Closure On HEMTT Rim Adapter Plate Project

[atankersdad]

As promised, below are the inprocess pictures and the finished product. I had 4 made to start (and to work out the bugs). I am going to have them make me another 12 to sell on here. I should have them by the end of next week. The pictures below show the completed machined plate, painting, before and after seating of the lugs and then the assembled wheel. I also put a bud cap in place to verify how they seat on the plate. Price will be $220 per plate but will drop if I can get an order for 20 or more. pm me with questions or if you want to order them. I will post on the classifieds as well. This took a little longer than expected but I am glad I can now use some of my HEMTT wheels as well as having a new set of custom wheels and 395's on my bobber.

 

[frodobaggins]

Wow. I certainly appreciate the effort and the work that went into this, but 220 per plate is about 170 dollars too much for this. I'm not trying to insult anyone, but it's a round plate with some holes in it.

How much would you expect the price to drop if you could get a buttload of orders ?

 

[dm22630]

I'm not trying to insult anyone, but it's a round plate with some holes in it.

How much would you expect the price to drop if you could get a buttload of orders ?

These have to be EXACT....there is a lot more to it that cutting some holes in steel.

And from the 3-4 other guys I have talked to that were doing the same thing, this is about the cheapest that I have seen them available for.

THANKS DUDLEY!

 

[atankersdad]

Wow. I certainly appreciate the effort and the work that went into this, but 220 per plate is about 170 dollars too much for this. I'm not trying to insult anyone, but it's a round plate with some holes in it.

How much would you expect the price to drop if you could get a buttload of orders ?

When I started this and saw the price out there was 275 I thought , this cannot be right. Daniel is right about it being more than a plate with holes. If that was the case the classifides and ebay would be loaded. These must be machined to strict tolerances, that allow wheels to mate to the plate and then seat to the hub. You have a lot on the line with 13K in weight rolling down the road at 50 mph. I gave it my best and that is all one can do. What I do have is a set of nice wheels for about 250 per wheel. Go out and buy a set of custom wheels. They are all about $400. I just saved $600.

To answer you question i may get it down to 200-210 depending on how may I order at once.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[frodobaggins]

These need to be made on a machine that you can design it once and have the machine do the rest. Are these being done one at a time by a machinist. I can see them being this much that way maybe.

Is there any machining done to the plate itself, or just the holes ?

Have you tried getting a quote from a water jet, or cnc plasma cutter now that all the specs are worked out ? I bet the cost could be brought down considerably.

 

[jesusgatos]

Have you tried getting a quote from a water jet, or cnc plasma cutter now that all the specs are worked out ? I bet the cost could be brought down considerably.

Bingo. I can't really see any reason/need to have those fully machined. If it were me, I'd look into having them laser-cut. Then you'd just need to ream and chamfer the holes. Would probably be MUCH cheaper.

 

[Snarky]

Has anyone tried CNC Machine Shop | Custom Waterjet, Plasma, Laser Cutting | eMachineShop.com ? Their prices seem reasonable and they have a vast amount of materials and processes. I found them while using stumbleupon one night.

 

[jesusgatos]

Has anyone tried CNC Machine Shop | Custom Waterjet, Plasma, Laser Cutting | eMachineShop.com ? Their prices seem reasonable and they have a vast amount of materials and processes. I found them while using stumbleupon one night.

Their prices are actually really high (at least on the few things I had them price a long time ago). I use Max Mfg. for any sheetmetal parts I need.

 

[SterlingDevelop]

Bingo. I can't really see any reason/need to have those fully machined. If it were me, I'd look into having them laser-cut. Then you'd just need to ream and chamfer the holes. Would probably be MUCH cheaper.

That's what I was getting at when I made this post to the original thread a while ago.
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/40143-hemtt-wheel-adapter-plate-project.html#post443502
I never did get an answer......why is it more complicated than cutting it on the waterjet and then reaming and chamfering the holes? The waterjet that I work with is plenty accurate enough for this I would think, and running the simulation gives a time of 23 minutes a plate.
Maybe there is more to it, I'd like to learn.

 

[jesusgatos]

Yeah, I don't know. Lasers can hold pretty crazy-tight tolerances. I just saw a flywheel that Max Mfg. laser-cut for some HUGE application (it was at least 3-4ft in dia.). As long as all the holes are where they need to be, I don't see what else there really is to it. Maybe there's something we're missing?

 

[drgreg]

I guess it is like anything else, if you can make them for $50 or $70 go nuts. I'm sure you could sell them all over the place. It's like going into a fancy restaurant and telling the owner you can get that steak much cheaper at the grocery store.
I don't know what process is being used to make these, I do think they can be made cheaper, but that is not what is on the table.

 

[frodobaggins]

I guess it is like anything else, if you can make them for $50 or $70 go nuts. I'm sure you could sell them all over the place. It's like going into a fancy restaurant and telling the owner you can get that steak much cheaper at the grocery store.
I don't know what process is being used to make these, I do think they can be made cheaper, but that is not what is on the table.

Sorry, not meaning to be a pain here, but I'm sure the original poster would like to be able to get them made cheaper as well.

I'm pretty sure he's not trying to rip us all off

So I for one like the conversation, should help a lot of people.

Kevin

 

[SterlingDevelop]

It's like going into a fancy restaurant and telling the owner you can get that steak much cheaper at the grocery store.

