Down under, an idiot and a 400F

So I'm waiting for the allowance to get renewed so I can finalize my headers. But in the mean time I thought I would have a go at making something on the lathe.

I bought a die to thread one of the rear engine mount bolts. It was shortened because I removed the stock foot pegs but the die I bought didn't fit my original die holder.

It took me most of an afternoon but I ended up with something functional:





My finish is still a bit rough but I've not really used the lathe so I'm still working out what works. I also had a hell if a time parting it off, kept burning up the parting too until I put the lathe in back gear and went really slow.

Still a huge amount of learning to do!
 
Parting off is always something of an issue.
Took me a long time to get it right without breaking off tools (I still do sometimes though)
Without a full coolant system you will have to go pretty slow, some lube also helps (I use old engine oil, bit messy and sticky but works)
It's a nice job, personally I'm more interested in tools that work, looking good is secondary function ;)
You'll probably get to the stage where making swarf is so much fun you start looking for things to make and modify ;D
 
PJ what effect does a radius have on the finish? I use a bench grinder to make the HSS took but it's not smooth enough to put a nice radius on the tool. Therefore it's not a wide radius or extremely smooth. Could this cause my rough finish?
 
Get a superfine sharpening stone about 1" wide, 4" long and use that to put a radius on tip
Radius will give a much better finish but it pretty much has to be linked to depth of cut and feed rate.
Carbide 'throw away' tips are really designed for CNC where they use real high speeds and feed rates, finishing cuts are often in the 0.020"~ 0.060" range - about the depth of cut we start on small machines
 
Still minimal bike work but I've managed to add some much needed tools to the shed ;)

I've been cutting everything for years with an angle grinder, but today I finally got myself a metal cut off saw:



It was a good price and even better, came with this for free:



So (other than a 3 jaw chick for the lathe), I'm pretty much tooled up for success now. Pretty happy with the setup and will be finally getting the headers bent next allowance day:

 
I need one of those cut off saws, cutting with an angle grinder gets old quick, especially with larger pieces. Nice looking shop!
 
Back into some shed time today. Jobs for the day were:

1. Make some foam tool inserts for my tool box
2. Fix my header templates so I can send them off to the tube benders on the 14th

I bought some PE foam during the week to create some inserts for my toolbox. First up I laid my spanners out on the foam and traced them:



Next up I sprayed some contact adhesive on the 2 (out of 3) layers of foam:



Took me ages to cut out the shapes but in the end it worked out ok. I layered 3 layers of foam, black top, blue middle and grey bottom:



In the end I think I made the cutouts a bit too snug but it will do for now. Plus I flipped the template when I glued the black layer, which meant I lost the size of the spanners as its on the bottom... Oops!



Only 6 shelves left. Eugh.

Second job of the day was to get my header templates finished. First problem to fix was the angle the headers were under the bike. They didn't match the frame rails which bugged me:



I fair chunk of fiddling and tweaking and I'm much happier with the layout:



I've also made sure there is enough clearance for the merge collectors and it's as close to the motor as possible to maximize ground clearance:

 
Toolbox looks good, highly 'perfesnial' ;D
Wouldn't worry about tools being 'snug' things will bed in over time
Exhaust 'template' is looking good
 
Hey neevo this might help you with your foam cutting and save some time. Used this on one of my old gun cases worked like a charm.

http://www.ar15.com/mobile/topic.html?b=3&f=4&t=292695
 
danejurrous said:
Hey neevo this might help you with your foam cutting and save some time. Used this on one of my old gun cases worked like a charm.

http://www.ar15.com/mobile/topic.html?b=3&f=4&t=292695
Click to expand...

that link has some serious gun porn on it, very nice indeed (especially for those in a country where such things are WAY past illegal, we need a full licence for a bb gun/air rifle....)
 
Allowance renewal day today which means 1 thing... tomorrow I go and see Carrington Products to get them to create my headers in glorious 304 stainless :)
 
neevo said:
Allowance renewal day today which means 1 thing... tomorrow I go and see Carrington Products to get them to create my headers in glorious 304 stainless :)
Click to expand...

Awesome! Congrats, gotta love when you have some pennies in the bank for motorbike parts!
 
Headers countdown: 7-10 days

4 headers of my own design and collars for mounting to the head. Keeping everything crossed I got my angles/measurements right.
 
neevo said:
Headers countdown: 7-10 days

4 headers of my own design and collars for mounting to the head. Keeping everything crossed I got my angles/measurements right.
Click to expand...

well if you didn't, whack 'em on ebay and hope the buyers in Perth.......
 
Headers are in. I've got a TV repairman coming round on Wed, so I snuck out to get my exhausts earlier today as otherwise I wouldn't have made it this week.

Glorious semi brushed 304 stainless gorgeousness. And all for the princely sum of $390 from the legendary Carrington Products:



Headers and their PVC templates:



Glorious 304:



I need to work out what the plan is to mate the headers to the merge collectors as the collectors are a little oversized at the moment. I'm assuming getting them on the belt sander to grind them back till they match diameters perfectly for a sweet butt joint.

Also need to go see my bud Darren for some collars so I can mount them to the head. Then next plan is tack welding all the tubes ready for finish welding.
 
I find that very hard to believe..........you're getting a TV repaired ?????

nice looking pipes though, they're going to look well sexy in the finished form
 
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