QD Clamp fix in progress...
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From: PacNW; Beacon of Conservatism in a Sea of Liberals.......AZ Snowbird; Just another Conservative
QD Clamp fix in progress...
HD's got a racket going, selling the entire clamp when only the clamping finger breaks (nope, not sold separately). Been a bit slow at work, so last night I started fabbing a replacement out of aircraft aluminum. The original piece looks like chromed pot-metal; you can see in the picture where mine broke, and the glue-line where I "repaired" it. I found a piece of 1/2" thick scrap that looked like a fat tuning fork. I Superglued my broken pieces back into one piece that I could use as a template, then drilled thru the original piece into the scrap to ensure accurate hole spacing. Using the drills in the holes to stabilize the two parts, I scribed around the original piece onto the scrap. I used a grinder to rough-shape the outer profile close to the scribe marks. I used comb-cuts on a bandsaw to rough-shape the inside curve profile. I chucked the milling tools in a drillpress (bottom face flat on the worktable) and hand-fed the part against it to do the finish profiling. I still need to cut the steps on the left end, round off the sharp edges, and hand-polish it to shine like chrome. I'll post more pix of the finished piece, and report on if it works or not. So far, about 1.5 hours invested.
Last edited by PKellyMc; Apr 16, 2009 at 04:38 PM. Reason: Added clearer pic
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Outstanding HDF Member
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From: PacNW; Beacon of Conservatism in a Sea of Liberals.......AZ Snowbird; Just another Conservative
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From: Knoxville, Tn
Pac NW
Gee, the Pacific NW and a LARGE domestic aircraft manufacturer...I can't guess which one you are talking about. BTW, your clamp already looks like it will last for 100 years....Nice work.
it is made to break, and not mar your forks... just take it in to HD... they replace mine when they snap for FREE... i have had 5 replaced, no ?'s, i just show it to them and they toss me a new one... takes not time
it looks awesome what you have done though! you may want to toss some shrink wrap around that sucker to protect your forks...
it looks awesome what you have done though! you may want to toss some shrink wrap around that sucker to protect your forks...
Last edited by JRK5892; Apr 16, 2009 at 05:48 PM.
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From: PacNW; Beacon of Conservatism in a Sea of Liberals.......AZ Snowbird; Just another Conservative
Next step...
Our PacNW dealerships aren't quite so generous, it seems. They were happy to charge me $32 for an entire new clamp. I know my little project isn't cost effective, but it's a fun exercise in reverse engineering and I know that it's satisfying a sublime need deep within this CAS*.
Dropped by bro # 3's place this afternoon; he has a HarborFreight benchtop mill. In about 10 minutes and 5-6 passes (per side), I had the steps cut. If things are slow again tonight, I hope to finish up the shaping with a few files and some sandpaper. Maybe I'll get to the buffing wheel, too.
Dropped by bro # 3's place this afternoon; he has a HarborFreight benchtop mill. In about 10 minutes and 5-6 passes (per side), I had the steps cut. If things are slow again tonight, I hope to finish up the shaping with a few files and some sandpaper. Maybe I'll get to the buffing wheel, too.
Last edited by PKellyMc; Apr 17, 2009 at 02:14 AM. Reason: Added thought
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Outstanding HDF Member
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From: PacNW; Beacon of Conservatism in a Sea of Liberals.......AZ Snowbird; Just another Conservative
Done...
Another slow night at work. Spent about an hour and a half draw-filing and sanding, then took it to the buffing wheels in our back room. I'm very pleased with the results; if not for a less mirror-like shine, it's tough to tell mine from the factory part.
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From: Beautiful Downtown Burbank
I can tell them apart. Yours is the shiney one with the crack in it, right?
Thats a sweet looking free hand job. If I tried that, you could tell mine by the gunch marks