Some are taken aback at the price, I just really want to know if there is more to the machining process than I am thinking. My grandfather was a machinist for Hughes Aircraft back when everything was manual. I was amazed at his skill, I don't know the first thing about it. I do, however , build 3d files for CNC applications and this looks like the perfect application for it. I really just want to know if there is more to it.

I hope he can sell a thousand of 'em.

 

[atankersdad]

Frodo I am not going to debate someone on this issue. If you are not happy with the price then do not buy them. That is how capitalism works. There is work involved beyond setting up a steel plate and shooting holes thru it with a 50 cal. (Read what dm wrote in his post)
I put a lot of time and effort into this for those out there who have the wheels. I asked a retired machinst to do the project. Gave him blueprints, deuce wheels, deuce hubs and Hemtt wheels and he went to work. He did what I asked him to do. This is not my business, job or profession and I am not about to tell someone (the retired machinist) how to run his. I asked for a quality product, made to mil spec and I got it. Frankly I am happy.

Now moving forward. It is easy for individuals to sit back and lob negative comments about everything that others do. Why don't you go get prints, quotes, milling options and invest some time (and money) and work on your way of getting this solved so we can use our HEMTT rims. If you can do this for $50 bucks I will buy all you can make. , quit my job and go into business with you.....I like it when others on this site have been creative and tried to work outside of the box on solving issues that pop up in this hobby. Some were good creations and some were not so good. Well as soon as they post, out rolls the nay-sayers and out-house lawyers. They slam the creator for trying something new, they tell them what they should do, or better yet"what I would have done". all while sitting in front of a PC. . On the other side I have watched the leaders and role models who say nothing or give positive reinforcement to encourage members to think outside the box to continue to try to improve this hobby. I am of this second group.

PS. Someone must like these because one person want sthe next 12 adapters. This happened since I posted thi thread. Also 2 other members have asked when I can have a set of 4 and a set of 6. The whole world does not see doom, gloom and negativity.

Sorry for the rant guys.I just needed to say this since I have seen this happen too many times on here, but it was the first time it has happened to me...

 

[ctmustang]

 

[Snarky]

Frodo I am not going to debate someone on this issue. If you are not happy with the price then do not buy them. That is how capitalism works. There is work involved beyond setting up a steel plate and shooting holes thru it with a 50 cal. (Read what dm wrote in his post)
I put a lot of time and effort into this for those out there who have the wheels. I asked a retired machinst to do the project. Gave him blueprints, deuce wheels, deuce hubs and Hemtt wheels and he went to work. He did what I asked him to do. This is not my business, job or profession and I am not about to tell someone (the retired machinist) how to run his. I asked for a quality product, made to mil spec and I got it. Frankly I am happy.

Now moving forward. It is easy for individuals to sit back and lob negative comments about everything that others do. Why don't you go get prints, quotes, milling options and invest some time (and money) and work on your way of getting this solved so we can use our HEMTT rims. If you can do this for $50 bucks I will buy all you can make. , quit my job and go into business with you.....I like it when others on this site have been creative and tried to work outside of the box on solving issues that pop up in this hobby. Some were good creations and some were not so good. Well as soon as they post, out rolls the nay-sayers and out-house lawyers. They slam the creator for trying something new, they tell them what they should do, or better yet"what I would have done". all while sitting in front of a PC. . On the other side I have watched the leaders and role models who say nothing or give positive reinforcement to encourage members to think outside the box to continue to try to improve this hobby. I am of this second group.

PS. Someone must like these because one person want sthe next 12 adapters. This happened since I posted thi thread. Also 2 other members have asked when I can have a set of 4 and a set of 6. The whole world does not see doom, gloom and negativity.

Sorry for the rant guys.I just needed to say this since I have seen this happen too many times on here, but it was the first time it has happened to me...

I think you might have posted in the wrong place. I mean this is a place to discuss mods, we're dicussing the mod. Nobody is attacking you, no need to get defensive. If you didn't want people to discuss attributes of the mod like the price and the profit involved in selling a piece of round plate with evenly spaced holes drilled in it for 220$ a pop, then you should have posted in the classifieds.

 

[frodobaggins]

Sorry for the rant guys.I just needed to say this since I have seen this happen too many times on here, but it was the first time it has happened to me...

I'm sorry you're taking this the wrong way.

I'm just trying to figure out why it's so expensive and how it could be done cheaper. This is after all the modification forum, it's kinda what we do in here

I certainly didn't mean to piss you off. I certainly appreciate all the time and effort it took to get this far.

 

[G-Force]

Is there any runout in the rim after it is assembled?

 

[runk]

maching cost

I have a fair number of parts built for the work I do, as a general rule of thumb having something machined or welded costs about $25 per operation, regardless of how you do it. Manual machining takes more time, but the time is cheaper. CNC, waterjet, laser, etc. takes less production time, but more setup / programming time, and the time on the machine is a lot more expensive. You don't get much of a price break until you are talking about 100's of parts, where you get into dedicated setups and tool and part changers.
I count about 35 operations (and at least 2 setups) on one of those plates so $220 a plate sounds like a deal to me....

 

[jesusgatos]

atankersdad-

I don't know why you're getting so defensive. We're not attacking or criticizing you. I was only suggesting how YOU might be able to get them made cheaper. Take a look at all the people making and selling rockwell centers on pirate4x4. You CAN make these for a lot less. I'm just sayin...

-Jesse