F800 Skidplate development coming along

Ive been working with MOD this week on the new F800 skidplate design.
Heres a picture of the first version before the revisions.

New machine coming soon

I just put a deposit on this new milling machine.
Ive outgrown my current mill and need a larger machine.

Thanks to Ted and Leif at Sharp Machine Tools in North Vancouver for the great service.

RC car rear view mirrors

Here are some pictures of an RC car rear view mirror that I developed for a client.
To start the barstock is cut into short lengths









The length of bar is machined with the OD profile of the finished shape

12 parts are cut of in one setup. The parts are now ready for machining of the backside.













Fresh of the saw














Facing the backside




























All faced and ready for the next operation



















Drilling the mounting hole to prep for threading















Power tapping on my small tapping machine.















Loaded into a fixture to gang machine the angled cut on the end of the mirror
















Into another fixture for another angled cut





























The fixture on its own

Custom Cruiser

I made a custom cruiser last year for a client in Vancouver.
The bike started out as a Kona 88 stock cruiser.

I spent approx 6 months working on this project

The intent was to build a bike that had a leaned back feel while in the saddle but that you could still hammer on if you needed to. I choose a shimano nexus 7 speed rear hub for the back and a Maillard for the front.

Originally I was going to make the front
hub but the client had a sentimental
attachment to the Maillard hub so it won
in the end.












Aside from the obvious....rims, saddle, tires, grips, etc
I machined every component for this bike on my
manual mill and lathe..... Oldschool style......except
for the fact that they were all designed in 3d
modeling software first.














The fork travels on 8 sealed bearings commonly used in bmx cassette hubs. 4 bearings in each linkplate, 2 on each pivot axle.It also features an innovative " no steerer tube" design that has the headset bearings pressed into the crowns instead of the cups.
This was done so that from the riders point of view you can see down through the top of the
fork and to the tire.



Suspension was handled by a ROCKSHOX air shock mounted on top of the leading link.

















The handlebars are machined from 6061 T-6 aluminum and integrated into the top crown of the fork. No brake cables or shifter on the bars gives the bike a clean look.




















Thanks to Russel for the design influence.























I machined a Jocky shifter housing for the downtube. The stock shimano Nexus shifter was modified and placed inside of the housing to provide a fully functional 7 speed shifter. Serving as a handle on the top of the shifter is a large version of a standard bicycle axle nut machined from delrin. The nexus rear hub is equipped with a coaster brake.


I had done some preliminary concept sketch's while pitching the design to my client and had played around with the idea of stretching the rear end out. In the end, he really like the idea and I machined a set of plates to stretch the rear end out 4". It worked out nicely as I was able to machine the inside of the driveside plate to accommodate the nexus hub.
















A few years back over beers a good friend and I had come up with an idea for a crank / pedal threadless interface. I took this build as an opportunity to try it out.

The crank arms feature a clamping design similar to what Quamen first came out with last year. Full respect due to Quamen aswell, I just used the design for a cool oneoff.
The arms feature a compression screw inbound in the crank arm for tightening to the bb spindle.
The pedal axles are machined with a 1 degree taper that fits into a mating taper in the crankarm. Assembly is done via a pull screw from the backside of the crankarm. The pedals rotate on delrin bushings, no sealed bearings.


The seatpost in my opinion was the least fitting part of the overall build visually. I found that I couldn't come up with a design which made the seat blend in and look good while on its own, and
at the same time also felt good for riding. In the end I built 3 different designs and the client felt this one provided the best riding position. Although it may look a little funny, once you throw a leg over and go for a spin, you'll find that it rides great. Its a very comfy ride. Heres a picture of my 68 year old landlord going for a spin a few weeks after knee surgery to prove it.



You may also notice the lack of any welding on the handlebars and seatpost. This was a design criteria from the get go. My client liked the idea of a fully mechanical approach. Sure welding is the obvious choice, but this bike was built to catch peoples eye. The large fasteners used to fix the various components together do just that.

This bike amounts to approx $6000 worth of custom design and machining, but by far the coolest feature is that 3 cans of beer fit into the gas tank, and are easily accessible with with the supplied lock and key........"No Officer, I dont have any beers in my backpack"...haha

All parts were hand polished to a mirror finish and the frame was powder coated by Rainbow powder coating in Port Coquitlam BC






















If your SERIOUSLY interested in comissioning a fully custom built bike for yourself or to promote your business drop me a line.

Trying to keep on top of it all

It seems to me that Im constantly telling myself that Im going to take tomorrow off, but it never seems to happen.
Ive got a full plate lined up for this coming week and Im excited about getting into my upcoming projects.

On the table... or in my case....on the machines we've got the following jobs.

-Ive got 2 large 6 foot camera rails in the shop that were dropped and slightly bent.
They need to be examined and straightened out if possible.

- CNC turning work manufacturing some threaded collars from mild steel.
- CNC turning work manufacturing some aluminum washers and fittings.
- More design work with MOD on the latest skidplates for KLR's

- A run of bicycle hubs for a new Vancouver components manufacturer.

Aside from the work, Im also currently working on gettin my Monarch 10EE lathe running again, aswell as getting upto speed with programming and operating my new cnc mill.

I'll be posting pictures daily so you can keep track of whats going on at DMT.

Thats it for now.
Cheers
Dennis

MOD Dave stopped by this afternoon

Ive been working with a new vancouver based company, Moto Overland Development
over the last few months on a few jobs.

Currently I'm helping MOD with the development of a number of products
for dualsport touring bikes.

Heres a few pictures of a frame mount that gets welding into a BMW skidplate assembly
The mounts are machined from 6061-T6 Al barstock on my cnc lathe.

Short runs of parts like this are common in my shop. Due to my unique shop setup and user friendly cnc control on the EMCO cnc lathe, I can still be very competitive and fair on price with runs as small as 50 to 100 units.

When most shops wont look at your job because the volume isnt big enough, give me a call. I'll be more than happy for the opportunity to quote you on your project and do my best to stay within your budget.


toolmaker1973@gmail.com

For my buddy Big Al

Its sunday and I REALLY dont feel like working, but Ive got a ton of work
to get through and nobody else is going to do it for me!

I started the day off by turning a set of 4130
brake posts for my buddy Big Al on the Smart and Brown.
Its a nice old lathe but has hardly enough HP to turn 4130 HTSR
I cant wait to get the 10EE back up and running.

The cnc lathe is running parts in the background and every
8 minutes I get another 3 parts. Gotta like that!!

Remote control lens actuator project.

I built this remote control lens actuator housing for a client a few months ago
The project was interesting and challenging.