TS-55 to the Rescue

[Vtshopdog]

Sometimes you can find creative tasks for a track saw:  Just used my TS-55 to cut micro-rabbets in some 80-20 extrusions I needed to modify.  Saved the day for me and thought to share.

Backstory is I'm tangled up in one of those projects where every problem has a solution that creates another issue.  I got a little pop up camper top about a year ago and it destroyed my gas mileage, wanted to install a wind fairing to help things.  Decided to make something custom because reinventing the wheel is more fun than buying a Thule, right??

Original plan was to bolt some 80-20 to front box section of the topper using T-track bolts from inside to hold it to the frame and then more T-track hardware to mount the fairing to front of the extrusion.  Well, the inside of the camper frame has a whole bunch of riveted hardware that made drilling that side a no go, so Riv-Nuts installed from front side became plan B. 

Unfortunately the Riv-Nut flanges are too wide for my 80-20 slot and leave the extrusion contacting only the nut flanges with a 1mm gap between the topper frame and 80-20.  Quick and dirty would have been to counter bore the 80-20 to clear the nut flanges, but then the bolts attaching extrusion are simply pulling on the Riv-Nuts with nothing but the sketchy expansion from setting the nut to keep things together.  My experience is they work best when pinched between two parts being joined.

For a truly bomber mounting needed about .7 mm relief cut on each side of the 80-20 slot and came up with below:

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Set up on the MFT

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2mm wide x 0.7 mm deep "Micro-Rabbet" on each edge of the slot to clear the nut flanges

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SS Riv-Nuts installed in frame.  Added JB weld to holes because there's nothing worse that a spun out Riv-Nut with a bolt stuck in it
(whole other long story involving correcting for skating drill bit on pilot holes)

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Dry fit of the extrusion, everything good!

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Maybe a router table, with a fence?

Getting all of that stabilized to hold the track took a bit of rigging, but it looks like it worked out ok.

That whole bit about a "solution that creates another issue" is one of the things I have combatted for years.
Sometimes it's from getting something out of order, not seeing an upcoming thing soon enough, or a simple mistake, but often "compensating" leads to continuously kicking it down the road.
This sparks the internal debate..."tear it apart and fix it" or "keep chasing it, hoping it will eventually go away" Which one takes longer? Sometimes you pick right, sometimes you don't.

 

[Vtshopdog]

Maybe a router table, with a fence?

Getting all of that stabilized to hold the track took a bit of rigging, but it looks like it worked out ok.

That whole bit about a "solution that creates another issue" is one of the things I have combatted for years.
Sometimes it's from getting something out of order, not seeing an upcoming thing soon enough, or a simple mistake, but often "compensating" leads to continuously kicking it down the road.
This sparks the internal debate..."tear it apart and fix it" or "keep chasing it, hoping it will eventually go away" Which one takes longer? Sometimes you pick right, sometimes you don't.

CRG - This project just keeps sprouting new issues, lot's of little things like bolt heads that are too tall or too wide etc, it's just been continuous.  Also, it's plain awkward to try and measure things on this rig (https://www.topotoppers.com/products/topo-topper). Today's lesson was that the front of topper lid does not open in a simple arc (as this simpleton assumed) but instead a complex S-curve with most of the "S" happening in first couple inches of lift and in the vicinity of the interface with the planned fairing and the lid hangs up on my assembly.

Messy stuff and just spent an hour trimming a corner off all my fabricated torsion box brackets (photos below, yes they are really overbuilt) to generate clearance for opening and closing the camper lid. (missed by about 1/4")

Next can to kick down the road will be how much to shim the actual fairing plate away from the completed brackets to keep clearance and still optimize aerodynamics. (am having some fun doing mini dive learning some basic aero principles tho)

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[Vtshopdog]

Still pecking away at this same project and made made another oddball cut with TS-55 today trimming some flanges on custom bent thin sheet metal.  Given the flexible material and shape of the piece the cut would be kinda hard or dangerous with most other tools. 

Setup took about 45 seconds:

 

[Cheese]

Nice looking aluminum bracketry... [smile]...it's always a pleasure looking at metal working done well.

