De Ranged Posted November 13, 2021 Author Share Posted November 13, 2021 Kind of funny how life doesn't work to plan lol Covid ment I ended up working full time, another round of lockdowns for us and the guys with kids don't have access to child care so I ended up filling the gap so they could stay home.... and it got worse from there lol I now effectivily have two jobs..... and too projects in my shed that aren't mine that I'm building 🤨 Had enough of the fatiqued worn down auto pilot.... so I took a day off lol and didn't let the project guys know I was going down, this was about me I couldn't do anything on the solar panels .... because I don't have the room lol, it was actually really hard to work out what to do and find some motovation.... I've got so many part finished things but because I hadn't been thinking about them In the end I settled on the rat scooter.... I've got an ex girlfriends daughter who is keen to learn a bit of engineering so decided this would be a good project to teach her on, shaping and forming sheetmetal doesn't need to involve lots of fancy tools... so after working out a game plan I decided to fit the dash into the tank skin There is one thing that has been annoying me for a while.... my lathe is in a dark corner of my shop (to keep it as far from where I grind) during the day particually on bright days I have a skylight over it so wonderfull but at night or bad weather days.... but with my eyesight getting closer and closer to needing coke bottles for glasses I need some light, so.... So a mag base from my first DTI base... cheap and nasty unit that the clamps broke on, but the mag base was too good to throw out An old reading lamp stem... the plastic light fitting got so old and baked it fell apart (been sitting here waiting on me to fit a new one lol had a good layer of dust) And a 15 Watt LED floodlight from Aliexpress (got a packet of 4 of them for $8 each delivered lol got them with some 100w ones for when I build a shed) Looks just like a bought one, and the light its putting out is really impressive.... you can't look near it becasue its blinding lol, I was toying with building some floodlight stands for the current shed using a couple of the 100w ones I bought On the lathe its night and day I do need to fit a on off switch.... at the moment its "pull the plug" setup hopefully I can get my life back (from work) and I can get back onto all the shop projects, I have piles of stuff I've bought to finish off things (the chassis table , corner/build scales, wheel scales, enclosure for a new 3D printer, another 3D printer, foundery etc) Hopefully more to come 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 1 hour ago, De Ranged said: Hopefully more to come Selfishly- I really hope so ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted November 17, 2021 Author Share Posted November 17, 2021 (edited) On 11/14/2021 at 10:26 AM, Anderzander said: Selfishly- I really hope so ! Thank you for the comment... I might be steping it up again, I've stepped back from my second job, so once I've finished sorting the summer garden and the winter growth I'll have have alot more time in the shed Back to the fun stuff teaching the young lass to use an Arb press and sandbag to form, so she is building a rear guard While she has been working on the guard I've kept going on the tank Got the clearance for the fork tubes in, and cut out the releif for the top triple clamp next job for me will be to panel the cutout Oh got a new toy for the shed (ex china) it was too cheap I had to give it a go..... it is brilant at cleaning up tube and pipe before you weld, 60 grit is spot on, I've got a packet of 3m style fibre bands coming as well Do have one concern tho and that is the two idle rollers are stepped to let you run narrow belts it will be interesting to see if this causes the sides of the belts to fray If it does cause issues it won't be much trouble to machine up a couple of alloy rollers to replace them Edited November 17, 2021 by De Ranged forgot to add some pic's 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted November 25, 2021 Author Share Posted November 25, 2021 The next bit for the scooter a frame to hold the seat and tank skin I'm keeping with the rat rod theme so this is supports from an old shelf lol, the wiggle up near the head tube is so the speedo cable can be connected to the dash This is the mockup, so I could get the height and position for the tank skin.... I haven't gotten that mounted yet its just sitting on magnets under there. I'll mount the front then narrow out the back so I can get my knees in there lol it'll make more sense soon The young lass is going well with the rear gaurd, she should have it finished forming next week 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wytze Posted November 25, 2021 Share Posted November 25, 2021 That's becoming a nice little fatboy😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted November 26, 2021 Author Share