Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT Kwik Fab's Small Shop

[4 FN 27]

Tell me you guys rock some Rolla V dies?

Those are so badass - it's crazy to know that Send Cut Send doesn't use them which raises a whole issue when people need specific parts bent, but don't understand the need to incorporate reliefs in their CAD files where a Rolla V solves that issue at times.

scs, as far as I understand, last time I dug into their business model, they use ATC (Automatic Tool Changer) Press Brakes. Rolla V will not fit in the Tooling Magazine for the automation.

The ATC type machines have their niche, however limited to "simpler" bending based on the limits of the tooling loaded in the machines tool magazine.

We have 2 ATC Machines in the mix, one runs material up to .048 thick, and the other .060 to .105.

All offline programmed, scan the Work Order Packet, close the door on the machine, push start and it auto populates the tooling in the upper and lower rails.



For the more complex bending, we have 24 Brakes all with different capabilities using European Precision Style tooling but can adapt to American, European and at times Rolla V Tooling...not to mention lots of custom Laminated Tools.



Nice work by the way!!!

 

[Old Man Roger]

katakana

Oh ya, I recognize it now. Not.lol

 

[KwikFab]

scs, as far as I understand, last time I dug into their business model, they use ATC (Automatic Tool Changer) Press Brakes. Rolla V will not fit in the Tooling Magazine for the automation.

The ATC type machines have their niche, however limited to "simpler" bending based on the limits of the tooling loaded in the machines tool magazine.

We have 2 ATC Machines in the mix, one runs material up to .048 thick, and the other .060 to .105.

All offline programmed, scan the Work Order Packet, close the door on the machine, push start and it auto populates the tooling in the upper and lower rails.



For the more complex bending, we have 24 Brakes all with different capabilities using European Precision Style tooling but can adapt to American, European and at times Rolla V Tooling...not to mention lots of custom Laminated Tools.



Nice work by the way!!!

I'd be like

 

[zanyad]

I can teach you to paint like Stevie Wonder.

I'm more of a Jackson Pollock guy myself

 

[KwikFab]

Wanted to gauge some interest here, although I'm unsure if it's appropriate to post in my own thread

I had a member reach out recently asking if I would make the 3D Dino I posted in this thread. While I haven't made one on this table I own, I just spent a good part of this morning doing some test cuts for fitment checks.

Here I have the majority of a kit cut out (ran out of steel).



I want to advise anyone that's interested that these parts will be in raw metal form. This allows you for a weld-ready kit right out the box, allowing you to let them form a natural patina or paint.

Also, handling marks are to be expected whether it's material handling by me or my metal shop. I also like to take parts and test fit them myself to ensure all parts are good to go.

Fitment may at times be tight - this is normal as plasma cutting heats up metal significantly. Just use a bit of force and you'll be good to go!







Being plasma cut, lead in marks are normal for small cutouts along with uglier sides as shown below.

A few inches away though, and they're not noticeable at all!



I'd like to make a batch of these if anyone's interested! So far I have 1, and would like to get some 4-5 knocked out for a larger material purchase.

Kits, once assembled, sit about 21" tall and roughly 39" wide. They are made of new 11 gauge material (1/8").

Pricing is $185 + shipping and handling. Depending on how many kits are ordered will determine the wait time.

Support small, veteran owned businesses!

 

[KwikFab]

If no one else, I may get started on these sometime next week!

Got 3 spots filled.

 

[KwikFab]

Been a long minute since I really posted anything here.

Super busy with what was initially a foster to adoption, to finding a stray cat living in my yard, and another one related to it stuck in my wife's vehicle

Got a large number of orders that all recently hit so I'm going to be powering through those as well as knocking out a personal one.

One of those orders consists of some roller head attachments that are meant for quick rotating of any pipe on top of it. This will be especially useful for my friend in HVAC as he deals with anything from 1" diameter to 12" diameter.



Was pretty easy to design, so I was wondering why they regularly sell for $165 each

I'll be making about 6 of these but fortunately I was told "low priority" so these could wait before I cut out more and weld them up.



The next one is a very basic platform (often used for a vise) to sit on top of the rear bumper of a service bed on a truck.

I won't post a generic picture, but it's basically a steel plate (shown above with the pipe jack attachment) with a small flange and some bolt holes.

In the center underneath, a tube gets welded along with a "foot" for mounting to the bumper.

