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Nasties corner, a collection of shop projects past and present

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MScott

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Jun 30, 2009
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Location
Eastern Ontario
Those temp garages are just not made for snow country. Had the same thing happen a few years ago. Hope there's not too much damage to whatever you had stored in there.:(
 

sonic.apex

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Joined
Dec 7, 2015
Messages
39
Location
Australia
I'm sure it's been said before and I'm sure I won't be the last to say it but what utterly amazing craftsmanship. Just proper. I'm only 18 but I've wanted to do such jobs since I started finding out about fab work (I'd be guessing at around the age of 5.) it's great to know there's stuff out there like this and a bit of a demand for it. As much as I like the CAD and computer stuff that's taken over everything and is great in it's own right. Nothing really beats being able to take some raw stock and being able to make say a pair of wishbones out of just pure craftsmanship. I love that so dearly.

Speaking of suspension components, the parts you made up for that Porsche 956. I've actually seen that very car in person before a few years ago. Stunning piece of kit.

-Jeremy
 
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NASTYZEN

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Jun 11, 2010
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St-Colomban,Que. Canada
Hey Guys! Turns out nothing got broken in the cave in after all other than a bit of a scratched wind shield on one of the quads. The worst part is the nagging from my better half...
It would of died in this weeks snow, thaw, rain ,freezing rain ice stormageddon anyhow.I almost raptured myself attempting to push the snow blower in the mush before it froze. Had no power for about 18 hrs or so. more on the way tomorrow!
I am going to have a 48'' snowblower attached to the front of a quad for next year I assure you.

Sonic, thanks for the words. If you have a passion for fabricating then you should do well. Go out there and get into the trade by all means.

Back on topic.

Never know what the next guy will walk in with. Clamps for handling hygiene products.



Test fit.





Made a bunch of these out of Stainless steel for a bio-medical bagging machine. Took a while.





:beer:
 
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NASTYZEN

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St-Colomban,Que. Canada
And now, a little wing **** for you gents.
I had a client from the past ask me if I could make him a couple of front wings for his old Champ car light formula racer he had just sold.
The last time I spoke to this guy was at least 23 years ago...No one makes Aluminum wings anymore. Good for me then.:) Challenge accepted.

He sent me an old rib in the mail and I looked in my old hammer block sets to see if I had anything close already on hand. The blue one is the example.
Found one that was real close and saved a lot of time.



The next task was to make a foam cutting pattern for later. I transferred the hole pattern using a modded transfer punch.



I turned the center point on my transfer punch so it could be used on .065'' material.



Pattern ready to be cut out.



Next up is making a pattern for the ribs. I just flattened out the example.



I almost forgot! Give blood to the sheet metal Gods to ensure a good build!:bowdown:


Bad Vargus!



Making rib blanks.



I use my old Roper Whitney punch for the small holes.



The Piranha for the big one. Makes a nice clean hole.



Bandsaw for the cut out.



With all the blanks cut out and de-burred. I set up a blank in the hammer block. It is located with bolts through both the blocks and sheet.



Gently folding the sheet over in successive steps.



Folding the tip or leading edge.



Should look about like this. Ready for step two.



Hand held planisher.



Just an old air hammer.



There you go. One R-H rib. To make a left all you need to do is fold it the other way.



With the rib we can now work out the skin by making a test skin out of 1/2'' wide sheet.



Part two the skins and assembly next time.

:3gears:
 

Graham08

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Dec 10, 2007
Messages
713
Location
Iron Station, NC
Very nice! I've done some of these, all by hand. I like your use of the air hammer to planish. I also like the aluminum forms, I've only done a few at a time so I've always done them in oak.
 

67CarGuy

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Feb 6, 2008
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763
Location
Outside Boston, MA
Very impressive all around! I've been reading along here and catching up over the past few weeks, and am constantly impressed by your skills. Might have to make a day trip the next time I'm up near you...
 
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NASTYZEN

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St-Colomban,Que. Canada
nice work as always.

Thank you for watching.

I've always done them in oak.

I sometimes made dozens of them at a time. That's why I use Alu. plate
Wood ones don't like the air hammer part much.

Awesome work as always Claude.:thumbup:

Glad to see you didn't get too much of that red stuff on that nice pretty aluminum.:lol:

Mike.

