Tube Bending/Engineering project

I am posting this link to a very neat and in-depth project a guy did for his senior engineering project. I got permission from him to link it up over here. I think if you read through it, and see his final reult, you will be amazed at what he has built.
http://www.offroadfabnet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218
--Grant

Thanks for the link Jackalope, I read through all 6 pages and watched all 3 videos. You are correct, I am amazed at this well thought out and executed project.
Regards, Curlely

Nice stuff going on there, I wish he would have just machined a slightly larger bronze bushing to compensate for the mild oversize in the plate that already had all those holes in it.

The little problems remind me a lot of my first projects...a lot of head scratching & self-inflicted dope slaps

Read it all, watched it all. That is one interesting read and a helluva talented guy. The controller is icing on the cake! Skill, guts, determination, a lot of brainpower

You look at something like this and wonder; we can't compete? I say hunscheiss! He's doing it!

Fascinating! My compliments to the chef!
Thanks for that link.
Dobber

Hi Jackalope,

That's neat

But I don't understand your comment about getting permission to post the link. If it's on the web, anybody can link to it without permission from anybody. If you copied the material to your own site and then linked to that copy, you would need permission from the copyright holder. But that's not true if you just link to the original site.

I think asking for permission even if its not legally required would be called "manners". A good thing to have IMO, and in short supply many times today.

That is a nice link that you posted jackalope. It is nice to see a young persons project from start to finish, brain-farts and all.

Not only is asking permission good manners, but it should make the original author proud that others are interested in their work.

I felt it only "right" to ask him (Clint) for permission. He is a super nice guy and is very humble. I think he is extremely talented and just goes to show what motivation, planning, and education can produce.
I wish I had gotten into this or been exposed to this kind of stuff at a younger age. I hope it is not too late to teach an older dog new tricks (although I am not that old).
I am sure there will be updates as he continues to make the final product. I'll post up here.-Grant

Also, I hope you steered him toward Practical Machinist.

We care a lot more about that kind of stuff than a bunch of guys crashing cars into big rocks at really low speeds

"Also, I hope you steered him toward Practical Machinist.

We care a lot more about that kind of stuff than a bunch of guys crashing cars into big rocks at really low speeds "
But of course!!! If you read the last comment under his thread that I posted, it suggests that he come on over here as there is a "plethora of knowledge!"

Yeah, I know many machinists see the welding and cutting as "savagery" of sorts, but I like all of it. I only hope to someday be able to do a fraction of what you all do in the machining realm!!

Hello,

My name is Clint and I'm the person that made the tube bender Grant linked. Here's a shot of me next to my project:



I am flattered by the folks posting good comments about this project. Thanks for all your kind words! It has been a huge undertaking for me and it's always encouraging to get feedback from folks of all different backgrounds.

I consider myself an amatuer machinist at best and a novice engineer. Some of my mistakes and machining practices are probably making some of you cringe! But I think given a project of this magnitude and my relative inexperience, I was fortunate to make as few errors as I did and come out with a working product.

Grant did steer me over here and I will take a look through the postings. It looks like a great site and, being the forum addict that I am, I may not be able to keep myself from sharing in such a great wealth of experienced people!

Thanks again for all the comments!

I wish he would have just machined a slightly larger bronze bushing to compensate for the mild oversize in the plate that already had all those holes in it.

Click to expand...

This is still a possibility if the current arrangement doesn't work out. Although there was a slightly loose fit, I used retaining compound (green Loctite) and it has not been a problem so far.

The animation link is kaput
Bandwidth maxed out

Welcome Clint.I am also a member over at Pirate4x4

Way beyond cool. One of the best machining projects I've yet come across. Extremely well documented, beautiful design, well made, and of course: I want one!

Congratulations Clint, I hope we'll read a lot more about you and your exploits as time goes on.

Best,

BW

Great job Clint -- very impressive for a senior undergraduate project! I like the digital interface you're building

I assume you're majoring in Mechanical Engineering?

I'm reposting the links to the videos of your bender in action, a lot of folks here would love to see them. If this is a hardship on your bandwidth provider, please let me know and I'll delete them.

The second video is classic:

"Dude, should we be wearing safety glasses?"

"Dude, don't put your finger in there!"



Initial Hydraulic Test - http://bender.xtremefabricator.com/BenderTest.wmv (2mb)
First Tube Bending Test - http://bender.xtremefabricator.com/BenderTestTube.wmv (18mb)
NC Controller Test- http://bender.xtremefabricator.com/BenderTestNC.wmv (5mb)

Clint,

Excellent work. Us up at the hangar never got to see the thing in its final state. Or at least I didnt.

Have fun with it!

Nick

I particularly like the way he documented this from beginning to this point where he is currently at. There is a lot of information contained in this project and a lot that many can draw from.

The animation link is kaput
Bandwidth maxed out

Click to expand...

Thanks for the headsup. I think I forgot to upload that when I switched servers, so I'll see what I can do to fix it.

Way beyond cool. One of the best machining projects I've yet come across. Extremely well documented, beautiful design, well made, and of course: I want one!

Congratulations Clint, I hope we'll read a lot more about you and your exploits as time goes on.

Click to expand...

Thank you! That is very nice of you to say. I am flattered!

Great job Clint -- very impressive for a senior undergraduate project! I like the digital interface you're building. I assume you're majoring in Mechanical Engineering?

Click to expand...

Thanks! Yes, I am an ME at Cal Poly, SLO. I'm a graduate student working on my masters now. I liked the torture of college so much, I decided to hang around for another year or two for more.

I'm reposting the links to the videos... If this is a hardship on your bandwidth provider, please let me know and I'll delete them.

Click to expand...

No problem! I pay for my hosting/bandwidth, but it's a flat fee and I haven't come close to maxing it out yet.

Excellent work. Us up at the hangar never got to see the thing in its final state. Or at least I didnt.

Click to expand...

Thanks Nick! I'm not surprised that you haven't seen it, since it's only been to campus twice as a complete assembly. I never took it to the hanger complete. It's a bit difficult to transport, as you can imagine. Thanks for all your help up there getting me familiar with the machines. Just don't let anyone here know how much of an amatuer I really am! We certainly don't want them to know about my first day... haha. Or were you there for that?

I particularly like the way he documented this from beginning to this point where he is currently at. There is a lot of information contained in this project and a lot that many can draw from.

Click to expand...

I can't help myself; I am addicted to taking pictures. It's too cool when people can talk to me about my projects with pictures in front of them. There's just no way to explain it all in writing.

UPDATE

I have started using this machine and it's really cool to use. It just doesn't get any simpler than dialing in an angle and pulling a lever - even a stooge like myself can operate it! I am making my first project - a bumper for the front of my Toyota.







It's nice to know I can make something useful with this thing - even if it does look a bit like a football helmet so far!

I am really going to miss having all the machinery at my disposal at school.

Very NICE!!

Thanks jackalop! Here it is just about finished up. I need to add some support tubes back to the frame in a couple places, but the main assembly is done





I've been looking at some of the threads here, but a lof of them are over my head. A lot of the OT threads are definitely fun to read.