. still nice temps, but I decided to stop for some lunch and also spend some time seated. I really need a nice tall shop stool for both lathe and mill and for layout work and fitting up.

I mounted the 4 jaw as it will be used extensively for the projects I have in mind. It's able to hold larger diameter work than the 3 jaw. I have a face plate that needs to be turned down to fit my lathes spindle plate. I should have done this months ago. I like using a plate and also turning between centers, these techniques on a lathe really expand the machines capabilities.

I need the grind a couple of broaching tools to mount in the mill as I have several internal keyways to cut. I think the mill easier to use for keyways on these small machines. Has anyone priced economy broach sets lately? I was shocked. They do a nice job in an arbor press though. I'll sacrifice a little if my time and some carbide to save that initial buy in price for a set.

Tom another project I've planned is building an internal throttle mech to clean up the bars on my hybrid. By using miniature precision bearings I'm quite certain it will be smooth as butter.

The other item I'll machine is a special set of reduction sprockets for the 'old Crow electric V twin. With which I can quickly alter my drive ratios with various motors which differ significantly in performance depending on final rato selected. This way I won't have to change the rear sprocket and will be able to use a 36t rear for all testing and keeping the size of the rear smaller, sprockets bigger than 44t just don't look good on my bikes.

All in all I hope you guys are in the shop working and having a great time.

Rick C.

 

[curtisfox]

Hi guys got at it early and put in about 4 hours of shop time this a.m. still nice temps, but I decided to stop for some lunch and also spend some time seated. I really need a nice tall shop stool for both lathe and mill and for layout work and fitting up.

I mounted the 4 jaw as it will be used extensively for the projects I have in mind. It's able to hold larger diameter work than the 3 jaw. I have a face plate that needs to be turned down to fit my lathes spindle plate. I should have done this months ago. I like using a plate and also turning between centers, these techniques on a lathe really expand the machines capabilities.

I need the grind a couple of broaching tools to mount in the mill as I have several internal keyways to cut. I think the mill easier to use for keyways on these small machines. Has anyone priced economy broach sets lately? I was shocked. They do a nice job in an arbor press though. I'll sacrifice a little if my time and some carbide to save that initial buy in price for a set.

Tom another project I've planned is building an internal throttle mech to clean up the bars on my hybrid. By using miniature precision bearings I'm quite certain it will be smooth as butter.

The other item I'll machine is a special set of reduction sprockets for the 'old Crow electric V twin. With which I can quickly alter my drive ratios with various motors which differ significantly in performance depending on final rato selected. This way I won't have to change the rear sprocket and will be able to use a 36t rear for all testing and keeping the size of the rear smaller, sprockets bigger than 44t just don't look good on my bikes.

All in all I hope you guys are in the shop working and having a great time.

Rick C.

Just happen to have this. .......Curt https://motorbicycling.com/media/img-20140215-112343.9136/

 

[Tom from Rubicon]

Rick, couple years ago I spent a Sunday trying to source a 7/8" handle bar internal throttle. One real hit and it was Chopper oriented. Seems to refine a Chopper built, component size reduction is a thing. for 500 bucks.
Curt as usual has a great link.
Creating the helical slot is part of the challenge. Sourcing a miniature bearing to follow the slot.

Tom

 

[indian22]

Thanks Curt for the link, that's the old school technique that works and it shows the concept well. My Cushman Eagle had this same setup and others as well, but the scooter was my first internal throttle experience.

Tom you read my mind on the slot cuts of which there are two, one short and straight the other helical and much longer. I use 7/8" bars on all my builds and that's tradition from cycle background plus availability of accessories.

Milling the cuts manually is a slow process with a lot of file and Dremel stoning. The mini bearings are robotics items and RC cars use some. I don't favor sticky throttle so a bearing which keeps the cable slug pin centered in the center of that helical cut is a big plus. Using oil bronze for that slug is a big upgrade from steel or aluminum. A fine finish on stainless would be excellent for that short slug as well. Of course the selection of the straight coil spring (oxymoronic?) return spring should suit the riders taste, on long rides the heavy springs are tiring. Rounding out the basic parts list are the spring retainer/tube cap.

Fishing cables, throttle, brake or clutch through small holes in tubes is just technique and physics, you can't run much cable diameter through the 7/8" tube, it's like trying to contain 5 lbs of crap in a 1 lb bag, just won't fit.

This isn't my first rodeo with internal throttles, but the roller bearings are a new addition for this throttle. Others have done this, but as you said Tom they are pricey. I plan on building three of these for my Harley Peashooter, the Simplex and my hybrid. I'll post photos along the way as I feature these throttles are of interest to some.

Time to get out and build some stuff.

Rick C.