Retail? Over $349



The next order which should start and finish sometime this week, are a set of Molle panels - 4 panels to be exact, for filling the voids in a customer's bed rack. This one's different though because this is a new customer that was referred to me.

Rough draft of the panels, I'll fill the spaces and make it look a lot better.



He's a welder & fabricator but doesn't have the means of cutting things on a CNC table. His customer wants custom Molle panels so I dropped off two small samples for him this morning to choose from.



Back to that stray cat.

Well the dang thing happened to start digging up the dirt between the covered patio and our succulents. Worst of all, it was recently raining and the dogs took to walking through there when going out side getting their paws all muddy.



Decided to make some sort of "gate" that'll sit between the wall and pillar so I got some steel as well earlier this morning, cut it all out, and got the majority all welded up.



Good thing I made myself those 3 table extensions as it saved me from having to unclamp everything, move stuff over, and flip the whole assembly around.



Tomorrow I'll finish welding up the insides.



After which I've got to finish the DXF on those dino's, grab some steel for that, work on my SIL's car tomorrow, get some more welding wire, and whatever else I'm forgetting.

 

[wagon]

Bitchin shop & setup to have in a garage, dude!

 

[KwikFab]

Bitchin shop & setup to have in a garage, dude!

Thanks!

Gotta say today was terrible when I went to Ramcast along with the customer's house.

Freaking 99 was closed off both north and south

 

[wagon]

Thanks!

Gotta say today was terrible when I went to Ramcast along with the customer's house.

Freaking 99 was closed off both north and south

I could not tell you how many times I just take Clovis ave instead of dealing with 99 heading north of Fowler. In fact, I do my best to avoid 99 between Madera and Fowler. May add 6-10 minutes, but it's worth it.

 

[KwikFab]

I could not tell you how many times I just take Clovis ave instead of dealing with 99 heading north of Fowler. In fact, I do my best to avoid 99 between Madera and Fowler. May add 6-10 minutes, but it's worth it.

For sure!

Going to Barnes, Target, Banfield, etc...all those I just take Clovis rd!

But going to Fresno, or at the very least Ramcast, it's a quick drive on the 99 but I did not expect it to be closed today! Was a real shocker I think for everyone today.

On another note, customer confirmed his selection so this will be the next job at almost 6' long.

 

[KwikFab]

Didn't weld up the pipe jack assembly, but I did finish up the railing.



Instead of welding end caps to the ends, I'll buy inserts on Amazon.

I'll have to weld on some "stakes" and paint it but I'll do that later.

Here it sits nice and clean for now.





Also, got started on the first panel. Even though it's a big chunk, if it came out wrong it's fully expendable as I can nest another one on the current sheet.



It's getting hot so time to turn in, mix myself some drinks, and get on the grill.

 

[KwikFab]

Didn't weld up the pipe jack assembly, but I did finish up the railing.



Instead of welding end caps to the ends, I'll buy inserts on Amazon.

I'll have to weld on some "stakes" and paint it but I'll do that later.

Here it sits nice and clean for now.





Also, got started on the first panel. Even though it's a big chunk, if it came out wrong it's fully expendable as I can nest another one on the current sheet.



It's getting hot so time to turn in, mix myself some drinks, and get on the grill.

I'll be throwing the panel away.

I didn't notice it in the drawing (with everything being so small) but now in the pictures I noticed the openings aren't even.

At some point in either my pattern or mirror, the distance went from 0.232" to 0.310".

That only multiplied itself as you go from one end to the next.

So I'm re-drawing a large part of it so it's all even (already finished the smaller one) and hope to cut these panels tomorrow.

For now, just good food (while the doggos watch).

 

[KwikFab]

**** me this was a hell of a cut

I have to say, I like to remain affordable in what I do because in the end this is all just a hobby for me.

But I really undercut myself on these panels as the large panel by itself took about 32mins of run time.



She came out perfect though (had to do a wide angle shot, it's 3' wide).



Here's how they'll sit in the rack.



Since I run a measly 110v air compressor, there was quite a bit of water that drained from my air dryer once I shut it off.

[No picture, the forum refuses to show my upload even though the file size is smaller than the images in this post]

I could potentially cut the remaining panels from the sheet, but fear the plate has warped quite a bit already.

 

[Wrench97]

Is it the heat from cutting that causes it to warp?

