Looking for a CAD/SolidWorks expert/tutor

Hi, I'm trying to get a handle on 3D modeling to create an CNC-able aluminium bracket for my instrument cluster and need someone to help clean-up the model I've hacked in Sketchup/CAD. Any help would be appreciated.

PS: Also looking for recommendations where to take the file for final production..



Thanks in advance!

needs to get moved to 'Off Topic General Forums '

Can't help with the solid model (I only have the viewer, not the full-blown design package) BUT I grew up around machine shops ...

What's the thickness of this part? It looks almost like something that (at an OEM level) would be stamped out of sheet metal because of the (visually) thin walls and the sloped surfaces around the outside. If the walls are that thin, how do you propose to clamp it in place during machining so that the machining forces don't send it flying? It's dead simple to make a part like this in a stamping press (except the tooling cost for quantity=1 will be killer). To machine it, not so much. Almost nothing is impossible, but it can be expensive!

If you could make the walls around the perimeter vertical instead of sloped so that you can machine them all at once with a normal (straight with flat end) milling cutter, and with slightly thicker walls so that the machining forces don't rip the part to pieces or distort it out of shape, and give the machinist something to clamp on to, life will be a whole lot easier.

Your best bet is to actually find a machinist and discuss the design with them so that the design can take into account the limitations of the equipment on hand. Try motorcycemachinist@hotmail.com by the way - his name is Rich, located in Guelph, does lots of bike projects on the side and has a couple of tricked out bikes that he shows up at Campbellville with during the summer ...

^ motorcyclemachinist@hotmail.com

It would be cheaper & easier to use a manual mill to do one-off parts. Cnc is more for large quantities

Amazing, thank you for your input everyone. Emailed Rich! Fingers crossed.

There is also a group of 'nerds' that do 3D printing/ rapid prototyping as a hobby, but they are ridiculously skilled. The guy I know can do CAD and has a good grounding n most systems, he teaches.
He can also print 3D in aluminum so you could see exactly what the part would look like before getting expensive.
He has a real job so response time can be slow. cam.watt@gmail

how many of these are needing to have machined ?

Thanks all, will message Cam.
As far as QTTY - between 1 and 10 depending on the cost and quality of my own work/design (if it's good enough to 'sell').
So far I managed to clean up the model to seal 10% and submitted it to an on-line 3D printing service. Now I'm just waiting on the prototype to come in to check fit and finish and make adjustments before moving to the next stage (hopefully production in metal).

I was going to suggest 3D printing. So much cheaper, no metal so the part won't rust, and fast. Heck, for the cost of tooling setup for a 1 off metal part you could easily buy a 3D printer of your own.

3D printing has changed the way parts are designed and engineered and especially tested. Its fast, relatively cheap, I've had parts 'printed' in plastic, aluminum and recently carbon fiber.
We scanned my buddies head , made a 3D bust of him, now he pilots his RC airplane. Its an addictive process.

Why does this need to be machined aluminum? The shape is complicated and wouldn't be fun to hand machine.

You could 3d print a mold and vacuum form a plastic part over the mold. Then you could sell different colours and making multiples wouldn't be hard. Depending on your choice of plastic it could be nearly indestructible (although less stiff than al).

GreyGhost said:

Why does this need to be machined aluminum? The shape is complicated and wouldn't be fun to hand machine.

You could 3d print a mold and vacuum form a plastic part over the mold. Then you could sell different colours and making multiples wouldn't be hard. Depending on your choice of plastic it could be nearly indestructible (although less stiff than al).

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Great, sounds like we could probably just do it in your garage... when do we start?

gqelements said:

Great, sounds like we could probably just do it in your garage... when do we start?

Click to expand...

I havent vacuum formed anything in almost 15 years. I am missing pretty much everything required (ideally vacuum pump w reservoir, infrared heater and an air drill with long drill bits (~1/32 dia), minimally, it may be possible to make your part with an oven, air compressor w venturi vacuum generator and the smallest drill bit you have in a cordless drill).

The rest of us aren't privy to dimensions, tolerances, functional requirements, strength, etc ...

If plastic will do, for the quantity you are talking about, 3d print the whole lot of them. Vacuum forming is an interesting idea but there will be some R&D required to get the tooling and process right; there's more potential for fail, and I'd think this is only worthwhile if you were making more of them.

