Hadn't thought about that. But, I don't see how to make that mold out of foam. And, I want the surface to be really good, which would probably take machining. Am I missing something?

 

If you made a test piece out of cast you could make the foam the size and curvature you needed for pennies.

I am speaking of the size and shape only, not all the fancy parts of the finish. Just a rough cast to see if the idea works before spending the cash on the special cnc bits.

It looks like the kid melts aluminum cans to make his casts. He pours the melted cans in the cupcake pan for his ingots.

 

So, make a casting of the rough shape and then mill the edges straight, the humps in the top, and the slot in the side? Interesting thought. Hmmmm.

 

yes sir...

 

I wonder what the can-to-ring ratio is? Those cans don't have much metal in them. I'll have to think about that. Thanks?

 

If you use lead, most tire shops will give away their old wheel weights.

 

Kyle - I'll keep that in mind. Thanks. But for what it is going to cost in tooling to be able to machine any of the materials the cost of the material itself isn't too much of a factor. And, while cutting the ring out of a piece of plate seems wasteful, I have to have extra material in order to clamp the work to the table.

I did send a note to both of my nephews yesterday asking a number of questions. But, as I told them, I know they are extremely busy at the moment so it isn't likely I'll hear back too soon. So, I expect this subject to go dormant for a while. But that doesn't mean I'm not thinking about it or working towards doing it. So if anyone has further suggestions please do so.

 

My nephew sent some jpg's back from the 3D CAD work he's done. What'cha think?

 

Put some screws through it and call it done.















J/K

I think it would work well. Seems like it would float with the boot.

 

Looks good!

 

Impressive and quick, too!

 

Yep, he uses SolidWorks in his job, but has just started. We'd had a number of discussions regarding Google's Sketchup, which he had started using in his job. He got me started on it but I couldn't get it to do some fundamental things like a filet. Yes, there are workarounds for that, but they aren't easy and, in my opinion, if the package won't do it then it isn't ready for prime time. So when we talked on the 5th he said the company sent him to SolidWorks training and he now agrees that Sketchup isn't good for serious things. So he was happy to take this on as practice.

And, we talked about another aspect of Dad's truck that he's offered to help me with - creating a gauge module for the pocket to the right of the steering column. The company he works for does a lot in plastic so he said he can get what I need. But, as we talked further he started making suggestions that will help a bunch. For instance, he suggested making a box with a faceplate that just fits into the pocket. And the depth of the box would be exactly the right length to hit the back of the pocket when the faceplate is at the right depth of recess into the pocket. So the screws can go through the back of the pocket into the rear of the box and it'll look like the box was there from the factory. In fact, the company he works for might make them for us.

I have the air/fuel ratio and vacuum gauge that I for sure want to mount. But, it is 2 1/16" in diameter, and only two gauges of that size will fit in the pocket. So, I'm thinking I'll put the air/fuel gauge in the pocket and create an electronic gauge that will go where the clock would be. Which is where my other nephew comes in, again, as he's got the Arduino experience.

 

Sounds like intelligence and "can do" attitude run in the Lewis family!

 

Well, my nephews certainly have those attributes. One's a mechanical engineer and he can make or fix anything. The other has a business degree but works in a robotic company and they make all sorts of neat things, with him right in the middle of it. I've seen really neat automated things he's made.

And I just sent him a note re the gauge mount. I'm hoping his company can make up a batch of them and I can direct anyone on here that wants one to them. I did a bunch of work drawing it up today and it looks like it can just slip in the pocket and be secured by screws from the back. The design is to use the same plastic as the other side with the headlight and wiper switch. And the faceplate will sit the same distance into the recess as that side so it will look original. I'm hoping this will work, and if they agree to make them I'll be starting a thread on that topic.

 

I would be interested in one of these, Gary. Perhaps two-sided tape could be used to secure at the back?