- Location
- Midwest
Is that the scan itself, or did you convert from scanned stl, or did you draw from scanned stl. Is it a solid?
62t 61x reverse engineering/billet machining
- Thread starter BallsJohnsonDance
- Start date
- Location
- Cumming, Georgia
Making the head pipe in pieces seems doable. Make the inner jacket in 2 halves with the flanges made onto them. Then machine a set of dies to press each half of the outer jacket into shape out of some ~1/8 aluminum sheet.
Out of curiousity, what is the wholesale cost on aluminum billets this big roughly? Say 1'x6"x6"
Out of curiousity, what is the wholesale cost on aluminum billets this big roughly? Say 1'x6"x6"
waxhead
wannabe backflipper
- Location
- gold coast
its a scan I converted it and now its a solid, drew from a scanned stl by putting on faces
waxhead
wannabe backflipper
- Location
- gold coast
- Location
- Midwest
Btw, for all of you guys screaming the 66e is better, that may be. I started with the 701 for obvious reasons. If this works out there is no reason i cant do a 66e down the road.
- Location
- Midwest
Not sure on the one by 1x6x6 but the billets for the cases i order were about 540$ delivered. So take that + about 4 hrs machine time at 120$ an hour and you have the price that billet cases should cost. i would add about 250 per for setup, so lets say 1300$.
- Location
- Midwest
Here is the shipper that came with the case billets. You could take the size and send out for quotes if you like.
- Location
- Midwest
I chose T6 cast plate because it should behave thermally more like a casting instead of extruded. It is also a little more costly but i wont have to deal with internal stress or requalifying after 95% metal removal.
- Location
- Midwest
This manifold looks to be clamshelled soley for the manufacturing process. This is a part that can be made on a 5 axis machine out of a single piece in two setups. Looks like they clamshelled because they either dont have a 5 axis machine, or they were making something else on their 5 axis. They were able to bolt together because they have a planar parting line and sealing would be easy. We are looking to clamshell just enough to allow for 3 axis machine but a planar split is not possible on the fpp head pipe so welding and machining the ends after will be necessary for proper sealing.
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- Location
- Midwest
Also just got off the phone with my partner at csp, he quoted a 3500-4000$ startup cost for casting headpipes. He quoted 25-35$ price increase per part for welding the clamshell over pure billet. I will easily save that much in stock switching to a clamshell. Plus they will be tig’d and that should look pretty sick!
- Location
- Western NY
You can pay around $2/lb for 6061 if you do some shopping around, almost any large metal supplier right now will be under $5/lb, the first guy you quote from might be 6 or more. So anywhere from $90-$300 for a piece 12"x6"x6" depending on who you buy from
- Location
- Midwest
once you get to bigger billets that can vary. I thought 540 for a 12*12*4.5 and a 12*12*4 was reasonable.
- Location
- Western NY
I thought that sounded expensive but it has been a while since I quoted much over 2" thick, probably before corona and all that.
Also I would think you could do one piece manifolds with what you have at your disposal? Probably even billet headpipes if you went with two 135* turns instead of one 270. Could look alot different than a factory pipe and do the same thing, they designed it to be cast and you're designing it to be machined.
- Location
- Midwest
Thats why i just need to get it scanned. Doing two 135 bends actually added another component and failure point to the assmebly. Doing a welded clamshell even if the shape of the pipe is changed to reduce required stock size would essentally be a better product, cheaper, and machinable on a 3 axis machine. I cannot wait to get this pipe scanned.
one piece manifolds will probably be the first completed part. Simplest to manufacture, stock is the cheapest.
this isnt the cheapest stock. I went through Huff steel in indianapolis. They work with us on larger pieces and single piece delivery. Im sure you guys could find cheaper stock, if you do let me know. I will continue to post sizes required.
- Location
- Midwest
You just gave me a great idea. I can do a flat plane clamshell but cut it vertically instead of laterally. This would reduce stock size, allow for water jacket machining(Maybe) and be able to be bolted together with a gasket. Eliminates the weld.
- Location
- Western NY
NIce, and yeah I'll get a price from a couple of my guys and see what they come up with, quantity always helps too if you end up making a bunch
- Location
- Cumming, Georgia
$540 for enough material to make cases isn't bad and even $1500 for a set of cases is a great deal. Especially considering a certain company sells them for twice that.
My head pipe cracked and they seem to be the most sought after part of the system, so I'm guessing it's a relatively common issue. It would seem a billet pipe would be much more resilient than a porous casting. If you could produce them at a price point similar to FPP they should sell like crazy.
Stripped manifolds are also a common issue on the 3 bolt flange. I wonder if it would be possible to include female hex holes to accept a stainless nut on the bottom side. This should help eliminate galvanic corrosion on the threads, allow the nuts to be easily changed out and eliminate the need to tap the holes.
Or just ditch the bolts all together and run a V band instead. If you broke the pipe into 3 sections you could seal the inner chamber with an O ring and run a V band on the outside. This would also allow some flexibility in mounting it.
My head pipe cracked and they seem to be the most sought after part of the system, so I'm guessing it's a relatively common issue. It would seem a billet pipe would be much more resilient than a porous casting. If you could produce them at a price point similar to FPP they should sell like crazy.
Stripped manifolds are also a common issue on the 3 bolt flange. I wonder if it would be possible to include female hex holes to accept a stainless nut on the bottom side. This should help eliminate galvanic corrosion on the threads, allow the nuts to be easily changed out and eliminate the need to tap the holes.
Or just ditch the bolts all together and run a V band instead. If you broke the pipe into 3 sections you could seal the inner chamber with an O ring and run a V band on the outside. This would also allow some flexibility in mounting it.
Quinc
Buy a Superjet
- Location
- California
Anti seize and dont over torque.
- Location
- Cumming, Georgia
For sure, I haven't had it happen to me, but it seems to happen to a lot of others. I don't ride salt either. Either way after a couple dozen times going together and coming apart over 15 years, plus salt water, the threads are prone to being wallowed out or getting cross threaded. It would be easy to replace a 10 cent nut and eliminate the need to tap the holes in the manufacturing process.
- Location
- Midwest
Good call on flexibility while mounting. Realy i will probably draw both. This just means i will be able to make one without a doubt.