 

[KwikFab]

Is it the heat from cutting that causes it to warp?

Yep.

I cut pretty fast to keep warping at a minimum, but even that doesn't help due to the many cuts next to each other.

For the next panels, I will be pausing multiple times to keep things from soaking up too much heat.

It gets so hot that the water feels like it's boiling underneath the sheet.

 

[larry4406]

How exactly are those racks used?

Just a "peg board" of holes for bungee cords to grip into while stopping breakage of window?

 

[KwikFab]

How exactly are those racks used?

Just a "peg board" of holes for bungee cords to grip into while stopping breakage of window?

There are a plethora of accessories that utilize molle straps, inserts, and more for attaching things to said panels.

Just like we had in the military - magazine pouches, gps pouch, etc.

The customer told my customer he wanted molle panels for adding bags for certain trips, a shovel mount, low profile tool bins and more.

Super popular thing to have although it never appealed to me whenever I went wheeling.

 

[KwikFab]

I never did post here but those two panels will cover just one side as the request was to fill the top "triangular" openings.



The openings are about 2' tall and 6' wide which is why I had to divide each side to two panels.

My table isn't big enough to cut larger than 4' x 4' and I didn't want to index such a cutout as one piece.

 

[Nofries]

There are a plethora of accessories that utilize molle straps, inserts, and more for attaching things to said panels.


Super popular thing to have although it never appealed to me whenever I went wheeling.

Maybe you went Wheeling and not overlanding, that could be the difference.

 

[KwikFab]

Maybe you went Wheeling and not overlanding, that could be the difference.

I'd go on weekend and week-long trips that included wheeling.

Last one was to Moab which was a 17hr drive each way from the central coast.

But there's no overlanding of any sort unless you're going to death valley - I'm in the states not Africa or Australia lol

Many of us hate the term overlanding as it helps to sell a "lifestyle" others wish to portray while taking pics of their rigs up parking curbs at Target.

 

[PugetDude]

Many of us hate the term overlanding as it helps to sell a "lifestyle" others wish to portray while taking pics of their rigs up parking curbs at Target.

Gen X version of jorts and white Reeboks.

 

[KwikFab]

Gen X version of jorts and white Reeboks.

With their "wittle wadder" on the back of their rigs and everything

I always hated getting stopped by those guys at parking lots cause they saw the Kings on my rigs, or asking about my Land Cruiser (had an 80 series).

 

[KwikFab]

The worst are the Black Rifle coffee guys, or those that run Punisher and Glock decals lol

I'd run into their types on social media too asking about certain fire roads even a Toyota Camry can traverse.

 

[PugetDude]

With their "wittle wadder" on the back of their rigs and everything

I always hated getting stopped by those guys at parking lots cause they saw the Kings on my rigs, or asking about my Land Cruiser (had an 80 series).

You left out the man-bun, camel colored skinny leg jeans and the olive green microtufted vest.

 

[KwikFab]

You left out the man-bun, camel colored skinny leg jeans and the olive green microtufted vest.

Well that actually brings us to two groups - the Black Rifle Coffee/Punisher dude wears olive drab or khaki brown

The man-bun user is best known for his $400 skottle he insists on using everywhere he goes camping along with his solo stove

 

[SilverJimmy]

I wish my Crusher was cool too! Paid $1500 for it almost 20 years ago, then some lady backed into the side of it and dented a door in. Her insurance gave us $1000 for the damage so now it’s a $500 LC! Paint is falling off and half the windows don’t want to roll up but it’s 2000 miles away from 300K and still drives nice and quiet with no squeaks or rattles! Now I need to get me a snorkel and some fancy cow catcher bumpers and a rooftop tent, then I’ll be KOOL!

Best part about it is that it will pretty much go anywhere I want to and except for the 17” Tacoma wheels it’s completely stock!

 

[Nofries]

Well that actually brings us to two groups - the Black Rifle Coffee/Punisher dude wears olive drab or khaki brown

The man-bun user is best known for his $400 skottle he insists on using everywhere he goes camping along with his solo stove

We go wheeling, mostly Rock crawling if we can find it. Kinda hard to do on the East coast, but WV and KY have some real wheeling spots. Stay in a hotel or cabin and wheel for the day. Come back to the cabin and eat and drink. Repeat until we go home. We used to camp but as I get older I don't want to carry anything I don't need to, and AC or heat and a mattress after a day of bouncing off the rocks suites me just fine. BTW Moab is Awesome been there twice once with a rented and once with our XJ.

