Chris did you pickup the Auto Tracer also, that sounds like a neat addition for guys that do CAD. We can do both Computer and Cardboard Aided Design.

Nice to take a paper or cardboard template and use the Auto Tracer to make the part. I think you could also use it for taking stuff you might have done in lets say 22 ga, and moving to 14ga or plate.

Neat table, I like it

Hi Stephen - No, I didn't order the Auto Tracer. I can always add later. I considered it but so far, I've been able to pretty quickly get from a drawing or sample part to a .dxf. But who knows? As I get more into things. It's not expensive so we'll see... plus, I'm clearly a tool whore!

Nope, I didn't like that last design. Too many sharp corners. So, while I like this new design far more, it's more complicated. Awesome, more "experience" coming my way...

Anyway, here's the latest as I mock up, trial fit, sand, tweak, etc.

Wow I look at those compound miters and the excellent fitment and just drool. Awesome work Chris.

I'd say there was a therapy group for all problems, but I'm afraid yours is unique.

That is way too nice looking to cover in dynamat and carpet!

You are making me REALLY want a plasma table...

John

but then I would come as I have very similar issues, tool whore, remaking things 4x times for every build.

I think a lot of us could gather round.

Problem is we would only reinforce our tendencies to keep tinkering forever.

John

but we would make one hell of a choir

@dan10101 - Yours has to be my favorite entry on this build thread!
And, it would seem, based on those self-identifying with this same affliction, you've helped spotlight a larger population in need of some sort of help.

In true 914 World fashion, I suppose we need to hold a contest to name this disease.
I'll start with a few that immediately popped into my head:

- Refab-itis
- Do-overism
- Jesusmanjustgetonwithitwouldyou Syndrome

Have at it, gents. I feel another t-shirt design coming on...

The remnants of sneaking up on the desired fit.

I always snip then pick up the off cut. You DO NOT want to step on one of those things, believe me.

Then to get the desired corner radius, I lay the edge on the 1" tube and use the nylon mallet to just drop the edge of the part.

Nearly ready for tacking in place. A little bit more fitting to do. I still need to work the corners at the lower edge of the piece.

And the overall, as it sits at this point.

Am I the only one seeing a similarity?

Headlight pieces should be grey Just kidding. Looks Awesome as usual Chris!

Also, I think it is called Tygaboy Syndrome

Whatever the name put to this disease, I would be glad to hold an online group therapy session for all those in need. After all I am fully trained in auto therapy I watched a youtube video on it once (maybe twice).

That fit is incredible!

Are you going to weld these pieces? Because if so, and take this with the right light, that seems to be an excessive amount of fitting I normally LIKE ~ 1/16" gap for butt welding but it looks like your going to tig these pieces with no filler rod!

What, no handmade leather faced wooden slapper?
Shame on you.

In the category of "while I'm at it...", I decided to see if I could up my design for the firewall doghouse and stamp in some recesses for the cover panel and its fasteners.

@914forme Stephen, here's an example of what you asked about in your PM:
The blue lines are the raw panel. The white lines are edges of the male/female die set.

The gap between them is ~2x the material thickness. Just a guess for the first attempt. If it works, great! If not, it's back to the drawing board and I change the size of the gap.
(Or, it may not work out at all and I go another direction.)

The larger purple ovals are slots that I can use to align the panel in the die set.

I hope to do a trial stamping later today. Fingers crossed...!

It's true: I'm a slacker....

Yeah, good thinking because up until now this design was looking pretty half-assed.

A quick trip to the metal shop for some 12 gauge plate, a bit of plasma table and some edge finishing and we have the die set.

The die material thickness determines the depth of the stamping. I want the step to be thicker as I want to make the removable cover out of .050 aluminum (maybe thicker) and I also wanted some clearance for the fasteners.

Let's see how this turns out...

Clamp the raw panel to the lower die, position the upper die, using the alignment slots and place in press.

(Note that the die that's under the panel is cut to the same outer dimension as the panel. This makes is simple to get the die and panel all nicely aligned.)

Cross fingers, say a prayer, twirl around 3 times while chanting to the fabrication gods...

Then hit the "go" button!

Fresh out of the press. Hmmm... I see a bit of a non flat spot at the nub at the 10:30 ish position.

Yep, not quite right in that one area.

What to do? I reassembled everything and put it back in the press. I went nub-by-nub and pressed each area again! What do you know... It worked!

It is pretty neat to be figuring out how to do this sort of thing. I really like what it adds to the overall design.

And with a successful proof of concept, I figured I'd see if I could update the existing panels. It's a bit trickier in that I'd already fit them and added some bends. You can see that the die ended up just a bit off and one side of the fastener indent is sharper than the other.
And now that I see where the fastener indents actually end up on the trimmed and fit part, I think I'll cut a new die set and move them to "better" locations. The upper- and lower-most indents need to be farther away from the ends of the panel, IMHO.

In all, a great learning experience. I proved to myself that I can execute this technique on a reasonably complex shape. I have a few other places on the car that I can use this sort of thing, too.

I'm calling today a success.

That is a great looking

Thanks Chris the PM explains the process and the pictures filed in the blanks.

We will talk at some point



Off to do a bit of calculating, measuring, and then order some Steel and Aluminum, I really need to upgrade my press.

Some more analysis led me to updating the die set. I was after three changes:
- move the upper- and lower-most fastener recesses farther away from the corners
- less depth in the step for the removable panel
- a tighter radius on that step

So I redesigned the die and narrowed the gap between the pieces. I also made the male die with an opening and some slots, thinking this might make aligning things a bit simpler.
The last change was that I used 14 gauge vs the 12 gauge of the first set.

Clearly, one of the only times I go for function over form!

