cgrossl
Well Known Member
Over the last few months, I have been doing alot of research on building airplanes, RV's in particular and I have decided to build an RV7 for myself. But, I am waiting until I sell my truck before I buy the empenage kit. I need the garage space.
Anyway, during all of this research I found it surprising that the most accepted methods of pressing dimples in a piece of sheet aluminum are with a hammer and a C-Frame jig to keep the dies aligned, or with the pull of a lever. I'm sure that both of these methods work well, but I work as a Machine Design/Manufacturing Engineer so my mind kind of defaults to figuring out ways to automate processes. Its almost a reflex now.
Since I can be kind of lazy sometimes, my first thought after finding out that you had to use a hammer or a lever to make a dimple in a panel was to use a foot pedal operated pneumatic cylinder to do the work for you. This would give the operator both hands to position the panel and wouldn't require him or her to have to over extend when dimpling large panels. Also, since the air cylinder would exert the same amount of force on the dies every time, dimples should be very consistent.
So, I sat down and designed a foot pedal operated, pneumatic dimpler. The preliminary design is complete and I should have the prototype built in the next month or so. It completely bolts together (No Welding), weighs a little less than 30lbs, has a 23" throat (to dimple up to 46" wide panels), uses standard 3/16" shank dies, and uses high quality pneumatic components capable of exerting 300lbs of force. The whole thing was designed using SolidWorks 3D modeling software. Cosmos Design Analysis software was used to evaluate the design to ensure that the unit flexes as little as possible during operation. We'll see how well I did after the prototype gets built. For some reason, everything looks better on paper than it does in the real world. Right now, retail price looks to be in the $350-$400 range for a complete kit the includes everything except dies and an air nipple. Assembly should only take about half an hour. I am also looking at producing dies. $35 seems like a whole lot of money for two little pieces of stainless steel.
So, what does everybody here think? Is this something that you would be interested in, or am I wasting my time?
By the way, if anyone here is looking for a good looking 1972 Chevy Truck, shoot me an email or PM.
Thanks,
Cameron
Anyway, during all of this research I found it surprising that the most accepted methods of pressing dimples in a piece of sheet aluminum are with a hammer and a C-Frame jig to keep the dies aligned, or with the pull of a lever. I'm sure that both of these methods work well, but I work as a Machine Design/Manufacturing Engineer so my mind kind of defaults to figuring out ways to automate processes. Its almost a reflex now.
Since I can be kind of lazy sometimes, my first thought after finding out that you had to use a hammer or a lever to make a dimple in a panel was to use a foot pedal operated pneumatic cylinder to do the work for you. This would give the operator both hands to position the panel and wouldn't require him or her to have to over extend when dimpling large panels. Also, since the air cylinder would exert the same amount of force on the dies every time, dimples should be very consistent.
So, I sat down and designed a foot pedal operated, pneumatic dimpler. The preliminary design is complete and I should have the prototype built in the next month or so. It completely bolts together (No Welding), weighs a little less than 30lbs, has a 23" throat (to dimple up to 46" wide panels), uses standard 3/16" shank dies, and uses high quality pneumatic components capable of exerting 300lbs of force. The whole thing was designed using SolidWorks 3D modeling software. Cosmos Design Analysis software was used to evaluate the design to ensure that the unit flexes as little as possible during operation. We'll see how well I did after the prototype gets built. For some reason, everything looks better on paper than it does in the real world. Right now, retail price looks to be in the $350-$400 range for a complete kit the includes everything except dies and an air nipple. Assembly should only take about half an hour. I am also looking at producing dies. $35 seems like a whole lot of money for two little pieces of stainless steel.
So, what does everybody here think? Is this something that you would be interested in, or am I wasting my time?
By the way, if anyone here is looking for a good looking 1972 Chevy Truck, shoot me an email or PM.
Thanks,
Cameron