I have a very small sherline cnc mill, and I'm looking for fun Jeep things to machine. I'm also into older chrysler k-cars, and on those forums I've started a thread like this and people have suggested lots of parts for those cars, and I've actually machined a couple and even sold a few.
The deal is, if its something I also want for my Jeep, or think I can sell, I will make it, and give the person who came up with the idea one for free. You have to be okay with me selling it though. It can take days to make fixtures, buy end mills, buy material, and sit there for hours while my tiny mill machines a part that if I'm lucky, I don't screw up on the first couple times, so I have to be able to at least try to make some of that back by selling the part.
Another bonus is that we may get parts for our Jeeps that real vendors may not care about enough to develop, since the market might be so teeny that its not worth it for them. But if I can make a hundred bucks, its worth it to me, because I need the practice, and thats a worthy chunk of change.
For instance, something I've been thinking of doing is making a drop-in replacement fuse box out of Noryl or some other appropriate plastic that would let use with clutch fluid rotted fuse box terminals do a relatively easy swap (cut wires, install new terminals, install into new fusebox) sorta swap replacement.
Heres the restrictions:
-I cant realistically machine steel.
-I _can_ realistically machine 6061-T6 aluminum, ABS, or softer materials.
-I can't make parts that require a machined outside profile of more than about 6" by 6", and even that's pushing it. In _very_ special circumstances, I could make fixturing that would allow me to make larger parts, but it would have to be a VERY attractive idea because its alot more work.
-If the part is aluminum, removing lots of material is something to be avoided. I.e. if you want me to machine out a 1" deep 3" x 3" pocket in 2" thick aluminum, thats probably not going to happen before my mill melts.
-If the part is plastic, things get alot easier. I can remove tons of material and make intricate shapes because I can run smaller mills fast and using big mills I can really hog out material.
-I know how to use Solidworks to parametrically design things, and make complex toolpaths for the machine, so suggest whatever you want! I can tell if its something I can make or not.
Heres a pic of an adapter I made which lets you connect a part of the head on an 80's k-car to another part of the cooling system. It uses an oring, and has a custom bolt pattern. Nothing like this existed before, but now that community has the option to do this modification rather easily when before it was a real kludge.
Ideas that really work for my mill are brackets, adapters, i.e. flat things with pockets, holes, or grooves in precise locations.
I can also TIG aluminum, which adds another aspect of possibilities to making more complex parts. And I have the usual drill press/bandsaw/etc....
The deal is, if its something I also want for my Jeep, or think I can sell, I will make it, and give the person who came up with the idea one for free. You have to be okay with me selling it though. It can take days to make fixtures, buy end mills, buy material, and sit there for hours while my tiny mill machines a part that if I'm lucky, I don't screw up on the first couple times, so I have to be able to at least try to make some of that back by selling the part.
Another bonus is that we may get parts for our Jeeps that real vendors may not care about enough to develop, since the market might be so teeny that its not worth it for them. But if I can make a hundred bucks, its worth it to me, because I need the practice, and thats a worthy chunk of change.
For instance, something I've been thinking of doing is making a drop-in replacement fuse box out of Noryl or some other appropriate plastic that would let use with clutch fluid rotted fuse box terminals do a relatively easy swap (cut wires, install new terminals, install into new fusebox) sorta swap replacement.
Heres the restrictions:
-I cant realistically machine steel.
-I _can_ realistically machine 6061-T6 aluminum, ABS, or softer materials.
-I can't make parts that require a machined outside profile of more than about 6" by 6", and even that's pushing it. In _very_ special circumstances, I could make fixturing that would allow me to make larger parts, but it would have to be a VERY attractive idea because its alot more work.
-If the part is aluminum, removing lots of material is something to be avoided. I.e. if you want me to machine out a 1" deep 3" x 3" pocket in 2" thick aluminum, thats probably not going to happen before my mill melts.
-If the part is plastic, things get alot easier. I can remove tons of material and make intricate shapes because I can run smaller mills fast and using big mills I can really hog out material.
-I know how to use Solidworks to parametrically design things, and make complex toolpaths for the machine, so suggest whatever you want! I can tell if its something I can make or not.
Heres a pic of an adapter I made which lets you connect a part of the head on an 80's k-car to another part of the cooling system. It uses an oring, and has a custom bolt pattern. Nothing like this existed before, but now that community has the option to do this modification rather easily when before it was a real kludge.
Ideas that really work for my mill are brackets, adapters, i.e. flat things with pockets, holes, or grooves in precise locations.
I can also TIG aluminum, which adds another aspect of possibilities to making more complex parts. And I have the usual drill press/bandsaw/etc....
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" would be nice too, but i think the legal issues might get too tricky.
