Second Of Two Things - Grab Rail, Backrest, and Luggage Rack

[Bill Havins]

[snip]....  How is it failing?....I would think about more leverage maybe? Or hydraulics? 

Mitch,

I kinked my first bend trying to do a 2.5" radius on 3/4" tubing.  I was wrapping around a plywood form (tube filled with sand).  But, I didn't have a pressure roller/follower keeping the tube diameter protected.  I decided to build the machine in the rendering, above.

That's a 3-ton ram depicted in the rendering.  I'll pull it off my engine lift.  The "lever" for the die is 13" center-to-center so I "think" I'm good.  But I ain't no engineer, so I could be really wrong.

I'm going to fit the machine with an air/hydraulic ram once I know it works.  The die movement is made easier with oil-impregnated bushings and thrust bearings where you'd expect.  I don't think I can "help" the ram any more than that (i.e., bushings and thrust bearings). 

80° tomorrow, eh?  73° here today, but maybe 40° tomorrow.  Winter....  Ugh.

Bill

[pago cruiser]

A 3 ton ram with a foot of leverage ought to do it on the power side with small tubing.

I remember looking at an industrial manual bender (up to about 1.5" diameter) a few months ago (lost a sidecar wheel bearing in Reserve NM (1 gas station, 2 restaurants) last year on a Sunday afternoon, and an old codger who owns a rock shop helped me press in new races by dismembering his bender and using the jack as a press - but that's another story...  next time I go through there I'm leaving $100 in his mail box.  Hm.  Someone should start a site with stories of "The Kindness of Strangers": real world examples, not that "other" book out there dealing with pedophiles... but I digress again...  

point is, the jack was about 3" diameter and 12 ton rated.

Dang Bill.  Why didn't you take on a simpler task - like peace in the Mideast???
"Who would have thought tube bending could be so hard?"   

This guy makes it look easy, with (hardly) any special tools. Looks like a blast furnace capacity rosebud he has there...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8mMQbEkr8w



All it takes is a few decades (or generations) of experience.

[Robert]

Bill as always some nice work 

I love the guy bending the tubing, thanks for the video. 

[Bill Havins]

Finally milling metal!



The bit in the mill is a 1/2" radius round nose end mill.  I've cut the "follower" for 1" OD tubing.  Tomorrow I hope to machine the matching die (3" centerline radius for 1" OD tubing).  If my machine will bend that I'm good to go.

Bill

[pago cruiser]

Cool!
Your Mill?
Wish I had the space for that; would be awfully handy sometimes.

[Bill Havins]

Mitch, that's my old, and beat up, Smithy 1220XL.  It's a long story....

The ShumaTech DRO (you see the corner of it in the photo) was built in 2004 when my son was in Iraq.  That was my first "internet project."

Bill

[Bill Havins]

In Brian's thread where Mitch has documented his saga of adapting an Interstate-or-HD fairing to his Valkyrie I noted I have made some progress building my tubing bender.  I noted, too, that contaminants had led to bad welds yesterday.  TIG welding is a Black Art!  In the photo below you can see the two "bad welds" from my session yesterday (marked with red arrows).  The other welds (the ones that are complete) are okay with me for what I am doing.



Metal prices "got scared" three weeks ago when Spanky started throwing a trade fit.  Last week I finally broke down and bought 20 feet of 1-1/2" square tubing (3/16" wall).  Boy!  It was dirty, dirty, dirty (you can see a cutoff in about the right middle of the photo).  It took me about two days to remove the mill scale.  Until yesterday's fiasco it had been welding okay.

In the foreground of the picture is the die I machined for bending 3/4" tubing.  The die can bend the tubing with a 2-1/2" radius.

I was hoping to be done welding by the end of the day but I got interrupted.  I have lots of touch-up welding to do.  We'll see when I have time to continue.

Cheers!

Bill

[pago cruiser]

Looks great Bill!
So, you making bicycle racks as a part or full time gig now???

[Bill Havins]

Finally back to work on the tubing bender.  Maybe I'll be bending tubing by the end of this weekend.  There's one small hitch - the crossfeed lock on my lathe stripped out and I may need to machine some spacers.  Fixing the lathe may take most of a day.  Oh well.

Mitch, you asked for a weld shot when I had something pretty.  Today I had to add some width to two pieces of 1/4" thick steel plate.  So, I did a couple of butt welds.  Here's one.



I was hesitant to do this because I then had to drill a 1/2" "load bearing" hole centered 1/16" to the side of the butt weld on each plate.  Things worked out well - no evidence of voids/porosity where the holes transected the welds.  Now we'll see if they hold when several hundred pounds of pressure is applied.  Adventure!

Bill

[pago cruiser]

Looks great!
For the first year I had my MIG, I would stress-test my welds - smacking them repeatedly with a 5 lb sledge.  Had more than a few failures. I'm almost to the point now where my weld time (usually) exceeds my grinding time...

[Bill Havins]

I  think, ahem, I'm beginning to get the feel for TIG.  I can go at it a bit slower than MIG (which always had me in a panic because I felt I had to move too fast).  The whole welding thing for me is an issue of being able to see what is going on.  Since TIG is a slightly slower process I can get my "visual bearings" as I start the arc and then move along.

My machine has a "high frequency start" option - instead of striking the electrode like a match to get the arc started I hold the electrode about 1/8" above the metal and press the trigger.  This makes it easier to start the arc right where I want it.

Next comes welding tubing.

[bscrive]

Nothing wrong with those welds Bill.

I can tig weld steel and stainless, but aluminum was always out of my league.  Luckily, I have three expert welders in my family.  When I need a weld done for structural purposes, I go to one of them.  Best thing is that it is always free. 

[Bill Havins]

Thanks, Brian.  It's nice to have options, especially when they're free (and don't end up costing you money later).

Just for fun, here is a "macro" shot of the hole drilled through the weld (offset 1/16" from the seam).  The blue color is from the dye used for marking layout lines.



I didn't use filler metal to do the weld.  I welded one side, flipped the metal after it cooled a bit, then welded the other side.  Sometimes you get lucky.

Cheers!

Bill

[Farther]

Any update on this?

[Bill Havins]

Farther,

Everything is on hold for now.  The bike gets ridden for a very short trip once a week and that's it.  I doubt I'll get back to this.

Bill

[gr8bond007]

Having just purchased a 2014 Valkyrie and in search of the "extras" to make long trips.  This is one great idea that is becoming a reality. I'm in Luling near Austin.  Sure would like to put your creation on my ride.   So with so many of us just purchasing this fantastic ride...who knows how many of racks could be purchased.  Although I will be traveling solo, I need space for tent, sleeping bag and sleeping pad plus my gear.  Be nice to have something to tie things down.

[pago cruiser]

Hey Bill,

Hope all is OK.
Hi to the wife!
Take a longer trip every once in awhile; best Rx I know...

Best,
Mitch