Sorry didn't mean to derail your thread, nice work and I'm subscribed for more to come.

 

[KwikFab]

We go wheeling, mostly Rock crawling if we can find it. Kinda hard to do on the East coast, but WV and KY have some real wheeling spots. Stay in a hotel or cabin and wheel for the day. Come back to the cabin and eat and drink. Repeat until we go home. We used to camp but as I get older I don't want to carry anything I don't need to, and AC or heat and a mattress after a day of bouncing off the rocks suites me just fine. BTW Moab is Awesome been there twice once with a rented and once with our XJ.

Sorry didn't mean to derail your thread, nice work and I'm subscribed for more to come.

There's no such thing as derailing my threads - I go off the rails more often than I care to

In my 20 years of being on forums, this is the most consistent thread I think I've posted. Probably because it's only 3 pages long though...lol

I'm fortunate that I'm in CA so we're close to anything wheeling related. If I hadn't sold my Land Cruiser, the next trips would've been Rubicon and Dusy-Ershim as they're not far from me.

 

[zmotorsports]

We go wheeling, mostly Rock crawling if we can find it. Kinda hard to do on the East coast, but WV and KY have some real wheeling spots. Stay in a hotel or cabin and wheel for the day. Come back to the cabin and eat and drink. Repeat until we go home. We used to camp but as I get older I don't want to carry anything I don't need to, and AC or heat and a mattress after a day of bouncing off the rocks suites me just fine. BTW Moab is Awesome been there twice once with a rented and once with our XJ.

Sorry didn't mean to derail your thread, nice work and I'm subscribed for more to come.

Similar situation here. Used to camp, but now my idea of "roughing it" is when I don't have shore power and have to start the generator on our coach. The way I look at it is the wife and I go on vacation to relax and enjoy the outdoors, without actually sleeping on the ground. Our perfect vacations are taking the coach and Jeep to places that allow us to see the beautiful scenery, then come back to camp and eat and hang out with the luxuries of our coach to sleep in. I like having a warm bed, heated or cooled RV to come back to camp then take the Jeep out to the middle of nowhere on day drives. Although I love rock crawling, it's becoming less and less necessary when we travel into the unknown. These days I am fine with taking a fire road or a narrow 2-track to get back to beautiful areas, but then air up and head back to camp to enjoy the evening relaxing in comfort.

Unfortunately, Moab isn't the same place as it was only a few short years ago, so we have hardly gone these last several years, even though it is only a short 4-hour drive for us. Too many outside influences have been moving in and disturbing the balance.

 

[PugetDude]

The man-bun user is best known for his $400 skottle he insists on using everywhere he goes camping along with his solo stove

Hopefully they opted for the deluxe $700 skottle with the environmentally conscious bamboo legs.

 

[KwikFab]

Speaking of influences, we'd find so many "rock piles" we'd knock them over whenever we saw the chance.

Idiots think it's their playground to do as they wish, especially when venturing off in areas you're not supposed to drive in.

 

[KwikFab]

Hopefully they opted for the deluxe $700 skottle with the environmentally conscious bamboo legs.

Sir, this is a Kroger's. You can't do that here.

 

[rd65]

You left out the man-bun, camel colored skinny leg jeans and the olive green microtufted vest.

The man bun, those guys just irritate me. With their city boots and plaid. Now, I have nothing against long hair. Still trying to decide if I want to grow some again, I'm 60. Pic was from 10 years ago.

 

[zmotorsports]

Speaking of influences, we'd find so many "rock piles" we'd knock them over whenever we saw the chance.

Idiots think it's their playground to do as they wish, especially when venturing off in areas you're not supposed to drive in.

This. It bothers me when we see people going off-trail and running over foliage or areas that should not be driven on. It seems to be getting worse over the past several years. We've seen logs and rocks moved so people could go around them and tread on areas clearly not meant to be driven on. We've also been hauling more garbage and trash off the trails in the last 3-4 years than I think we have over the past 30+ years of off-roading combined. It is not uncommon to come back to camp with 2 or 3 garbage bags of trash from the trails.

