Testing you own titanium products

There comes a point after knowing the physical properties of TITANIUM 6Al/4V knowing that you've designed the part properly in CAD, maybe run a simulation to strength test your part in the computer, then having the finished product in your hand when you have to use it in the real world. 

As you can see I below I use my own parts.  I used to race bicycles for Cardiff Ajax many years ago.  I time trialed 25mile many moons ago in 58mins 28seconds so I'm quite fast.

My intention is to break these parts.  If they don't break, then they're fine.  After an afternoon of stoppies, skids and frame bending sprinting, they didn't break, so they're fine!

 These titanium parts are about 60% the weight of the original part and corrosion proof.

Light weight titanium bolts on unsprung parts (Unsprung means the wheels discs calipers etc that is on the lower side of the suspension) help the suspension give a better ride because of the reduced inertia.

Dome nuts have to be used on 2Stroke heads as water can seep through the thread of the head studs.  These are torqued to 25NM.  This product has to be checked by thrashing my bike around country lanes because titanium has a different rate of expansion that aluminium.  
I once read a Ferrari mechanic say they have to have their titanium wheel nuts re torqued quite often because of the difference in expansion rate in the different metals used in the wheel hub assembly.
I've found no problem with these nuts.

Below are some of the parts replaced with titanium fasteners.  They still work ok but the brake bleed bolts seem quite corroded considering the bike has only done about 15,000 miles.  

I hope you liked this blog.  If you'd like to see more innovative titanium products and their development please check back now and then.

http://titanclassics.com/

http://www.fairingbolt.com/

Titanium bike and car bolts August 2012

Hooray! The new batch of titanium fasteners have arrived!

Titanium metric and American thread bolts for Bikes/bicycle and car

   

Honda replica 90112- MAT-000 fairing bolt

The photo's aren't really doing justice to how good these fasteners look.
On the left here is a titanium fairing bolt for Honda sports bikes.  It doesn't have the dimples in the large flat top surface like the original part but it's about 60% the weight of the Genuine steel item and won't corrode.  There seems to be a bit of a following for these Honda bolts with Honda RC45 owners

  These M8 titanium dome nuts shimmer in the light, and the first 10 are going on the heads of my Suzuki RGV250SP. Standard steel dome heads are 8.3gm each but these titanium ones are 4.6gm giving a weight saving of 37gm on my bike, meaning I can eat a bag of crisps and still be 10gm's lighter on the bike, although the second gear power wheelie is probably a thing of the past on account of my ahem, girth.   :P  

BICYCLE PARTS

The standard steel  rear brake bolt on my racer was getting corroded even after only a few hundred miles so here's me fitting a new corrosion proof and lighter titanium version. Hopefully I'll get time to test it this weekend

I didn't realise the bolt holding the rear brake is shorter than that of the front brake, which will be a later order.  This steel front brake bolt has suffered with the weather and it hasn't been exposed much to the weather.  

Jockey wheel titanium bolts all also ready for sale. The original steels ones seemed to have fared well against the weather, probably due to being caked in oil and grease. :)

Here are the two sides of crank bolts.  They fitted perfectly to my bike so they'll be tested this weekend, if I can sneak out the house for a while.




BRAKE BLEED BOLTS

  

I had two types of titanium brake bleed bolt made. The metric type will be used to replace the rusty originals on my bike and the Imperial (American thread UNF) 1/4" version will be tried out on a friends Classic Mini.  My Mini has KAD front calipers and I think they're different.  Although I'll fit them to the rear Mini brakes. 

That's a few of what titanium parts are going on sale on the Ebay lathe*dog shop http://www.fairingbolt.com/ shop Amazon and http://titanclassics.com/ shop

Initial checks on all the parts are showing the manufacturers have done an outstanding job again.  Every little fillet and chamfer from the CAD files is present.

That's all for now and I hope I haven't bored you too much on the fascinating subject of weight reduction and thread types.  

There are a couple of new GENUINE RGV250SP curved radiators imported from Japan on the lathe*dog Ebay shop which are gorgeous!  They're expensive because all Japanese goods are expensive now.  About double the price they were 6 years ago.

AND FINALLY

I thought you'd like to see a pretty picture of a CAD model.  Normally diagrams to the manufacturer look like blueprints and have a note indicating the thread type, but you can model the thread and bring the model into the renderer PhotoView or Autodesk Showcase and get beautiful realistic renders like below.  

Double banjo bolt rendered in Showcase

  http://www.fairingbolt.com/

     

Prototype number 1

I can't say what it is because I'll be applying for a Patent after the concept has been cleared from Bayliss Brands.  The chap who created the clockwork radio as well as many other inventions.

Edwards Products prototype assembly

I can however talk about the process of 3D printing and this is my first attempt.  Should anyone be interested.

Above is a render of an assembly of parts created in the CAD program Solid Works.  It's quite a complex mechanism inside but you're not going to see that.

With the finished assembly file (about 50-100hours work) I emailed it thinking it'll be printed immediately and I'll screw it together and it'll work.   Not quite that easy however.

I was told to rebuild the assembly making parts much thicker because even though the machine it was printed on is the best machine you can get, (costing £100k) thin plastic parts, especially spring loaded parts were liable to snap.
I was told holes for screws are best tapped afterwards rather than modelling in the screw thread.
Clearances for sliding parts should be loose at least 0.3mm and from this experience I'd say 0.5mm is better.

What's involved
When the assembly of parts come out of the machine they are laid on a sheet of thick clear plastic.  You have to prize the parts from a lattice support structure on the clear plastic with a knife (feeler gauges are good).  Then all the nooks and crannies have to be scraped to remove the support material, which takes hours!  A dental pick set is good for this.
A fair bit of sanding with sand paper and needle files is also called for.
Modelling in a way to reduce scraping and picking is well worth it.

Assembled 3D printed prototype

 Does it work?

I'm afraid not. It's to do with distances, so there'll be an EP002 coming soon.

Lessons learnt

It's a little expensive (several hundred quid) but infinitely cheaper than if you machined the parts out of metal. 

It would be nice if it was possible to use transparent plastic to see how the mechanism works (or not work) 

It would've been wise to print several version of parts so you can try more things out without constantly badgering for a week a very busy factory boss.  

The bit I found strange was, the models and assemblies created in the computer, that you can zoom in and out of on the screen, are now physical, and tiny in your hands.  It feels a bit like drawing on a piece of paper and wishing there was an undo button to correct a mistake.  

Cheers,

Rich

WWW.FAIRINGBOLT.COM

The website needs a bit more refinement as it has only just been launched but FAIRINGBOLTS.COM  is a site selling standard fasteners and parts replicated in everlasting, super strong and lightweight TITANIUM.  

 I know you can buy titanium fasteners elsewhere on the net but this is the place where you can that Honda fairing bolt with the shoulder that holds the fairings properly in place. 

 The weight of the standard part and the titanium part is given, so you can see how much weight you save on your bike.  

 These aren't the same as luminous purple aluminium bolts that you get sick of the sight of when your bike goes up in value as a classic.  

Part numbers are listed with the parts for sale so you can cross reference the micro fiche of your bike on various websites.  Not only that, pictures highlighting where the bolts go are often listed alongside the images of the bolts.

All parts use the exact critical dimensions as the standard part.  Threads are rolled and not cut.  
Grade 5 titanium   6Al/4V is used for ultimate strength.
They are a great deal stronger and lighter than steel or stainless steel fasteners.  








You can also find these parts on Amazon.


Also selling are titanium fasteners in American thread UNF and UNC thread types.




http://www.fairingbolt.com/