BeaverNZ Posted May 24, 2019 Share Posted May 24, 2019 I have just hopefully posted a very short and poor vid of my first go at forging a conrod for a motor bike that I am buliding and some stills that you can see more detail, I need a new phone . The centre button of the die needs to be bigger in dia to push the metal further out but its replaceable so I will either be able to use the bigger one next time or step up through several sizes to get the result I need as my hammer is probably far to small but if I keep removing the flash so it dosent absorb any more force it may work WP 20190524 15 53 48 Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaverNZ Posted June 15, 2019 Author Share Posted June 15, 2019 More progress with the conrod and a new phone yippie and I tried the proper die for the first time though I used the aluminum forging from the other die just to see what would happen and it looks ok. Now I need to make the central button that will form the centre of the big end and work out what shape the blank will need to be. I am going to do the trial forging using aluminum to reduce the chance of damaging my tooling. The cross section of the rod beam looks ok as well, the weight of the dies and mounting block adds about 10Kg to the mass of the tupp so that should help as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaverNZ Posted April 17, 2020 Author Share Posted April 17, 2020 I have been busy in the workshop during the lockdown and made some good progress on my long term project. I have finally forged my actual conrod blanks out of the EN39B steel and I am very pleased with the result. I only need one but have forged four in total , Its been a long journey and I still have to do the machining myself and get profesonals to the crack, testing, carburising and heat treatment. i have been working up to this for the last few months experimenting with the preshaping of the blank to get the minumum amount of materail that would give me the desired result and the least amount of heat/hit cycles and because my hammer is really to small I got it down to three heats and lots of hits. I also made a new LPG fired forge to cut down on the formation of scale which will be a big bonus for knife making in the future and a second 2x72 linisher to complement my 100x2745 machine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goods Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 So, next step? High performance light weight forged Ti connecting rod? Very cool results! David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaverNZ Posted April 17, 2020 Author Share Posted April 17, 2020 Here is a better vid from earlier in the year making slow progress towards what happen a few days ago, the billet I was using wasnt pre shaped much at all and required many heating/hit cycles which would of damaged the steel. The flame flash is from the graphite and grease lube i was using Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaverNZ Posted June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 some more progress and the conrod is all done apart from the final heat treatment/carburising of the bigend bearing surfaces and then hone to the final sizes. Its been magnafluxed several times. this part of the project has taken about two years and i have learned alot of different things and have been doing alot of work on other parts like the cylinder head and I am now getting into the fabrication of the frame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donal Harris Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 What are you doing? Building a bike from scratch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1forgeur Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 Reminds me of a guy named Burt! One of my favorites Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshj Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 3 hours ago, 1forgeur said: Reminds me of a guy named Burt! One of my favorites Ooh... one of my favorite movies, and stories. That man was dedicated to his machine!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaverNZ Posted June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 Well actually Burt Munro came from and was based from my home town where I live Invercargill and is a great source of insperation to me, I have spent some time looking at his offerings to the Gods of speed at E Hays hardware store where a small part of his stuff and the original engine in a frame is displayed. And D harris yes I am making the whole bike except for the engine and suspenstion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshj Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 ^ this is just amazing to me. The history in innovation... just the ideas that came from burt's mind. Sigh.... just too cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 Watch out for stress concentrators that can lower the fatigue life a LOT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teenylittlemetalguy Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 Epic! good for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavj75 Posted July 9, 2020 Share Posted July 9, 2020 Epic. Your obviously a very skilled chap indeed. I wish I had access to your toy cupboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaverNZ Posted June 19, 2021 Author Share Posted June 19, 2021 The conrod is all done it has been crack tested at three different times after the heat treatment cycles which were done by a profesional heat treatment place and the main bearing surface has been carburised and hardened then ground to close to the final size then honed to the finished size. The small end has had a aluminum brone bush shrunk in using liquid nitrogen and I used the remaining nitrogen to give it a backyard cryogenic treatment until it had all evaporated. When the rod bigend was carburised the rest of the rod was masked with a type of ceramic coating so it only has the high carbon case where its required, The rod was forged from EN39B steel. I have also forged a new kick starter lever as I couldnt get one the shape I needed, Its the middle one in the 2nd and 3rd pics and fitted to the bike in the last. Its forged from 4340 steel, I am buliding my version of a Yamha HL 500 replica and I am making the whole bike from scratch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 20, 2021 Share Posted June 20, 2021 You went and did it didn't you? You've come up with a way to stand out in this bunch of oddballs. Scratch building a motorcycle is rather unique even here. Too cool, I'll be watching for videos of the test ride. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaverNZ Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 Cheers Frosty yes I am a bit dranged LOL The plan is to havew it finished in a few months, there is still alot to do but I am getting there. The engine is being the victim of all the things that I want to try with a motor and I am going to race it in the Bert Munro motor cycle rally hill climb next Feburary as long as it hasnt blown up and goes and handles OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 4 hours ago, Frosty said: Scratch building a motorcycle is rather unique even here. Perhaps a collaboration with sidesaddle queen to do a motorcycle with a sidesaddle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 That'd fit right in here wouldn't it John? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 I'm trying to imagine what it would be like if we were to combine the varied crafting skills and interests of all of our members into one collaborative motorcycle. So far, I've got: alexandr to make the frame jlpservicesinc to make the motor Latticino to make a blown-glass gas tank sidesaddle queen to make the seat Steve Sells to do the wiring Don't we have someone who's made steel-rimmed wagon wheels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 Thomas Powers to point and laugh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 At? I'll make up stories about it's venerable history. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted June 26, 2021 Share Posted June 26, 2021 A sidesaddle on a motorcycle would be interesting and warrant a video in use. At least with a horse, they have a leg under each corner, to keep them from falling over when they stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaverNZ Posted March 2, 2022 Author Share Posted March 2, 2022 2:19 Now playing Watch Later Watch Later Add to queue Add to queue I have got my bike finished at last apart from some minor tuning, I am very pleased with how it runs I havent had it dynod yet so cant say how many horse power it has but it really gets up and boggies when it gets up in the revs. The rev limiter is set at 9000 revs and I have hit that a few times so the conrod is handling the pace so far. In the video at the start I hadnt turned the ignition on but once I did that it fired right up. The Burt Munro motor cycle rally week of the movie worlds fastest Indian fame was cancelled because of the plague covid so I didnt get to race it in the hill climb as I wanted but there is next year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Too bad you can't climb the hill at the ralley with it. You should find another hill and try it out. Quite the accomplishment others couldn't approach. I've been following your progress on this thread. A thumbs up. (Theres no thumbs up icon).... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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