HomeMade Tank Badges.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey folks,

Don't get too Xcited. My old badges were very worn from my extra long legs hitting against them on the tank. And since I've modded my bike considerably, I wasn't looking into replacing the OEM badges, but wanted to get some CUSTOM badges!

Regrettably, I don't have a CNC mill, so my efforts appear a bit crude, but with some black background paint, and a bit more time against the polishing wheel, and also a little heat to get it bent to conform to the shape of the tank, it should do fairly well for my purposes! So...here it is before I paint the background.

[planedick]

Yeah...

Awsome... Lots of turning handles involved on that little mill, huh?
Looks great.

[prometheus578]

"Being selfish?"

T.C., you'll get no compliments out of me(nor hopefully out of anyone else), until you provide the details.
What's it made out of?
What did you cut it with?
What was involved in the carving process?
Do we have to pay royalties to you when we copy your idea?

[prometheus578]

"Nice goin', Planedick!"

Now he won't tell us.

[TopCatGr58]

Sorry Prom,

A little tired, and didn't think about the details! Thanks Dick, yeah, lots of turns, and calculations on how to make the angles, lets see, turn crosslide turn 7 units for 1 unit turn of ways crank to make the sides of the "A",etc.!

It's simple 1/4" thick T-6061 Aluminum plate, set the 1/8" mill bit to 1/8" depth, and went at it, after sampling several fonts on my computer, printing it out to actual size, and marking out the rough locations for the letters, and trying to get the mounting holes in the recesses. Then used my metal cutting bandsaw in vertical position to trim around the plate, then that fancy layered grinding disc on my wooden stool to smooth out the main edges of the plate. Then used my fine sanding roll on my dremmel to smooth out the sharp edges of the raised letters.

It now weighs about 6 oz, I have another one with my pathetic attempts at making CURVED edges of the letters G, O, D which will go on the right side.

I remember someone offering to LASER CUT the badges for folks. If I was going to try to offer this for the OEM styled ones, I would invest in a CNC machine but a few folks(JW...DennyZ) posted that they were getting theirs setup, and so I'll defer to them.

Or of course if others want to "play" with their own mini mill or whatever, feel free, just an idea to try, will post again when I get my XJ tank conversion done in the hopefully next few weeks or so.
T.C.

[JWSanders]

I'm working on my router in very small increments. Winter (and a lot of much needed housework) has put a hold on it for now. Was hoping to work on it some this weekend, but we actually had snow today! Global warming indeed!

I've got a different project for almost every day of the week, it seems.

Here's a picture of it so far:


I'd have to see if mine would be beefy enough to do anything to aluminum, besides engraving it. Im designing it mainly to mill circuit boards. With the right bits, I imagine it could. Might have to do it in a lot more passes though to get the depth, with a slower feed rate.

I'll add it to the list of things to try when it's finished. There's gonna be a bunch!

[tommystinson]

History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of Men...

[fredintoon]

Rotary table

Hi TC,
so much easier to nitpick your project than to get on with my own. Hey, if 3 & 4 run while 1 & 2 don't it's gotta be the carbs, right? O for one effin' big ol' Stromberg!
What your mill needs to cut a circular arc is a rotating table. Admittedly you'd be repositioning the workpiece for each curve but a rotary table has to cost a lot less than a CNC machine, right?
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[prometheus578]

that fancy layered grinding disc on my wooden stool

Ahh, T.C. what a fine memory you have! HAhahaah
Where you guys all find the time for projects, I'll never know.
I suppose... I could do the same, but it's so much more fun sitting here for hours, amusing myself at the expense of others.
I'm not a machinist, (Much less a mechanic), but I still remember from 8th grade shop class what a band saw looks like.
My question is, what sort of gizmo, or technique, was used to clean out the area between and around the letters?

[fredintoon]

Hi Pro,
from looking at the part & reading the posts and from the dim recesses of 45 years ago machinist training, most likely one of these:-
http://www.homecnc.info/drillmill.htm
or even one of these:-
https://www.smithy.com/products.php?cid=1
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Fred,

I'm one step ahead of you AGAIN! I already have a rotary table, it's what I use to mill out the SOFA in nice concentric circle paths. But it would have been a real pain to try to use it for this project, because I would have had to "try" to find the center of the arc for each corner of those letters, and reposition the workpiece for each one. Also, my rotary table can mount on my crosslide table, but I only have essentially the ways direction of movement....closer or farther away from the mill head, but NOT across the cross slide direction!

So...I used my milling vice to secure the rectangular piece, and then was able to use the cross slide table to move the piece in the X and Y directions.

SO...Prom, in terms you can understand, imagine using a drill bit, but instead of a pointed tip, it is cut flat. It was only 1/8" thick, and it can cut on the end of it as well as it's side, it's an End Cutting Milling bit, just fairly small. The space between the letters is just a little over 1/8" wide. I'm able to use the mill like a drill press so I can raise it to position it over the work like for the center of the letters, press it down and it cuts/drills into the piece to the depth I set, and then I can move the piece in both X/Y directions to remove material beside the bit, like a wood router!

My machine is a simple combo mill/drill/lathe I got from Harbor Freight, but it's beefy enough for modest sized pieces of aluminum, like the 5.25" diam SOFA's that I work on, and can handle milling bits up to 5/8" thick.

JW, I DO KNOW about your many projects, one specifically for the XS11.com site . Aluminum shouldn't be too hard to handle for it. But like you said, perhaps multiple passes, and perhaps smaller bits, would take a bit more time, but would be much more accurate and sharper looking when it was done? Just program it and walk away for a few hours!
T.C.

[xswilly]

good job TC
I use a bridgeport milling machine during my normal job
and i can apprecate what it takes to mill out lettering like that
by hand
especilly the angles

[fredintoon]

TC sez:-
My machine is a simple combo mill/drill/lathe I got from Harbor Freight, but it's beefy enough for modest sized pieces of aluminum, like the 5.25" diam SOFA's that I work on, and can handle milling bits up to 5/8" thick.
Hi TC, I wish I had one of those but come to think of it, even if I had I would have made those badges a different way. Cut each individual letter from 1/8" sheet. Cut a 1/8" sheet backing plate. Drill through the backing plate and plug weld the letters on thru the holes. Make 2 hardwood blocks the same curve as the tank. Anneal the weldment and press it to the tank profile. Polish, paint & install.
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[prometheus578]

I would have taken those magnetic "alphabet letters" sticking to the refrigerator, pressed them into a clay mold, and then filled the mold with fiberglass resin.

HHmm.. I used "refrigerator" and "mold" in the same sentence... Somewhere... in the back of my mind... am I trying to send myself a message?

[gerkenbruce]

HI T.C.

Nice job A custon tank badge on a rat bike that thinks it is a sport bike.

T.C. you know i run CNC The first peace dose not allways turn out that nice one wrong number and start over


XSively
Bruce