I figured out a couple tricks that really helped: I used two blocks of 1" aluminum to sandwich the dies. These provided nice, smooth surfaces to back up the dies.
This was important in that I have to use both sides of the die set to make the mirror image side panels. These blocks eliminated any change of marring any of the die surfaces that would end up being stamped into the panels.

Anyway, here they are. The step is much more crisp and the fastener areas more even.
I'm really happy with how these turned out.

This kind of work does not belong in a 914 forum!














Ha ha, just kidding, that is awesome.

John

The pressed pieces came out great!

Dupe post!

The pressed pieces came out great!

Today I cut V1 of the dog house side panels. Next is to design something to stamp in these to add some stiffening and visual appeal.

Today was fitting the stamped recess side panels.
I first have to get them to fit at the upper part of the dog house. A lot of fit, trim, fit, sand, fit to sneak up on it. It is a bit tricky, what with the all the angles, but this turned out better than the earlier effort.

Once that panel is fit, I have to fold the outer edge and create the inner vertical landing area for the main fire wall panel. This is also lots of fun as this fold has to place this part of the panel in alignment with angles on two other separate pieces.

The fab gods were smiling on me today and I got it right where I wanted it.

This pic shows how it aligns with the corner area of that upper piece, to the left of the dog house top.

Then just do it all again on the other side! Here you can see how the side panel has to fit at the bottom.

One thing the plasma table doesn't do is leave any sort of nice radius edge.
So I tried out using a conditioning pad on the angle grinder to see if I could soften the radius of the removable cover parts.
You can see how sharp the raw edge (right) is vs. the left one, which is after hitting it with the conditioning pad. I'll need to tune the edge a bit more and see if I can get it more consistent.

But even a first try makes a noticeable difference.
Raw edge:

Massaged edge.

And so no one thinks this part came together any easier or faster than other parts of this build, here's the "evolution" of the side panel designs. Read from left to right, with the current "final" design at the bottom. (And this isn't even all of them... but you get the idea.)

On a related topic, I just finished "Grit" by Angela Duckworth. A good read, if you're looking for one. I came away from it with insight into some of the reasons I tend to do the things I do, like redoing things multiple times. Quite interesting...

Wow! What is there to say, you are in the most elite league now. Love the evolution shot. I can see the monkey slowly standing upright to walk like a man there.

I sold the "old" plasma table a bit more quickly than expected so no progress on the firewall until the new one is here, up and running. It comes fully assembled and shipping would have been $1100. Seeing as it comes with 1/2 day of training, I decided to head to Bend, OR (where it's manufactured) next week, get trained and bring it home! I borrowed a friend's enclosed trailer so it'll be safe and sound.
Even better, I'll be stopping by @Dan10101 for a visit and to check out his build. Can't hardly wait to shake hands with a friend and see his great work in person.

And, no surprise but as I was finalizing the dog house, I ran into an interference issue that necessitates a redesign of the side panels. That means new stamping dies, too!
Ah, well. But it helped me realize it was time I get serious about computer designing more things. I've wasted too much time and material with my not-so-rapid prototyping.
So, I upgraded my digital toolbox. Any guesses what this may portend? So far, the BendTech tools seem pretty capable and easy to use. Anyone else using BendTech? I'd be interested in talking with you... @Mueller ?

So hey @Andyrew - let's design and bend up the rest of your cage!
And seriously, if I can help anyone with what these tools can do, please let me know.

LOL!! That's like me showing Michael Jordan how great my 3 point shot is..

That reminds me, I have to clean up the shop, (and a few welds...)

I definitely am looking forward to your input!

So today I made the last hose for the reservoir. Turned out pretty nicely.
I can't wait 'til all this new stuff is attached to a painted tub. It's gonna look lots better.
Hopefully soon.

I swear, you should keep all your first try pieces and just sell them as a bundle to someone, they are always so good!!

I know I've said it before but that new tool is way way too cool!!!! You just have to design a cage once, then bam it's in your file and you can replicate it any time with little effort... Totally awesome retirement tool. The Red Barn is going to need a website and a list of products pre-designed for immediate sale...

As soon as I get my car back on the road I'll schedule a time with you to come and finish up the cage.

After a 3 day trip, driving to and from Bend, OR... It's here, in place and almost ready to go!

And a BIG thanks to Dan ( @Dan10101 ) and Becky for being super host and hostess and putting me up on Tuesday evening! It made the trip much less stressful.
As a bonus, I got to see his car up close: it's a beast! He's done a fabulous job on a very challenging chassis repair. Much of it you can't even tell is a repair! Very nice. (Now hurry up and get it done! )

Back to my world: If anyone needs me, I'll be in the shop learning this incredible new tool!

Hey, thanks for stopping by. It was fun to catch up!
Thanks for the kind words. I don't know if I would say it's that good, but we're our own worse critics.

Can't wait for your next update!
Dan

No, I haven't given up on my build. I've been focused on learning the new plasma table (which is already generating revenue!), shop organization and completing a couple customer projects.
I decided to go all in on my air system so I built a "compressor shed" on the back of my shop to free up more space inside. Next, I started plumbing in a RapidAir line system.
As part of that, I made up this water separator. Air comes into it right off the compressor and the vertical runs help force the water to condense and each set of legs has a drain valve.
The end of the 45 degree run will plumb in to a 5-stage air filter/dryer set up. I run another 4-stage filter dryer just before it heads into the plasma system.
In all, I should have PERFECTLY clean and dry air throughout the shop and super duper awesome air for the plasma table.
Now to patch up the sheet rock and get things painted...

Good to see ya back. Was a little concerned Chris.
The “water separating system” is ART in & of itself !
Brilliant. Looking forward....