the build(s?) (mysta2)

[noodlenoggin]

Yeah, that GF's a keeper.

What's "Drinko?"

Aaand...when I was in college, I kept my XS650 in my living room and did what you did...used it for a Christmas Bike -- I strung lights on it, even, and they really looked good reflected in the chrome. I've got a picture in a box somewhere...

[mysta2]

What's "Drinko?"...

that was my christmas gift from my girls mom. I don't really drink much, and she knows it; but never the less, she got me a drinking game for christmas. It's based on Plinko, something about the certian colored token landing in the certian colored space with the shot. I'm not really sure, I don't think I'll ever use it but it was nice of her to think of me.

btw: I'm going to be away for the next week and a half (until the first) and wont be able to ship anything out. you can still email me and such about the brackets but I won't be able to ship anything till next year.

[imorgan202]

The brackets turned out great! Good to know you're still keeping up with the projects. Also, thanks for the email a while back.

Ian

[mysta2]

Loudbikes' lump has been in "the shop" for the last few weeks and it turns out you can't get a new cam chain ?slipper? bow... and mine is clearly beat:



So I'm running a little experiment



I don't really know all that much about delrin other than knowing how to machine it, but I'm about to learn. I know it's abrasion resistant and naturally oily, but I'm not really sure how well it stands up to heat.

So I decided to conduct an extremely un-scientific test that I'm going to ignore the results of...



...let's melt it



and as you can see, it melted pretty good... but hey, that's a very steady, localized heat and I don't know what temp the soldiering iron was nor do I know how hot the engine oil is while the motor's running. So I'm still optimistic.

One thing that's really nice is that it's just a little less flexible than the spring steel original.



If this all works out, I'll be offering these for sale just as soon as I feel confident enough with it to do so.

[chrisf]

I just got my polished DropBars headlight brackets and they are awsome--very well made and finished. Thanks!!

As to the Delrin, it should work perfectly in your app. Have a read over this page (http://www.dpcars.net/dp1bld/dc.htm) and you'll see where the builder used the Delrin in a very similar fashion. I use it for bushings in my car and seem to remember it being very stable, even at higher temps. The 220 degrees the oil may see should not break it down too much.

--Cheers, Chris

[mysta2]

thanks chris

as promised, some polished pics:





everything but the box (or the packing peanuts)

... and yours' will match

[tummyson]

Got my headlight brackets today...they look AWESOME!!!

Thanks again.

Mike

[mysta2]

Old original vin tags look like crap, but what can you do about it. When I build something I want it to be custom, but I don't want it to look home built. It's a tough balance but some of the giveaways go as follows, home built stuff is often too polished or too smooth. removing every little seam line and part break often leaves something looking just boring... and homemade. Another thing is labels; warning stickers, patent labels and brand badges are usually the last thing to go on a machine after manufacturing and as such make something look finished and professional. Just like the prototypes we do at work, they always look very unfinished and cheap before rubdowns go on.

That explanation is there because my girlfriend laughed at me for what I'm going to write about next.

Old vin tag...

...new screen and new stainless steel sheet. The original tag Is .009 inches thick and the new plate is a .0095 sheet of stainless that I found at a craft type store.

When printing on metal (or any non absorbent material) It's advisable to use an epoxy ink. This goes double if your part is going to be exposed to any whether.

I use Nazdar inks simply because I've never used anything else, and I've never had a problem with them. 5 to 1 resin/catalyst

Since the location on the stainless sheet isn't really important, I didn't need to use any blocks to position the screen.

Taping off the area around your' artwork help make cleanup a lot easier, packing tape works great.

Prepare your' ink...

... and lay it out over the artwork. I didn't take pictures of the next steps because your hands are busy trying to get the ink through the screen and cleaned out before the epoxy dries into it and ruins the screen. But basically you need to pull the squeegee across the ink which clears the excess and pushes the ink in the screen down through it onto the part. Then rip the tape off and wipe the screen with a soft paper towel (I like Kleenex Viva) soaked in lacquer thinner till it's clean.

If your' pressure's right and nothing moved while you were pulling, it should look kinda like this:


A few more tries to make sure I get a perfect one...


Now it’s just cutting them out and riveting them in place. I’ll talk about all that later.

[mysta2]

hmm, I swear I posted an update to this earlier today, but now it seems to have dissapeared. Guess I'll just have to do it again tomorrow. Anyway, dropping in to let everyone know that I just sold out on my first batch of headlight brackets.

Thanks to everyone

[Shorts]

Making those labs is really neat. How do you make the template to place on the sheetmetal?