Red1

My car isn't going anywhere until this control arm issue is resolved. You can dissect my control arms to your heart's content.

FWIW, I have access to 6061-T651 plate up to 4" thick.

PeteL

Is this place kid friendly? May be able to make it with the little ones.

Matt H

Brian - that is nice of you! Did you get my PM, may be able to get you on the road that way.
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Red1

Hey, that aluminum won't be free. But it could be cheap.

I did get the message, thanks. Same thing another dismantler offered me.

Matt H

I meant how nice of you to offer your control arms! I wouldnt dream of asking for the aluminum. I wonder how cheaply these could be produced? My other concern would be strength for street cars. On track, where they are checked often I doubt there is as much of an issue.
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Red1

Well, hold on. Just got off the phone with somebody here in town that thinks he can help. I'm going to take it to him tomorrow at lunch. Stay tuned...

Geo

OMG is this place kid friendly. As my niece describes it, it's Chucky Cheese for adults, but it has plenty for kids as well. All sorts of video and other games.

Geo

Well, the control arms won't be cheap, that's for sure. For starters, the block of aluminum would start out about 1" or so thick and be a pretty big slab. The machine time is hard to say. There is a lot to be hogged out, but it is aluminum after all. I'm not sure if this would be a good application for 6061 or if another alloy would be appropriate. I'd have to do some checking into this.

Then, I have to find out the schedule of our machinist. He works for us at night and on his days off, plus, the shop's backlog will come into play. I'm pretty certain February is out of the question. However, if we can do a set of drawings, it might be possible to have them done locally, but it would take some leg work.

Again, it's not rocket science.

Also, I wouldn't produce these strictly for spherical bearings because that would limit an already limited market.

Matt H

Very good. If Brian can come up with the materials we might be able to make this a smart investment. I can deal with not cheap but I cant fathom 1500 bucks for a control arm.
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Kevin Baker

Hey wait, guys, there is a guy I know who machines cylinders for drag bikes, he lives around the corner from me. If we can get a design, I'm sure he'd be able to machine it. I'd have to ask about the cost, but if we are doing several, that could take the price down.

Red1

Standard plate size is 48.5" x 144.5" - big enough?

Geo

Yer gonna need a lot of Dremel bits there son.

Red1

I'd plasma-burn it down to a more manageable size.

We can plasma-burn up to 4" thick stainless. 1" aluminum poses no problem.

Geo

Hmmm.....

We should talk about this some more then. If you can get it plasma cut for free or near free, it would save a great deal of CNC mill time. My machinist would love it because unlike some of our other stuff, there is no hand work.

goingboeing737

D & B on Richmond @ 6:00pm Tuesday 12/23/03

Correct???