:tup: It’s a labor of love, not a labor of riches.
This. I built my first 3 cars myself. I decided to buy this time with the z06 because I know it will save me 10k+. The issue now is that I don’t know the platform. Hand me any subaru bolt and I will know what it goes to. I’m absolutely lost with the z06 in comparison.
I don’t even work on cars or bikes and I probably have a better idea than most. I may even have a better idea than guys who work on them because they don’t necessarily know anything about manufacturing costs. Time = money and they almost always sell themselves short. The famous guys are the guys who get it, they are not afraid to charge what they are worth (what people are willing to pay).
Edit: I was just at a shop where a guy was building a hot rod, he told me the customer had a $300,000 budget! Don’t waste time with wannabes.
this exactly
and… some people have huge budgets until the project is done…then they are a ghost.
I guess I just don’t have the same passion when it’s not my bike.
I guess this vid has been around for a while but wow I didn’t realize he banked that much…
I guess Kid Rock gives good advice.
Those are higher number than I would have guessed, damm.
Maybe Walmart sold that much but knowing them he only got about a hundred grand for the shirts. LOL
You definitely cannot put a price on self-worth and a sense of accomplishment. But I’m assuming that if you keep entering these design competitions and winning your rise to fame in this industry will be inevitable whether you like it or not lol but that doesn’t mean you have to build for anyone.
Just keep posting pictures!! 
Dayummmmmmmmm
It’s exciting to see a hundred(+) hours of work start to come together.
I didn’t have a die big enough to put an 8" CLR radius bend on some 3/4 X .120 wall 316. I even called pro tools and the biggest die they can make is 7" CLR. They said they could outsource it, but it would be over 2500 dollars. Not worth it for 2 40 degree bends. Fortunately, my friend Zach gave me some oak boards. I drew a semi circle on them.
Missing a couple in process pictures, but then I clamped 2 pieces together, drilled and countersunk holes thru both, then cut out both pieces on the band saw. Then I took them apart and used a cove router to put a concave quarter circle on the curved edge:
Bolt both pieces together and now you have a forming die:
Soaked it in water for a bit so it would start on fire. Then filled the tube with sand and packed it tight, taped it off.
If you try this, make sure your sand is baked dry. Even if it SEEMS dry, it’s not and it can explode. Bake it for a few hours.
Next I added some heat to the area I needed the bend to occur and bent that shit up. If I had to guess I’d say the wood die would last between 5 and 10 bends. More if you soak it longer and between each.
Checked the part to my 1:1 print, looks good a little off but:
Nope it’s basically perfect:
Made a second one:
Right on. Then I sanded them with 120 grit. (Polish coming soon, but wanted to test fit-up)
Boom. This is going to be the most beautiful thing I have ever designed when it’s done. I can’t wait to see it with the links and spring and pivot trees on it…
There’s nothing nicer than a perfect circle.
:bigtup:
looks great. I’d set that die that you made right in the middle of your coffee table as a conversation piece…
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that looks really good, keep at it!
Nice work!
Why did you have to heat the tubes? Just curious. Is it because of the thickness?
A few reasons:
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When you wrap bend like that, you will wind up bending the long straight part that you’re hanging on to, by making the part that bends sufficiently softer with heat, you only bend the tube where you want it. If I wanted to cold form this, I’d need to use a follower wheel, so you’re basically bending it very close to where it contacts the die. I certainly could have made a bend without heat, but the straight part would be bowed.
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I don’t know if the die could withstand cold forming with a follower.
duuuuuuuuude post the updates here