thoughts on a simple machine job

[mjs128]

Hi all,

I got my hands on an old Alemite alignment machine from the 60's or 70's. The problem is the clamps will only clamp onto a 16" wheel and it looks to be designed for steel wheels and clamps on the inside lip where a hub cap would attach. The car I am working on has 18" alloys so no inside lip to grab. I am looking to get two 15" aluminum discs cut with slots cut to attach to the wheel lugs with spacers that I can machine then the alignment machine mounts to the disks. something like this that is offered commercially.

Thoughts on cost to have 2 disks cut on a water jet or CNC machine?

 

[Riggerson]

It's hard to tell from the pictures. How thick is the disk? It looks about 15'' x 2'' thickness in the picture with about 1.5'' dished from one side then holes cut in it? That's about a $200 chunk of metal with about 2-3 hours of machine work in it at ~$100/hr.

It would be a lot cheaper if you didn't need the middle dished out and could go to a ~1'' plate. Just both sides machined and slots cut out.

 

[mjs128]

I am not trying to replicate that part, just use it as a guideline for the bolt hole slots. I just need a flat disk, 1/4" thick sheet turned to 15" with a few slots cut out to accomidate wheel lugs. The alignment aim weighs about 10# so not a ton of force on the disk.

The Metal Supermarkets by me does water jetting, I may see how to draw this up in some CAD software (I am sure I can figure it out) and see what they will charge.

 

[thejimmy]

A 1/4" steel plate could be laser cut for not much, at least by the shop I use, and if you provide the CAD file even better. Waterjet is a good option as well if you have a shop that takes on small jobs.

 

[matt_i]

If your lathe swings 16" and you can cut the part out of a sheet (start square, knock off various corners to get close) you can make it right there.

Just go slow, there's a lot of tangential velocity on a 16" dia part...

 

[racingtadpole]

If you use a lathe give yourself a sporting chance of not grenading the tooling and cut the plate to something equating a circle before chucking it. Starting square you will have almost 2” to knock off each corner as an interrupted cut. If you want it made from aluminium you could do it yourself with a regular router.

 

[mjs128]

found a couple of 1/8" aluminum disks on eBay for $16. I'll give that a try at that price. My lathe can't turn that large.