Posted November 26, 2021 lol I was sort of working towards a cafe racer style scooter.... but I have no idea how this is going to look once I start building up the deck and front panel.... I'm about to head in and sort a seat and mounting tabs, I'll do some leather on it later Just finished this design.... I've managed to well and truely pimp a flood light stand lol 3D printed tension knobs, hammer form brackets I'm looking forward to building them .... decided if I'm doing these I'll do another with floro's, really helpfull for panel work to see curves and hollows, almost got that done aswell, just stuck on the gimble I need to be able to change angle and rotate so it puts the light accross a panel at the right angle so it shows up body lines. The catch is I need clearance to the frame and yet still need it near a balance point (to stop the weight of the lights tipping them on the gimble) Anyway here is the LED version the legs are full of swarf from the lathe, mill and bandsaw, I've given it a range of height adjustment from around 1m to a bit over 2m (this will work with some 3 core pigtail leads I have) the LED's up top are 100watt aliexpress specials Next project I need to finish designing is my smalls storage, I'm loosing track of stuff lol..... and Super Cheap Auto just had a sale that I scored around 100 brand new parts bins for just over $100 These parts bins So I'll finish the design and order the steel 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted December 5, 2021 Author Share Posted December 5, 2021 Gidday all a wee bit of an update.... A bit more on the scooter, needed the seat so I could work out where to cut the tank skin to fit my knee's So keeping with the cheap theme It is the top off a heavier gauge drum so 1.1mm To give it a bit of strength I bead rolled a lip, my new bead roller is a bit industrial and the die's are 75mm dia which ment I couldn't do through the bend so I hammered in a bit of bead there..... didn't get fancy with it due to the fact i'm covering it A couple of bits of offcut closed cell foam glued on, along with some carpet underlay scrap the left over gell padding from doing the Suzuki DR650 seat To give the closed cell foam some softness I turn it into swiss cheese with the drill, Waiting on some leather offcuts from a sadlery to finish it off With that done, I was able to work out where to cut the relief in the fake tank so I can get my knees in.... this is still a scooter so I still want to ride it scooter style I really don't know how this is gona look lol normally I see things pretty well as how it will all come together and look this..... lol Hopefully get this fake tank finished and mounted this week 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted December 6, 2021 Author Share Posted December 6, 2021 Got a bit of shed time, so started gluing the tank skin I haven't finished this side yet. Still a bit more polishing to blend in some of the welds..... discovered alot of bog and past work on this tank incluing some lead dint repairs (the ugly bit above the delivery sticker) it has left me with some ugly transitions from the lines I'm forming into the panel where the paint is When I've finished the other side if its more of the same I think I'll just strip it and panel work out and smooth off all the previous repairs I love the paint, but if the repairs make my work look bad they go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted December 9, 2021 Author Share Posted December 9, 2021 I tried to save the patina, but given how much I'm cutting and welding on this its just not possible so.... not really the look I was going for but lol I still like it I think I'll still get the cafe racer look but the rat look is out the window The lead is proving a bit of a challange.... oddly the camera shows it up real well in the bad lighting in my shop you can't really see it Welded this section with out knowing and found puddles of melted lead on the table afterwoods Started filling the section which is cut out for the top triple clamp and the fake fork tubes.... the inside corner was a bit of a challange that little curve is a seperate panel about 8mm sqaure that i had to weld in, some of the metal is rather thin from the stretching when they formed the tank so it melts through real quick Got the day off, but I'll be heading into work to use there bandsaw to cut up parts for the smalls storage, I've already done 3hrs on the bandsaw cutting angle for this and I'm not even half way! Each miter cut requires two cuts and I have to flip the angle over to do it Cheers Reece 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted December 13, 2021 Author Share Posted December 13, 2021 More of the fake tank..... I like sheet metal, its not about fancy tools.... its about finding a way that achieves an ends. Heres how I did the inside corner lol all this for a 8mm triangle Folding a lip was a dig in the offcuts a few min's and another die to bend things on lol This is where