Shedding my past life....

[RexRod]

As part of the plan I have to change my focus, I thought I would share some parts I just finished up today here in my home shop. These are the main parts for a set of special Caster/Camber Plates I designed and made for a few people who race in the SCCA. These are the last sets I will be making.

The red anodizing I also did here in my space.

Take care all!

David

 

[Bill Pedersen]

Hi David,
Those are very nice. Tell me a little more about the anodizing. How difficult is it to do at home? Do the parts have to be polished first?
Bill

 

[tfeverfred]

Some of the things you guys fab would look cool just sitting on a table in my den. VERY nice work.

 

[RexRod]

Hi David,
Those are very nice. Tell me a little more about the anodizing. How difficult is it to do at home? Do the parts have to be polished first?
Bill

Hi Bill,

How difficult anodizing at home depends on what you think is hard to do. If you feel comfortable designing and building your own car from scratch, then anodizing is easy! Anodizing is a super simple 5 step chemical process.

What I did before anodizing myself was a bunch of research, and found some useful sites that specialize in anodizing at home. Here are some of the sites I found.

For general information about anodizing:
Anodizing Aluminum
Caswell Inc. - Powered By Kayako SupportSuite
anodizing101 : Anodizing101
Anodizing Aluminum at Home

For materials and supplies:
Plating Kits Electroplating Kits Aluminum Anodizing Kits Powder Coating Systems Metal Polishing And Buffing Supplies - Caswell Inc.
- :servi::sure: -

The trick to doing anodizing well, is to be super clean. Everything is done with distilled water. Both the rinsing and mixing of your chemicals. I bought a reverse osmosis deionized water system. It ends up being cheaper in the long run.

Now the anodizing tank is 18% percent sulfuric acid to distilled water by molecular weight, so you need to be careful. For darn sake, don't where your favorite shirt while doing it!

One of the neat things about anodizing at home is there is no need to worry about disposing of your used up chemicals. All of this stuff can be safely converted/neutralized with simple household chemicals, and then just pored down the drain. The chemicals also last a long time if you are careful not to cross contaminate between tanks. My chemicals typically last me over a year.

Your surface finish is up to you. The more you polish the part, the shinier it will end up when finished. The rougher, the duller. Makes sense.

I hope this helps.

David

 

[LumenAl]

wow... very nice work! My home garage stuff looks like home garage stuff... yours looks as professionally done as any custom shop would do!

 

[Tbucit]

First off great work. I hope the ones recieving these will understand what they are getting. You mentioned a new focus, with your ability I hope that just means your going more into hot rod parts. Again the parts look great.Randall

 

[Youngster]

Wow! That's impressive. You obviously know your way around fabricating. We'll sure be watching for posts on your project.

Ron

 

[RexRod]

First off great work. I hope the ones recieving these will understand what they are getting. You mentioned a new focus, with your ability I hope that just means your going more into hot rod parts. Again the parts look great.Randall

It's funny you say that because I don't think they are very appreciative. One of the things I have learned from working with "Racers" is this, you can work your butt off to make something look like a piece of art. Then you deliver it and the first thing they do is destroy it. That in itself is not a bad thing. After all, these guys are actually using this stuff to death, literally.

My problem is I like things to stay nice looking!

I am hoping... somehow... to change my focus and get more involved with Street Rodding. I have know idea how that will happen, or what I will be able to bring to the table. All I can do is attempt a car of my own and see what happens.

The only thing I know for sure is this, I am tired of seeing my hard work getting dropped, scratched, hammered on, and crashing into the wall. Oh, and I can't forget fire!

Thanks for the complements people! I appreciate it.

Take care,

David

 

[Martin]

Build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door, or so they say. Just have to figure out what kind of mouse trap people want/need, and figure out how to let them know you are building it.

I think the car is a good way to go. Back in 2000 I decided to try self employment, I picked up a rotten 1951 Chris Craft, rebuilt it with my own time and money, put a for sale sign on it, and started taking it to boat shows. I sold the boat and made enough contacts that I have been busy ever since. The wood boat restoration work has also led into wood cars.

Good luck, hope it works for you too.

 

[putz]

Martin do you have a Woodie t bucket?
Rxrod something that is not that easy to find is a clamp on billet mirror bracket that mounts on windshield something that simple I am sure would sell.
Just an idea for a start. Nice work quality looking parts like you make rodders are willing to pay for.Shiny nice stuff sells because a t bucket is never done.

 

[Martin]

Martin do you have a Woodie t bucket?
Rxrod something that is not that easy to find is a clamp on billet mirror bracket that mounts on windshield something that simple I am sure would sell.
Just an idea for a start. Nice work quality looking parts like you make rodders are willing to pay for.Shiny nice stuff sells because a t bucket is never done.

Not yet, but I am putting together a parts list and about to start shopping. I plan on building it from the ground up. I want to build the body wide enough to make room for a clutch pedal and am thinking about keeping the exhaust under the car, so the frame might have to be a little wider than normal. I have been collecting wood samples and clearcoating them but havnt settled on one yet. So far I am looking at Purpleheart, Padauk, and Bloodwood. I might inlay it with some Holly to give the effect of pinstripping. The body will be all clearcoated wood and probably along the lines of a turtledeck with opening doors. I will probably also build a 32 style nose for it too, I like the look of those. The only sheet metal on the car will be the firewall.

I am going to have to pull this off in my spare time, so it will likely take a couple years, but if you know that going in, it's not so bad.

 

[RexRod]

Just because I'm bored, here's what those plates look like when assembled. The red ones:

Bottom view:

Black set:

And blue:

Take care all!

David

 

[Youngster]

You let me know when you start producing hubs for Ford spindles. I'd gladly be your first customer!!

Ron

 

[putz]

woodie made from birdseye maple would look pretty cool.