Manually machining a differential -- how many other teams don't have CNC?

[OspreysGoSWOOP]

Our school is severely limited on manufacturing equipment thus nearly everything is done manually.

We've made some amazing technical sponsors who have mentored us in machining, and as such we've become quite the little machinists.

I wanted to show off the work of one of our team members manually machining a T1 Torsen differential on a 3axis mill using a dividing head. It's pretty awesome

How many other teams don't have CNC thus must really learn to machine things manually. Post pictures/videos of your work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UovZ_vVGhTY

[OspreysGoSWOOP]

Our school is severely limited on manufacturing equipment thus nearly everything is done manually.

We've made some amazing technical sponsors who have mentored us in machining, and as such we've become quite the little machinists.

I wanted to show off the work of one of our team members manually machining a T1 Torsen differential on a 3axis mill using a dividing head. It's pretty awesome

How many other teams don't have CNC thus must really learn to machine things manually. Post pictures/videos of your work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UovZ_vVGhTY

[Drew Price]

That is highly excellent. I think you guys are all learning the more important aspects of the competition on the design side since you have to think through all the different ways you have at your disposal to make something, rather than just assume you can farm out a spotty design to a CNC operator.

We had rudimentary CNC access, and the NU team is better equipped to use it now than when I was there, but my skills on manual machines are much more useful to me at work now, where I'm a fabricator.

Some of my favorite manufacturing books are very old, I have an excellent sheetmetal working handbook that was published in '39 that was geared towards taking people who knew carpentry and basic work skills and training them to work in aircraft factories for the war.

Very complex parts can be made by a skilled (and careful) operator with an indexing head and lots of planning. Sure it takes a little longer, but if you guys are already manufacturing driveline parts, I don't think you're at a planning disadvantage.

Well done.


*********************

Thrust loads on those side gears in the Torsen can be pretty fierce, are you going to anodize the part, or make inserts, or just rely on lubrication? You don't want to gall up such an expensive piece of 7075 from something simple like that.

[Ben K]

Well done piece of machining there. Hope to see more time lapses like this.

Ben

[OspreysGoSWOOP]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Drew Price:

Thrust loads on those side gears in the Torsen can be pretty fierce, are you going to anodize the part, or make inserts, or just rely on lubrication? You don't want to gall up such an expensive piece of 7075 from something simple like that.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's not my part so I'm not sure. I think there are washers to buffer the gears from the housing.

[rjwoods77]

Awesome video. The tour group of kids was fun to see. What song is that?

[AxelRipper]

Very impressive. We have a 2 axis CNC that can hold a tolerance of about .030" on a 3 inch diameter circle, so while it does save some time, its kind of a pain and I've found myself remaking a good deal of parts. Last thing I tried to hand machine was a trigger wheel for our engine. I found out about half way through it that our rotary table was only precise in one dimension, so I had to scrap that idea and we were lucky enough to get some time on the 3 axis that our school keeps under lock and key.

Theres also a good reason why I'm primarily a fabricator and not a machinist.

[coleasterling]

That's a good looking part!

[swong46]

Excellent work there! I totally agree with coleasterling. ME graduates lack the practical skills and their designs almost always indicate this. I don't understand why schools don't require a semester or two of real hands on classes during student's Freshmen year.

[Ash47]

Fun times! I manually machined the crankcase for University of Auckland's V-Twin. It certainly helps you make sure the design is up to par when you know you are going to machine it yourself.

It also gives your problem solving skills a workout when you are trying to work out the most accurate way of jigging your part. It's also important (as some of you have found out already) to know the capabilities of the machine you are working with. Even with a digital readout the mill and your part can be off by a surprising amount. I also always made sure I had a plan B before I even started machining, just so that when/if I do cock up it's not going to be the end of the world.

V-Twin Machining Pics (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.241059805914066.59874.155875141099200&type=3)

[Ben K]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ash47:
Fun times! I manually machined the crankcase for University of Auckland's V-Twin. It certainly helps you make sure the design is up to par when you know you are going to machine it yourself.