I got too.... All this so the steering fits lol hopefully finish off the front end tomorrow night 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted December 19, 2021 Author Share Posted December 19, 2021 Slowly getting there with the scooter I'm undecided on the tank cover at the rear, if I go like its done now and run it straight so it lines up through the seat to the fake tank or if I run it down to the frame tube and bring it up on an angle..... I figered I need to see more lines before I make my mind up so I'm working on the frame to hold the floor board working out the lines on this I've decided I'm going to change the seat frame a bit so it will line up with the pipe frame for the scooter base.... Got the new belt sander into it Damm this thing is great and a piece of carp lol.... the job it does is amazing, fast and tidy, in 1 hr I cleaned up 3m of old galv pipe, peeled off up too 3 layers of paint and galv and blended out old welds I'd ground down..... its that aggressive if I push hard on it I can bog down a 1300W grinder, I wouldn't bother to run it on less of a grinder Catch is its carp lol the stepped rollers kill the edges of the belt, the rubber drive roller isn't crown'd so it doesn't provide any alignment and the worst bit the clamp ring to the grinder doesn't provide any form of alignment or decent clamping (got it as tight as I can manage using the screw thats there) as you push on the grinder it moves in the clamp and screws up the tracking on the belt The belt was orginally full width lol most of the wear is from miss alignment So I need to make up some new rollers to replace the two outer plastic rollers..... I'm thinking alloy with a steel disk either side, the belt rubs hard into the edges as you move side to side, so I'm thinking a sheet metal disk either side that if it gets worn down is an easy replace.... I don't know if I need a crown on these rollers if I have a crown on the rubber drive roller, That brings me to the drive roller, I don't know how deep the rubber is yet if it has enough meat I'll see if dry ice is enough to machine it into a crown..... if not I'll have to make something lol That leaves the clamp..... on the hitachi grinder I just don't see a way I can work with whats there.... the dust shield clamp ring just isn't big enough to provide the support it needs. I'm thinking I need to put a flange that that can tab to the bolts on the grinder head. lol yet another project to add to the list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 Slowly been working on the scooter the floor bars are in the seat frame was cut up and changed a bit to line up with the floor bars ..... my OCD now lines up Beating on the Scooter floor to shape it and needed a reverse shape to fit around the frame upright at the front..... just so happened a very similar dia to the beadroll dies I had made up for another job.... catch is I hadn't gotten around to broaching the keyways..... time to try out my $40 china special broach lol. Suprisingly after cutting both rollers it is still sharp and no chips, there was a catch I discovered there is a little too much rake on the teeth and it allows the broach to bite in and pull into the work. I found that in my 3 ton arb press when it started to get hard going was when it was pulling away from the guide, so stop push the broach back and then flip over the work and broach from the other side, then flip it and do a run back the other way before I put the shim in to push it over Got there in the end Used the bead rollers to help smooth out the reverse form after I had beaten it in with a hammer and sandbag Other than the center reverse form its all has been formed just with hammers and mallets on a sandbag, then planished by hand. A few holes and some dimpling in the arb press and the front of the floor is done.... this is where I left off My OCD is happy the frames line up but I just don't know...... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 Morning all Been a bit slow on stuff that is worth showing...... those that have found me on FB might of noticed my workshop got broken into and I lost a MX bike and riding gear along with a couple of odd things, to have known the bike was there and where certian things.... it is somebody who has been in my shop. Unfortunatly I didn't have any joy from the 10k reward I posted, NZ police are that useless they only opened the case 3 days after.... by that time I had tracked the bike to gang hands (they offered me a couple of 17yr old lads who weren't the ones who broke in) and I'd told them without the person responsable I'm not giving them anything... so the bike is gone So the last couple of weeks have been spent trying to engineer security that will beat battery tools.... a 5" grinder and recipro saw, I now have a bar on my door that you wont get through with either and I decided to sort a seagull roosting issue we have had on our gate it now has over 200 lathe sharpened spikes ontop of it..... I'm