Thank's Mike. The Gods may not bless your part if you don't deposit at least a drop of it on the project.:)

Might have to make a day trip the next time I'm up near you...

Thank's for the words. My door is always open to visitors. All ways nice to meet a GJ member in person.

Back to the wings.
With the test strip fitting like it should we can figure out the length of material to cut for the skin as well as plot out the rivet pattern on the rib.
I like to make the skin holes with the Roper Whitney punch of 1/16''



It is important too pre shape the skin before bending the leading edge. I do this on my roller.



I built a leading edge break years ago for this purpose. I can change out the radius edge and bottom die to whatever is needed. In this case 7/16'' rad = 7/8 round bar.



Inserting the pre marked pre shaped and punched skin.



Bending.






Remember that first profile template from the beginning? Here is its purpose.



Cutting out the hole for the support tube.



I used to use a hot wire machine that i had made but it got destroyed in a fire.. So now I use my band saw.



Part three. The assembly next time I get a minute.

:3gears:
 

Graham08

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Joined
Dec 10, 2007
Messages
713
Location
Iron Station, NC
Really nice work here! I like the leading edge brake...that just makes me want a press brake all that much more. I have always done leading edges by bump braking, and it can be hit or miss.

You're right about the oak forms. Generally they're pretty beat after two or three sets of ribs...but I haven't done large quantities of anything, so it's OK.

I'm curious to see what the styrofoam ends up being used for...
 
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sberry

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Jun 18, 2005
Messages
35,747
Location
Brethren, Michigan
I like the brake, great for this type of thing, nice and slow.
I have seen the foam sawn and cut using hot wire with a battery charger, seems I helped cut some long sections for a plane, we made kind of a screed of sorts with patterns on the end and it took 2 men.
Its been a while but I think they were about 6 inches thick and 3 or 4 ft long.
 
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NASTYZEN

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Jun 11, 2010
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St-Colomban,Que. Canada
Hello guys, I know it's been a while...Still uber busy with work as usual and life has been stranger than fiction.(Then again I see how the vote turned out on your side of the fence..) Most of the energy sucking drama has been eliminated for good.:rocker:We can now proceed forwards and let it all become a thing of the past. Unfortunately there is still one thing dragging me down. My Mom is now at stage 12 of 14 stages of Alzheimer's. I wish this upon no one. What a dreadful thing to happen to someone... Now on to something more cheerfull. Lets finish that wing assembly! With all the holes pre drilled to 1/16'' I place the skins into a positioning jig I made previously for another profile. I had to mod it a little for this one to fit. This is a sure way to not end up with a twist in your wing. The first thing is to lock the corners in place. I use a solid rivet for this. I use solid rivets to hold the inner nut plates which are used to fasten the end plates to the wing. I simply use a flat punch and hammer to squeeze the rivet. All put together and held together with some clecoes. Taking off some of the protective film to be able to see when I countersink the rivet holes. Countersinking with an aviation rivet countersink tool. I took the depth gauge off of this one. They don't work well on curvy shapes. With everything pre fit. Now time to insert the foam ribbs with silicone to glue them in place. Hammer squeezing the corner solid rivets. Final riveting using my old power fist rivet puller. If you look closely, you can see that I've had to weld mend it after it fractured years ago. Just put more oil in it and it's been fine ever since. Et voila, le wing. Sorry it took so long and hope you enjoyed it. Next time: How I weld my band saw blades. :3gears:
 

bbcc

Active member
Joined
Aug 1, 2012
Messages
39
Location
Edmonton
Wow. Just wow. Sir your work is fantastic. It's easy to get wrapped up in the "order it online" mentality of today's world. Fabrication techniques like you've outlined (very appreciated by the way) are lost on the majority of shops. There is a je ne sais quoi about hand built, high quality parts that will never be replicated. It's something I have an unquenchable interest in and I love reading threads like this which show some of the techniques used. Really gets the ol juices flowing for working on my own hot rods and racecars. I'd love to work with a mentor who could teach more of these skills......so are you hiring?:fingersx:
 

speed bump

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May 28, 2008
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6,317
Location
Butte Montana
Glad to see an update to this thread. Always interesting to see how you build one off parts and approach rebuilding old race cars.
 