It also gives your problem solving skills a workout when you are trying to work out the most accurate way of jigging your part. It's also important (as some of you have found out already) to know the capabilities of the machine you are working with. Even with a digital readout the mill and your part can be off by a surprising amount. I also always made sure I had a plan B before I even started machining, just so that when/if I do cock up it's not going to be the end of the world.

V-Twin Machining Pics (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.241059805914066.59874.155875141099200&type=3) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Been following this for a while. Very impressive. Can you give some more background on the project?

Ben

[kapps]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by coleasterling:
I'd go as far as to say that Mechanical Engineering students should have to intern at a fab/machine shop for a semester or two before they can graduate.

-Cole </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That could be the most awesome "weed out" class ever.

[mech5496]

Cool! We bought a CNC in 2009, so we were forced to manually machine our uprights, rockers etc in 2008 (we used sheetmetal welded ones before that) and thus I definitely appreciate all the effort you put into that! Great job guys!

[scotty young Taylor Race]

That is cool work guys.......

[Charlie]

Cool video; our team did a nearly identical project in 2003, when we didn't have in-house CNC access. I can't say I had anything to do with it, but I was pretty impressed our guy pulled it off.

[cvargas]

Absolutely beautiful

[Ash47]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ben Kolodner:
Been following this for a while. Very impressive. Can you give some more background on the project?
Ben </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I take it since you have been following this for a while that you know of Auckland's custom single and transaxle package. The V-Twin concept was proposed 5 or 6 years ago and the single was supposed to be a stepping stone to the V-Twin.

As all of you would know, Formula SAE doesn't always go as planned and the single posed more issues than we expected so the V-Twin was put on the back burner. Being my final year on the team I really wanted to see the project through so I started work on it as a project somewhat removed from the development of the car and therefore had minimal resources - hence the machining of it myself.

I designed it so most of it could be manufactured in house to reduce the reliance on sponsors in an effort to make sure the project could continue even if times get tough. In hindsight, though reducing reliance on sponsors, putting the responsibility onto team members to do the work may not be the best way to see the continuation of the project.

[Ben K]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ash47:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ben Kolodner:
Been following this for a while. Very impressive. Can you give some more background on the project?
Ben </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I take it since you have been following this for a while that you know of Auckland's custom single and transaxle package. The V-Twin concept was proposed 5 or 6 years ago and the single was supposed to be a stepping stone to the V-Twin.

As all of you would know, Formula SAE doesn't always go as planned and the single posed more issues than we expected so the V-Twin was put on the back burner. Being my final year on the team I really wanted to see the project through so I started work on it as a project somewhat removed from the development of the car and therefore had minimal resources - hence the machining of it myself.

I designed it so most of it could be manufactured in house to reduce the reliance on sponsors in an effort to make sure the project could continue even if times get tough. In hindsight, though reducing reliance on sponsors, putting the responsibility onto team members to do the work may not be the best way to see the continuation of the project. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well I must admit the pictures have been fun to follow. If nothing else, you'll probably get an awesome job....not too many people can say they've designed a v-twin....

Ben

[Ash47]

Cheers! I'm actually filling out a job application form right now, so I hope it does help.

[Paul Achard]

MIT had published a paper on integrating a T1 into their driveline:
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/45268
There's a reasonably detailed section on machining the diff casing (CNC'ing only the outer profile).

[Joe_Little]

That looks great. My first year of FSAE was as Driveline. My friend designed a torsen housing, I helped another member write some G-code and he ran it on a very expensive, very new HAAS machining center (that didn't belong to us). We also did a good bit of work to finish it on a manual mill.

I'll just say, the CNC process was not trivial...

[Menisk]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by rjwoods77:
Awesome video. The tour group of kids was fun to see. What song is that? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I also want to know what the music is, it's awesome.

[jdstuff]

Very nice work, you guys are gaining valuable skills in learning to run manual equipment. I machined a 2-part housing for UA in 2005, using nothing but manual equipment: Album (https://picasaweb.google.com/115762229966924981771/UA_diff?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOrAl7rM-eykIg&feat=directlink)

[Mike Cook]

Maryland Machine never breaks
http://www.facebook.com/video/....php?v=2359185658873 (http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2359185658873)