I've made one-off simple steel sheet metal parts with simple tooling (bench vise, hammer, C clamps, etc) and brute force and patience. In this case I'd be tempted to make a wooden buck which has the shape of the recess, then clamp the sheet metal to the buck, then form the sheet metal into the recess with a large number of carefully-chosen whacks with a selection of different hammers. I haven't tried it with aluminum. It would have to be a dead-soft alloy, which might not have desirable properties for the final product. The solution heat treated alloys (the "....-T6" alloys) are hard to form in this manner.

What file formats can you output with the software you used? .DXF? If you can export something my CAD/CAM software can import I can take a look at it for you. And depending how complex it is I could possibly mill you a prototype out of delrin or another plastic or even aluminum. Plastics are really easy for me to set up to mill for prototypes before going to aluminum

Have you considered having them made out of composite ? I don't take side jobs that often but if you are interested in 6-12 parts I would be willing to do a short run

You would have to produce a machined aluminium mold and any supporting documents regarding tolerances and profile thickness +/ - specifics

I have a large inventory of 2x2 Carbon fiber twill 8oz to 32oz cloth, I would be able to produce 100% Carbon parts for less then Fiberglass/Kevlar/Hybrid

I'm also looking for someone to design/machine me a dual caliper bracket for my 05 R6S, Dual 4 piston design similar to older Forstunt brackets Etc

RockerGuy said:

It would be cheaper & easier to use a manual mill to do one-off parts. Cnc is more for large quantities

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Really? When I was in college if you already had a model (like this) it took about 30 minutes to go from model to product. Just export the model to whatever format your CNC mill runs, copy to a disk (yes, it still used floppies), import into the computer that runs the machine, stick an appropriate block of material in and the proper cutting tool, turn on the mill, hit go on the software. I can only imagine it'd be even easier now since that was almost 10 years ago.

For other people that are interesting in playing with 3d modelling. Autodesk Fusion 360 is becoming awesome. It is free for personal use and does the standard 3d modeling stuff like using materials to calculate weight and using constraints to allow joints to move. They have now added FEA to the free package so you can calculate deflection if you can decently guess the loads !!! Freakin awesome. Good job autodesk (on the other hand Autocad LT is now up to $1700, boo).

unL33T said:

Really? When I was in college if you already had a model (like this) it took about 30 minutes to go from model to product. Just export the model to whatever format your CNC mill runs, copy to a disk (yes, it still used floppies), import into the computer that runs the machine, stick an appropriate block of material in and the proper cutting tool, turn on the mill, hit go on the software. I can only imagine it'd be even easier now since that was almost 10 years ago.

Click to expand...

My CAD/CAM is set up with all my tools in a library for both machines I still use, I have a post processor that is set up to make code specific to each machine. Posting code from a CAD takes literally seconds, then I use a SD card to transfer the code from desktop my CNC controllers. I have Windows interface on both my newest machines, so its pretty basic no cables or networking needed just open the file and cycle start.

Depends on your setup, and how your shop and machines are set up. Most machine shops work on volume runs, if its not volume them its very expensive one off parts...Setup to run one part usually is what your paying for, and therefore sometimes it goes like this $100 for one, or $200 for 10

Personally for me milling aluminium and other metals is a hobby, so I do it for fun in my spare time and when no one makes what I need, or its too expensive and I can just make my own. Or sometimes I just need to modify something. If you go through the office our machines have to make $150 an hour minimum or its not worth it, but we don't have little machines, mine have a huge work space and have 5'x10' tables so quite a bit more expensive to buy then a little shop mill.My software package cost $20,000 not including training, it includes add ons but the CAD/CAM portion alone is in the $5000+ range depending on your options and add ons

Some examples of parts I have machined on my machines
Ohlins cartridge tool (Ohlins wanted $150 took me an hour or so to make)

Ohlins cartridge tool #2 (Again $150 tool and a wait for it to come in)

I make fairing stays, all the parts make of aluminum plate I cut on my CNC

I make my own hand brake brackets for stunting, I designed them and have them machined in baths at my friends shop just down the street

Small bracket to hold traction control sensor to my rear brake caliper bracket

specific size fork cap wrench

One of my favorite projects, I bought a set of Marchensini rims for my 450 SM, they only had a set to fit a 250, everything was correct to fit my 450 except the front brake rotor adapter. So I had my friends with a lathe turn me up a blank, and I machined that into a new adapter to make my rotor fit....When it was all done and anodized black you couldnt tell the difference between mine and the one Marchensini made