cheap fabrication

Anyone know where I can get some brackets fabbed up for cheap?

Brackets :?: :?: :?: What is cheap to you :mrgreen:

Jean

ha, pretty cheap....

just need some stuff cut out of cheap sheetmetal and powdercoated

Battery strap bracket maybe 4"x2"
bracket to cover front of battery tray 8"x3"
and maybe a battery box... bottom, back, 2 small sides

I've got plans drawn up,
but like I said I'm unemployed so cheap is the key word

Nobody doing it commercially is going to do these jobs for little money and probably not at all for such a small amount of business. Can you not buy the raw material at your local hardware shop and do it yourself? or else sign up for one of these extra mural or nightschool courses in workshop skills and techniques etc, that so many colleges run these days.

Got a scrap metal yard nearby?

For a battery box you can just fold some sheetmetal up, if you need to secure it you can pop rivet.

Will that work?

yeah i have a rivet gun so maybe i'll try it... as for the rest well it's just not lack of knowledge but also lack of tools. Only thing I have to cut metal is a hacksaw lol...

This is an electronics mount I made today. It is made of two scrap curtain brackets an an aluminum strip that goes under a door. Total tools used were a hacksaw, file, and electric drill.
It's just more work without many tools.

It's good to cultivate people in your area. I have found that most mechanically minded or hands-on people are interested in what I am doing with old machinery, so if I turn up with some parts that need welding or cutting or bending they will often just do it for me for nothing, I always do as much of the work as possible first and insist on paying something or at a bare minimum arrive with a few beers. I always make sure that I give these companies my patronage if I have any real business for them and I always bring back whatever vehicle I am working on to show them the result of theirs and my efforts and get 'team photos etc. A bit of P.R. goes a long way.

pelican said:

yeah i have a rivet gun so maybe i'll try it... as for the rest well it's just not lack of knowledge but also lack of tools. Only thing I have to cut metal is a hacksaw lol...

Click to expand...

Just look at what Burt Munroe did with basic hand tools :!: When I started tooling around bikes, that is what I had, an electric drill, a hacksaw, files and time. I'm sure you have some neighbors with many tools just looking to help and especially an excuse to spend a bit of time in the garage :wink:


Jean

thanks guys...I'll try some stuff out, and see what happens. I have plenty of time with nothing better to do

Some times the local colleges will do these jobs if you approach the instructor. We also have business (I can't recall the name of the chain) but it is basically a shop where you pay by the hour to do stuff. They stock flat metals etc. and have tools. They are too far away from me so I've never used them myself but it's a cool idea.

I'm sure we all can appreciate what it's like having limited tools as that's how we start out mostly. You do learn some short cuts but sometimes at the expense of your nice new bolt heads etc. There are always several ways to do the same thing. I like seeing some of the special tools folks have improvised to get it done. Jim's clutch puller made from an electrical box (available anywhere); we used to remove the foot rest arm and put bolts though the holes into the engine sprocket to pull it etc. etc. I was quite envious when I saw some of the set-ups in the "man castles" thread but then I realized there are probably a few of us living apartments with nowhere at all to work on their bikes except maybe the parking lot. Made me grateful for what I have got.

We sure have some interesting new tools around that we never had in the 70's and a lot of the Chinese tools aren't bad quality for the cheap prices. It's a lot cheaper today to put a decent tool kit together it seems. Why eat when you can buy tools?

For some applications fiberglass is a good alternative. You gotta buy the cloth and resin (I prefer West Systems) but specialty tools are almost nil. You can use wood blocks for jigs and plastic wrap for a release agent. Then a hacksaw, file and sandpaper will get you the rest of the way. Then all you need is some cheap Krylon paint!

Food for thought or the basis for a good argument!

Russ