BrassCycleWorks steampunk racer build.

Artek, have you done an apprenticeship as a watchmaker or something? Or maybe toolmaker? Anyway, dead impressive work and very creative too.
And is it pure coincidence your needles look like carb needles?

I do have a background in the industrial design dating back to the 80's and I made the needles to look like carb needles.
 
As others have said, EXCELLENT work! If the rest of the bike gets the attention to detail and artistry that went into the gauges, it's going to be epic!

Question: How did you index the odometer reset knob when milling the grooves? I'd have thought rotary table but it's obviously clamped in a vice.

I have a DRO set up on my mill which has an option to create holes on circle.
 
Now I remember BrassCycleWorks! You're the guy that made those clear-window generator covers out of brass (polished or brushed), and other metals, brass exhaust tips, exquisite brass gas caps, etc. You had a brass Xs650 (blacked-out, if it wasn't brass) before. Now, a steampunk racer? This oughta be something else! Were you thinking, like, TT racer, or more board-tracker? Either way, this is gonna be a fun ride! :rock:
 
Now I remember BrassCycleWorks! You're the guy that made those clear-window generator covers out of brass (polished or brushed), and other metals, brass exhaust tips, exquisite brass gas caps, etc. You had a brass Xs650 (blacked-out, if it wasn't brass) before. Now, a steampunk racer? This oughta be something else! Were you thinking, like, TT racer, or more board-tracker? Either way, this is gonna be a fun ride! :rock:

That would be me, I'm still making a lot of custom brass motorcycle parts. This is my personal project, it would be closer to a cafe racer. My avatar is the bike I've build few years ago.
 
Miss March, 2017...:cheers:
full
 
The work with the gauges continues, today I've made a light indicator. This is just a test piece as the final one will need some additional work. It started with a bar stock which I've threaded to 9/16 18.
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I did 4 of those as I will need them later.

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In the next step I've a made a holder, so I can machine the pieces from the opposite side without damaging the threads and to have enough clearance for the cutting tools.

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Below I'm boring the opening for the glass dome cabochons.

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I went for real glass, it looks better then plastic not expensive either,$0.50 each.

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Nice fit, had to use a bent piece of wire to push the glass from behind.

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The outside side dimensions are machined.

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Picture below kind of shows why I did a test first. In order to "set" the glass I needed to crimp the outside wall. To do this, I've used a bearing mounted in a tool post of the lathe and gently pushed against the outer rim. Too much pressure and the glass would break.

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Here's the test piece, it came out OK. Few modification that I have to do to make it better is to polish inside as the drill markings are visible and distracting, same thing to the bore under the glass. In addition I may add some knurling or dimples to the outside ring to ease screwing in to the panel. I plan to make a small panel similar to factory one with 3 lights, power-on, high beam and neutral.
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Few pictures with different light bulbs.

Incandescent
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White LED
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Blue LED
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Red LED
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And my favorite incandescent bulb with half voltage to mimic Edison bulb

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I've completed the work on the indicator light lenses x 3, including the polish on the inside of the barrel.
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It was time to start with the box that will hold the lenses. First step was to square off some random round brass stock.
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In the next step I had to make two pieces out of one. I had plenty of room for error included in my calculations as I was cutting with a hacksaw.

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Milling a pocket in the top part of the indicator light assembly.
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Here I'm making a base to the assembly to match the top part.

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Corners are rounded to match the top part and light bases are milled for the bulb holders.

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Bottom part finished with an exit hole for the wiring.
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Both pieces are fit together and are being fly cut to final dimensions. I'm pretty happy with the fit as the joint line between top part and the bottom one is barely visible.

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Top will be secured to the bottom via three 10-24 thread cap head brass bolts on each side, sitting in a counter sink holes.

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I had to use razor blade to separate top from the bottom.

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Most of the machining is done, corners still need to be rounded off and holes for the lenses need to be drilled and tapped.

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And a little mock up......

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Next step to complete the indicator light box was to drill and tap the holes for the lenses. I do have a DRO on my mill , but still like to make manual marks on the pieces I work with, just for the confirmation.
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In order to round off the corners I had to use my BIG rotary table.

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First step was to center the rotary table to the mill, then work piece to the table and the mill-all was done with a 1/2 " bar stock.

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Rounding of the corners

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With the corners done it was time to tap the holes for the light lenses.

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It looks almost done, still needs a lot of work.

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Getting there...

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Machining the backside to fit into the factory bracket, drilling and tapping the holes for the mounting studs.

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Bulb holders epoxied in place.

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Wiring soldered in place testing the light bulbs.
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I'll have to add some epoxy or hot glue to keep the wires secure.

More tests on different light bulbs. All 3 incandescent .
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All LED different colors.

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TBC
 
Now that's some great recycling!
 
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