We stopped a small group of side by sides about 3 or 4 years ago on the trail near Gooney bird heading towards Gold Bar and when they went up off the trail to go around us, I stopped and tried to explain that they should stay on the trail and there are areas wide enough to allow oncoming traffic to pull off without going off-trail. I was told in not so nice a manner to mind my own business and "they'll do whatever they damn well please". As they were flipping me off driving past I told the wife "those are the types that will get the trails shut down and then they'll wonder why".

Any idiot with a line of credit these days can have a very capable vehicle to get deep into the backcountry and I don't necessarily think that is a positive. Used to be if you wanted to get off the beaten path, you had to build something to get there and then there was more care taken of the environment as well. Not so much these days.

Off my high horse now.

 

[KwikFab]

This. It bothers me when we see people going off-trail and running over foliage or areas that should not be driven on. It seems to be getting worse over the past several years. We've seen logs and rocks moved so people could go around them and tread on areas clearly not meant to be driven on. We've also been hauling more garbage and trash off the trails in the last 3-4 years than I think we have over the past 30+ years of off-roading combined. It is not uncommon to come back to camp with 2 or 3 garbage bags of trash from the trails.

We stopped a small group of side by sides about 3 or 4 years ago on the trail near Gooney bird heading towards Gold Bar and when they went up off the trail to go around us, I stopped and tried to explain that they should stay on the trail and there are areas wide enough to allow oncoming traffic to pull off without going off-trail. I was told in not so nice a manner to mind my own business and "they'll do whatever they damn well please". As they were flipping me off driving past I told the wife "those are the types that will get the trails shut down and then they'll wonder why".

Any idiot with a line of credit these days can have a very capable vehicle to get deep into the backcountry and I don't necessarily think that is a positive. Used to be if you wanted to get off the beaten path, you had to build something to get there and then there was more care taken of the environment as well. Not so much these days.

Off my high horse now.

Naw I agree completely.

These influencers are way over there head and ******* things up for everyone else.

 

[KwikFab]

So, sitting water it's at 75 degrees.



After only a few minutes of cutting (paused right now).





It's beginning to cool down even more but keep in kind that's a whole 40 gallons of water+additive in that water bed meaning that's a lot of heat to absorb to get that hot already.

 

[Nofries]

Similar situation here. Used to camp, but now my idea of "roughing it" is when I don't have shore power and have to start the generator on our coach. The way I look at it is the wife and I go on vacation to relax and enjoy the outdoors, without actually sleeping on the ground. Our perfect vacations are taking the coach and Jeep to places that allow us to see the beautiful scenery, then come back to camp and eat and hang out with the luxuries of our coach to sleep in. I like having a warm bed, heated or cooled RV to come back to camp then take the Jeep out to the middle of nowhere on day drives. Although I love rock crawling, it's becoming less and less necessary when we travel into the unknown. These days I am fine with taking a fire road or a narrow 2-track to get back to beautiful areas, but then air up and head back to camp to enjoy the evening relaxing in comfort.

Unfortunately, Moab isn't the same place as it was only a few short years ago, so we have hardly gone these last several years, even though it is only a short 4-hour drive for us. Too many outside influences have been moving in and disturbing the balance.

I do enjoy the easy days also, My son, now 25 is heavily into it so I'm in the passenger seat of the XJ most of the time. He likes the skinny pedal, and almost every time break a front outer shaft. My CJ is retired as the body is still "clean-ish" and I don't want any more damage. Got some damage from Tellico and Windrock just rock rash but overall its in better condition than most 78 CJ's Ive seen.

 

[LXCam]

Kwik, have you considered installing a heat exchanger backed up by some fans? Or is this just an occasional issue and not worth the effort.

Kickass work btw, very impressive

 

[KwikFab]

Kwik, have you considered installing a heat exchanger backed up by some fans? Or is this just an occasional issue and not worth the effort.

Kickass work btw, very impressive

I had considered it for sure, as it'll help with the moisture (due to the heat from the constantly running air compressor).

Thing is, my setup is only 110v and only has a 25 or 30 gallon tank so adding any more filtration may be too much of an inhibitor on my air volume.

Here's what puked out of the air dryer today.



Unfortunately the funds I will save up on any upcoming orders will go to a press brake larger than what I've got.

Otherwise I would love to run a larger air compressor on 220v.

Second large panel is done by the way.





I have to redo the one smaller panel on the right, as well as cut its opposing side.

Think the consumables already racked up over 700 pierces just on these 3 panels.