not finished with the security, my land lord has been good enough he is offering to cut my rent for a couple of months if I improve the security of the complex but I'm at a point where I can get back to some of the shed stuff I've managed to finish the scooter floor.... a bit of a challange lol this really is a cheap chinese made scooter, the parts that are fitted to it arn't even or lined up, the frame isn't even even.... so if you have the floor sitting off the bike it doesn't sit right you can see its not even, you can see slope and angles that arn't the same one side to the other, the hole patern is the way it is so it doesn't show up the fact the mounting holes are different one side to the other.... but when its on there it sort of works I think I've managed to get it looking right I need it running soon as I've kinda signed up to ride this in a charity ride from Napier to Wellington (about 8hrs non stop lol)..... I know the motor runs, the catch is I don't know what the trans is like.... I don't even know if it will make the speed limit of 50kms lol this is gona be a laugh 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 Sorry to hear you’ve been broken into Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Yes - gutted for you. Glad your land Lord is supporting you. Maybe sharpened spikes for the burglars too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted February 1, 2022 Author Share Posted February 1, 2022 Thanks for the thoughts, unfortunatly there is too ready a market for this sort of stuff people who wont ask why its cheap because they don't want to know and we have some serious gangs that are way better organised and efficent than our police lol when I was logging I couldn't leave any tools, gear or fuel in the machines On 1/24/2022 at 12:35 AM, Anderzander said: Maybe sharpened spikes for the burglars too. Sadly we have "Man trap" legal issues here in NZ, so legally we can't engineer something to hurt a burgler in the process of brakeing in or we get in trouble.... go figure Legally I am allowed to engineer something to stop seagulls and pigeons from getting ov... I mean roosting. 120mm and 60mm long, stagered profile, 3 different rows with the front row angled out to help catch the birds as they go over A bit of an update on the scooter the rear "pod" cover for the tank is mainly done The shinny steel kinda hides the curve in.... I did a heap of deep shrinking on the shrinker, 150mm deep from the edge and sort of tappered increasingly to the edge to curve the back in... then formed it using a soft mallet to shrink it into a even curve... then the end is 5 patch pieces formed in on a sandbag with a mallet and welded in between the shrunk edge and a ring I made around the lense Was looking at it when I was packing up and I think it needs the hole at the bottom leading edge filled Oh and done a deal with a local top panel shop forman he is going to paint it for me as a trade for some welding 😁 all the steel work is going to just get a wax n grease remover and then shot with a special metal etching clears the rest is going to a very obvious silver paint or satin black 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted March 12, 2022 Author Share Posted March 12, 2022 Been doing alot in the shop but most of it has been stuff that isn't worth showing lol, or stuff on the scooter that is small and almost trivial yet take an age.... abit like this lol Every performance motor needs a "Bug catcher" filter..... even if it is just a little scooter lol.... a week to do 😔 but I have to admit it as been a ball to build There was one bummer.... I was working towards running this in a local charity scooter ride Napier to Wellington I get the got the panel work almost done (just the guards to finish, a days work, and the seat to cover) decided to check the motor and trans to make certain it was up to the 8hr ride lol probably should have done this a while ago..... discovered the clutch was cooked a very bad shade of blue, at a guess I'd say the tolerance is gone and its slipping badly.... the bearing behind it doesn't feel bad to spin but looking at the colour on the clutch drum I'd say there has been that much heat I'd not put any faith in the bearing seals still being good Then there is some damage to the front pully of the CVT.... I'm guessing something got caught on the belt and did the damage, its not bad enough to stop it working but with this being a cheap Taiwanese scooter I admitted defeat lol I have since found a distributer for them.... so she'll be all good and reliable for next yrs ride lol For the books the lid comes off the front and there is a bit of foam from a spare filter for my stolen bike lol hopefully have it off to the painters this week and new parts on the way 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wytze Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 It looks allmost organic. Airbox looks good, fits the all quirky bike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 