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zmotorsports

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Joined
Oct 20, 2009
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21,308
Location
Northern Utah
Claude, amazing work as usual.

So sorry to hear about what your mother is going through. Alzheimer's is no joke and I wouldn't wish that on anyone after watching my mother battle it for years. My prayers are with you and your mother my friend.

Don't be such a stranger, I love seeing your projects.

Mike.
 
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NASTYZEN

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Jun 11, 2010
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St-Colomban,Que. Canada
Hello guys, thanks for the encouraging words. I'm glad I'm not alone in enjoying fabrication stuff.

As promised, next up is how I weld my blades together. Not something I do often. Every couple of years or so.
I have two band saws. One that uses 1/2 inch wide blades. I bought a pack or spool of blade for it years back and wait until the 17 or so blades I can get out of the pack all break before going through the process of welding them all back together again.
The other saw uses 3/4 inch wide blades. For this one, I buy blades already made up. I can get them for a reasonable price. But they eventually break right on the weld from the bending cycles it goes thorough going around and around and bending each time it goes around the saw wheel.
The blades I use are called bi-metal blades. They are made with the tooth section made of harder metal than the band and are electron beam welded together. A bit more expensive yes but I haven't used coolant in my saw for the last 22 years.. I cut Stainless Titanium mild steel no problem. Aluminum requires a bit of lube because it sticks to the blade teeth though.

After years of collecting the broken blades.



I use up all my clamps to hold them in place and go into production mode.



Using my tig and some 70-os .035'' mig wire. I first make a tack on the tooth side in order to not get a notch at the end of the weld mend.
I start the arc on the base plate and then move in to the blade in order to not blow a hole in it.



Then the final weld can be performed.



You need full penetration for them to last.



This next step is crucial, annealing the weld area. I hold the blade against the base plate applying some pressure. This is important because the blade will want to bend as soon as it gets malleable and will leave a kink.



You will want to heat it to this color. That's if your not color blind. Then you would need a temp stick to do the job. I think it's around 1200 to 1500 deg F. Look it up or maybe Moonrise will chime in and give us the real deal.



Care must be taken while the blade cools to avoid kinking. My 3 legged cooling stool does the job perfectly.:lol:



Kinking example of one that got away on me. Real hot, they will bend in half.



Final step is dressing all four sides with hand held grinder. I like to use old cutting disks for this. Any grinder should do the job.



And presto! Le new blade. For it's second, third or 4rth life cycle.



:beer:
 
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NASTYZEN

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St-Colomban,Que. Canada
Claude, amazing work as usual.

So sorry to hear about what your mother is going through. Alzheimer's is no joke and I wouldn't wish that on anyone after watching my mother battle it for years. My prayers are with you and your mother my friend.

Don't be such a stranger, I love seeing your projects.

Mike.


Thank you Mike, prayers accepted even though I'm really pissed of at the supreme being right now.(My mom is or was sooo religious)
Sorry to hear your Mom has the same battle as mine. Prayers right back at you and yours.

I didn't mean to be a stranger but life had bummed me out for a while. Between my in laws, pedophiles and my own siblings. I lost hope in humanity and sorta went through a walking depression or something. Guess having **** stuck to your soul rather than your shoe does that to a guy eventually.
I feel much better now, having gotten rid of all the negatives except for my Moms illness.
 

JTH

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May 4, 2012
Messages
167
Location
MO Ozarks
Glad to see you back! You've got mad skills and it's a joy to see what your working on. So sad about your mom, very depressing to have your life taken from you and still be alive. All the best to you in keeping on the positive side of things. JT
 
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NASTYZEN

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Jun 11, 2010
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St-Colomban,Que. Canada
Glad to see you back! You've got mad skills and it's a joy to see what your working on. So sad about your mom, very depressing to have your life taken from you and still be alive. All the best to you in keeping on the positive side of things. JT


Thank you Sir. I appreciate it. Staying positive and seeing the good out of a situation eventually comes, takes a while.

Anyhow, now for something completely different. Custom steering damper for a KTM bike.

What a beast!



These rockets tend to get speed wobbles. This guys said it goes 290kph+ !!
Has a damper but no bracket for it. Should be positioned about here.