I'm not familiar with Riv-Nut, I assume it's similar to Marson rivet nuts?

 

[Vtshopdog]

Cheese, you made me curious.  Riv-Nut is a brand name, the pouch on my mid 80's install tool has something about "Original" and I decided to look it up.  Wikipedia says BF Goodrich originated and trademarked the item in 1930's and sold to aircraft industry to attach rubber deicing boots to wings.

The metal working with wood tools has been a change of pace.  I'm using a leftover scrap sheet of silver anodized aluminum that is both too short and too thin/whimpy for the task at hand.  To make it longer am adding 10" wide end caps and de-whimpng with custom bent reinforcement gussets on the back. (working around the limitations of my 18" Harbor Freight bending brake....) Lots of visible stainless bolts, it's really busy looking and the thing is starting to appear semi Steam-Punk to me.  Not convinced I"ll like the aesthetic when installed, but hopefully helps with mileage.

 

[Duckler]

That pair of long cuts in the 80-20 could have been done easily on a table saw; many wood blades  do fine with aluminum.
BTW - the journey is the adventure; destination is just a bonus.

 

[Cheese]

Cheese, you made me curious.  Riv-Nut is a brand name, the pouch on my mid 80's install tool has something about "Original" and I decided to look it up.  Wikipedia says BF Goodrich originated and trademarked the item in 1930's and sold to aircraft industry to attach rubber deicing boots to wings.

The metal working with wood tools has been a change of pace.  I'm using a leftover scrap sheet of silver anodized aluminum that is both too short and too thin/whimpy for the task at hand.  To make it longer am adding 10" wide end caps and de-whimpng with custom bent reinforcement gussets on the back. (working around the limitations of my 18" Harbor Freight bending brake....) Lots of visible stainless bolts, it's really busy looking and the thing is starting to appear semi Steam-Punk to me.  Not convinced I"ll like the aesthetic when installed, but hopefully helps with mileage.

Well, going strictly on memory...which is dangerous at my age  [smile], the Riv-Nut was a rubber encapsulated product which makes sense given the BF Goodrich association you've mentioned.

The Marson is an all aluminum product.

I find it both interesting and challenging to flip flop between the woodworking and metal working arenas. There's a lot of overlap for sure but there's also a lot of specialized tools that need to be purchased specifically for both venues. Drill bits come to mind...  [smile] saw blades come to mind... [smile] and then surface prep materials come to mind. After that we can get into the "speeds & feeds" thing.

Ya, the steam punk thing may need to grow on you...it certainly has on me. My basic aesthetics guidance for all things in general has always been less is more, that originated way-back-when with motorcycles, but then again, look at this photo of a Vincent...this has steam punk in spades.  [smile].  And don't overlook the 2 rivets on the seat...just more icing on the cake.  [cool]

One of my favorite elements in the photo is the embracing of the different materials, the rubber hoses could have been replaced with stainless braided versions, the brass fittings could have been chrome plated, the aluminum motor castings could have been polished...but they weren't. Contextually, it's really not that far from live edge slabs.  [blink]

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Love the AMC gearbox circa 1950...and still used on my 1973 Commando...those Brits were the original "recyclers".  [big grin]

 

[Vtshopdog]

Wow
"That's a fine motor bike ....."
Red Molly worthy for any Richard Thompson fans out there.

I mostly work with wood but usually solve the flipping back and forth from metal to wood issue by making things complicated and joining the two materials.  I really like the look of copper and lacewood and the joint can be sanded as the copper comes off in little flakes without imbedding in the wood.  Not the case for aluminum as it makes nasty black dust that contaminates the wood, much harder to deal with.

 

[rst]

The commercial glazing businesses have always called them Rivnuts, I keep standard headed and flush types on hand at all times.  I installed  boxes of them back in the day with a 3/4” wrench and allen key with a length of conduit for more leverage. Every door operator needed 6 installed.  I put so many I ended up with tennis elbow.  Now-days door handles and exit hardware are about the only things using them.  The advent of self tapping screws and cordless tools makes everything sooo much simpler.