20 hours ago, Wytze said: It looks allmost organic. Airbox looks good, fits the all quirky bike lol it does, I never thought of it that way...... that little air box was a real challange to form on the back end... the metal stopped stretching, I find just before the metal tear's when your roughing your shape into the panel to stretch it (in this case using a ball pien of a 3 lb hammer into a sandbag) it will resist the dint from the hammer and when it does form a dint from the hammer it will pull the panel in warping it alot more than normal.... I hit this with a long way to go so had to build a new ball dolly small enough to get into the end that I could shrink the sides over A real challenge to form and fun to see it work 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wytze Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 57 minutes ago, De Ranged said: lol it does, I never thought of it that way...... that little air box was a real challange to form on the back end... the metal stopped stretching, I find just before the metal tear's when your roughing your shape into the panel to stretch it (in this case using a ball pien of a 3 lb hammer into a sandbag) it will resist the dint from the hammer and when it does form a dint from the hammer it will pull the panel in warping it alot more than normal.... I hit this with a long way to go so had to build a new ball dolly small enough to get into the end that I could shrink the sides over A real challenge to form and fun to see it work Just cold? no heat at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 All cold, I tend to only use heat to shrink when I'm in the middle of a large panel.... it might just be me but heat on the edges or on small high form pieces is a gamble that can go horribly wrong as it cools Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wytze Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 Yes , it can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post De Ranged Posted May 29, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 29, 2022 Not much of an update, been a bit distracted with finishing off a classic car for a mate, just the fun of solving parts problems etc I have had a few moments where I've gotten frustrated in the shed and let loose lol My welding table has seen a bit of attention and finally a coat of paint And my OCD got the better of me on the other bench That all started because I tripped over an extention cord and pulled the grinder off the bench..... 2 days later I have two 4 way boards under the bench in custom sheet metal holders (so they can't bounce out if I'm hammering on something), all my marking tools etc and a selection of blades bits etc for the power tools are on hand.... its made work/play... nicer lol This one was prompted by BoC the local branch didn't like me wearing a motorcylce helmet as a covid mask so wouldn't let me pay my account (cylinder rental) so I got a nasty letter in the mail... this got me looking at how much I was paying in cylinder rental... a dollar a day per cylinder, so did a bit of ring around and now I own a pair of swop bottles... basically a yrs time and I'm ahead I decided to drop bottle size too so I could fit them under a bench, so reworked and improved the gas plant trolley being smaller its a bit more site friendly.... the bar across at the top is so if its tipped over onsite I don't have to worry about the regs and the bar its mounted on is in position to balance if its lifted (not that I plan on doing this lol its just in case ) There might be a bit of fun design work show up in the future had a friend plant a seed that portals would be a cool idea for a FJ45 project I'm designing on, due to freight costs and shipping logistics I'm considering designing a set so I can see if cost wise its worth doing in comparison 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep Posted May 30, 2022 Share Posted May 30, 2022 Wow, that is tidy! How long does a workbench stay tidy for though?? I gave up on BoC in 2007, when rental got to $200 a year (so it's gone up massively, by your account). I shelled out $600 for a MIG welder and another hundred for a gas blowtorch and have got by ever since. I've saved thousands but sometimes miss the gas. It's much easier in delicate situations. Besides, I'm a very good gas welder and a very mediocre electric one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted May 31, 2022 Author Share Posted May 31, 2022 14 hours ago, deep said: Wow, that is tidy! How long does a workbench stay tidy for though?? lol hopefully a long time, I have another bench behind the welding table I use as the junk bench and I've sort of started on the smalls storage.... a whole day of miter cutting angle iron to make the frames to hold the parts bins.... the shed now looks more like a workshop and less like a storage unit lol You'll have to come over and have a beer some time 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.