The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Custom Motorcycle Body Kit the Low Tech Way

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After watching a computer controlled 5 axis milling machine turn a solid block of aluminum into a very precise facsimile of a motorcycle helmet, you might get the impression that the days of low tech hands on work are over. After all, who can compete with all of that industrial high tech capability? Well, take a look at this. Over in India, the Bajaj Pulsar is the largest … [Read more...]

5 Axis Milling Machine Demonstrates Capabilities

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It's no secret, most of us here love to see high quality machine work and industrial robots are now capable of extreme precision at high speed. Guided by 3D software, (in the example here they're using hyperMILL) they go to work on metal and turn it into whatever design is loaded in the computer. The video below from Daishin Seiki Corporation, demonstrates the capabilities … [Read more...]

Friction Stir Welding

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Reading the latest Popular Mechanics (May 2010), they mentioned something I have not heard of before called friction stir welding. It's a process used to join metal, usually aluminum, without an arc. Instead, it uses a spinning rod, rotating at 15,000 rpm to heat the metal and high pressure to join the heated pieces together. It can move at 8 inches per minute and weld 1 inch … [Read more...]

TechShop and Inexpensive Tools

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After the Cleveland CycleWerks article, many of you were less than pleased to see motorcycles produced in China for far less than could be manufactured here in the US, especially when, for various reasons, the company found production here almost impossible. It's a complex issue, about which I'll have more to say later, but it was interesting to see this article in the New York … [Read more...]

Ordinary to Extraordinary – Start with What You Have – Make it What You Want

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Have you noticed the recent theme in many of the stories here? While the major manufacturers struggle to move large numbers of mass market motorcycles, there are quite a few builders heading off in a different direction, taking standard models, sometimes even old, used and very common motorcycles, and remaking them into something unique and very desirable. The only limits are … [Read more...]

Beautiful Functional Home Workshops

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Home workshops or workspaces are something every gearhead or techie needs to some degree. Sometimes it's a wish that, due to space restrictions or limited funds, never quite gets off the ground, but the truth is, you don't need as much money as you might think and, if you get creative, you can fit one into limited space. These photos are from one guy's continually changing … [Read more...]