The pinion part should end up around here somewhere.



The first thing to do was to fit the damper to the handle bar brackets. I bored out a hole and machined the edges in to make it a bit more original looking.



Darn thing actually fits!:thumbup:



Transferred the bolting holes to my bracket and hogged out a pocket for the lever.





I was going to mount the pinion to an Alu. block. But the fit with the gas tank was too tight for that.



I ended up making a 1/8 bottom plate and brased some tubes to it. Also decided to go with a rod end. Much tighter than the other setup.





Gets 100% opposite lock.



The rod end slides on the pinion in its travel to make up for the miss matched geometry.





The guy was really happy with it. I like happy customers.

:beer:
 
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NASTYZEN

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St-Colomban,Que. Canada
I put an old program in the machine and changed the 7/32 drill tool holder which was 3'' longer than what was supposed to be there. without changing the previous tool standoff offset. So when the program called for the drill cycle and the turret turned. It exploded the drill bit and a piece of it broke the glass...I've bounced bigger thing against it before without an issue. This time a tini piece of shrapnel overcame it. I don't even know where to look for safety glass. I'll be on the hunt for a new one next week.
 
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NASTYZEN

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St-Colomban,Que. Canada
I found a glass laminator in town. Just a matter of taking the time top take the window to him. After the holidays I guess.

Here's one for the Canadian guys who watch Restoration Garage. Unless you get the show in the states or elsewhere on the planet.

Way back in 93 I think it was. I built a complete English wheel ( wheels and all)for a guy named David Granger of the Guild of Automotive restoration. The design uses a 1/4''thick 4 x 8 sheet of mild steel. sorry no build pics. Film was expensive then.
They used it to build the Bugatti featured in the first episode. Just awesome that it gets daily use on great projects.
Funny it ends up on TV after all these years. If you look closely at the wheel in the show it still has a made in Canada sticker on it.;)









:3gears:
 

Zengineer

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Apr 10, 2010
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781
Location
British Columbia, Canada
Hey that's awesome! I really enjoy that show too, since it's not the usual drama BS stuff that used to be attached to any fab show. Add one of the best custom projects of all time (the scratch built magnesium bodied Bugatti) and it's a winner in my books!

Cool to have played a part in that. :)
 
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NASTYZEN

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You're practically famous, :)

LoL! In my own mind!

Hey that's awesome! I really enjoy that show too, since it's not the usual drama BS stuff that used to be attached to any fab show. Add one of the best custom projects of all time (the scratch built magnesium bodied Bugatti) and it's a winner in my books!

Cool to have played a part in that. :)

Thanks man!

A while back I picked up a contract which requires much Alu. cutting and grinding.
I use my Bosh 12'' saw to do the cutting. Lots n lots of cutting.



All these years I've been using waxes of various harnesses to lube my blades and disks. Until now. I have come across a product that is just plain miraculous. Actually my supplier gave my Son a can for me to try out. *******! I purchased a whole box it's so good! I highly recommend this lube.
So far I have used it for Alu. cutting on blades and grinding disks as well as drilling and punching out holes. Just ******** awesome!! I had to grind some thick paint of off of an old snow blower and the disks instantly gummed up. Sprayed the disk with the lube and presto, no more disk clog. Just wow!
It is food grade approved as well. Haven't tasted it yet though.:)



Anyhow, cutting this much Alu. creates a huge mess to say the least. Something had to be done so I challenged my Son to layout and cut out the materials to make a cyclone chip collector. This was kind of rush so I don't have any build pics sorry.
Cobbled a card board shroud to catch the flying debris. A prototype to play and adjust before making a permanent one. I have some plastic sheet that should do the trick for the final collapsible shroud collector.



Found a use for the leftover Beach toolbox handle.



All the sheet metal was hand made.



The catch can with fill viewer.



Details of the inside.



:beer:
 
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NASTYZEN

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Where there is a need.....

nicely done.


Thanks Robert. Still a work in progress. I first made a wall bracket to mount the cyclone static. I have since welded a bracket to the saw table so it can be mobile too to save time when going to grinding mode at the table vice. I'll update when I get the rest of it shaken down.


Seasons best wishes to all members and there loved ones!

:beer:
 
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