Next up: more presents in the mail - I love un-boxing!
This is the first batch of machined parts from a cnc supplier I am auditioning for the project. The parts are individually bagged and/or wrapped in tissue paper and sheet foam.
The first part is what I call the bearing plate, it also guides the piston rod and spring. The force is strong in this one - quite literally.
Then, the piston cap, more about this later.
In the same package I also received copies of the retainer plate. Having it fabricated was cheap enough, and mass-producing it in my shop would have been a lot of work, new tools and a whole lot of chips on the floor to sweep up. Here it is along with the group body and the other new parts.
Couldn't resist photos of the mock-up:
As you may have noticed, the bad news is that the chrome finish on the piston cap doesn't match the group body! ARRRRGH.
Different shops, different finishes. My suspicion is the cast-bronze body has been plated with hexavalent chrome whereas the trivalent process has been used for the aluminum piston cap (for those who are interested, the difference is perhaps best summed up in two words: Erin Brockovich; hexavalent chrome is nasty stuff). The caps could be re-chromed, but that requires (chemically) stripping the existing finish first which is as or more expensive than chroming them in the first place. Total PITA. This one is going to have to be resolved some other way.
This is the first batch of machined parts from a cnc supplier I am auditioning for the project. The parts are individually bagged and/or wrapped in tissue paper and sheet foam.
The first part is what I call the bearing plate, it also guides the piston rod and spring. The force is strong in this one - quite literally.
Then, the piston cap, more about this later.
In the same package I also received copies of the retainer plate. Having it fabricated was cheap enough, and mass-producing it in my shop would have been a lot of work, new tools and a whole lot of chips on the floor to sweep up. Here it is along with the group body and the other new parts.
Couldn't resist photos of the mock-up:
As you may have noticed, the bad news is that the chrome finish on the piston cap doesn't match the group body! ARRRRGH.
Different shops, different finishes. My suspicion is the cast-bronze body has been plated with hexavalent chrome whereas the trivalent process has been used for the aluminum piston cap (for those who are interested, the difference is perhaps best summed up in two words: Erin Brockovich; hexavalent chrome is nasty stuff). The caps could be re-chromed, but that requires (chemically) stripping the existing finish first which is as or more expensive than chroming them in the first place. Total PITA. This one is going to have to be resolved some other way.
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