Author Topic: Made a license plate bracket (Read 4304 times)

Tim. · « **on:** June 04, 2006, 01:27:39 PM »

So, tired of looking on eBay etc. I bought some 1/8 aluminum plate and got to work.

Tim. · « **Reply #1 on:** June 04, 2006, 01:31:17 PM »

Side profile. It just touches the top of the Boge shock to prevent it from going any further down. Nice and parallel with the shock. Quite happy with it. Took a few hours mostly because I don't have the right tools for cutting the peice out (used my dremel).

I plan on mounting a light on the frame to shine on the plate to keep the fuzz from freakin out.

Tools used:

1/8 inch aluminum plate - probably about $3 worth
Dremel to cut shape (lot of cutting wheels and time) - jigsaw died

Drill
Grinding wheel to get to final shape
Vice / hammer to bend
Sandpaper
Buffing wheel

bill440cars · « **Reply #2 on:** June 04, 2006, 02:09:03 PM »

Nice Job. Serves the purpose and looks good too.

"Necessity is the mother of invention"

At least that's what I've heard

Later on, Bill

Tim. · « **Reply #3 on:** June 04, 2006, 02:45:38 PM »

Tim. · « **Reply #4 on:** June 04, 2006, 03:51:27 PM »

Just bolted it back on and tried it in the dark - the light from the taillight lense (clear bottom to light plate which would normally be there) actually casts quite a bit of light on the plate. Perhaps with a brighter bulb (led?) I might get away with no additional lighting on the plate, which would be nice.

Now if my bloody signals would just get here.

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #5 on:** June 04, 2006, 04:08:22 PM »

Quote from: tintin on June 04, 2006, 03:51:27 PM

Just bolted it back on and tried it in the dark - the light from the taillight lense (clear bottom to light plate which would normally be there) actually casts quite a bit of light on the plate. Perhaps with a brighter bulb (led?) I might get away with no additional lighting on the plate, which would be nice.

Now if my bloody signals would just get here.

Looks good Tinny, don't put too much weight on it though, or it may well fracture where you bent it, aluminum plate doesn't respond well to cold bending and vibration. Cheers, Terry.

Klark Kent · « **Reply #6 on:** June 04, 2006, 04:34:54 PM »

Is there a metal that is easy to work with but better under weight, vibration, and temperature stress?

Tim. · « **Reply #7 on:** June 04, 2006, 04:44:32 PM »

It's pretty darn thick material - not too worried, and I can always make another one

I probably weakened it quite a bit, as in my haste, I bent it the wrong way the first time

Would have mounted on the right side, but I really wanted it on the left, so I had to bend it back the other way. Like I say, it seems to be solid as a rock.

The material is 3003 Aluminum, 1/8 inch thick. I also bought a 6 inch x 3 foot 1/4 inch thick bar of 6061 to make a guage bracket out of, and extra to perhaps start thinking about rearsets and also a muffler hanger. After trying to cut the 1/8 stock with my jigsaw (which died) I'm not sure how I go about cutting the thicker material. Hints?

golden_child · « **Reply #8 on:** June 04, 2006, 05:06:17 PM »

Looks good tintin

merc2dogs · « **Reply #9 on:** June 04, 2006, 07:27:16 PM »

looks good!

I've used both band saws and table saws (fine teeth for each) for cutting aluminum, trick is to use slow feeds, don't try to cut it like a chunk of 1/8th pine plywood.
also, if you have access to a router, carbide router bits work like a dream on aluminum for cleaning up the edge, I had a set up for my drill press, a fence made of angle iron, clamped with vice grips to the table, hole saw same size as router bit to cut a small section out of the fence, then hook in the router bit and round the edge.

Ken.

Tim. · « **Reply #10 on:** June 04, 2006, 08:22:11 PM »

Don't know if it will make my life harder or not, but the 6061 chunk is T6. I guess that's pretty common. We'll see if a new jigsaw is up to the challenge. Otherwise, I'll have to find a friendly machinist (don't know any) to cut out my design.

KB02 · « **Reply #11 on:** June 05, 2006, 04:35:17 AM »

I did something very simualr with mine, except I mounted mine down on the swing arm using the chain gaurd bolt. I happened to have an old plate light from a custom truck bumper I did once (The truck is no longer with me...) so I used that for the light.

The only problem that I have is the wiring for it is U-G-L-Y with a capital UG[/b]. I've got to find some better way to wire it up... It's never done...

Raul CB750K1 · « **Reply #12 on:** June 05, 2006, 04:40:10 AM »

In Spain you can't install the plate on the side. It have to be on the center of symmetry. That's too bad for cruisers with fat tires. Of course you can't have it "leaning on a side" either

Raul

theunrulychef · « **Reply #13 on:** June 05, 2006, 04:59:55 AM »

Tip about cutting the aluminum:
I use Bosch jigsaws with non-ferrous cutting blades (also bosch) for aluminum. Any decent jigsaw should have the power to cut 6061, but it's mostly about the blade & lubrication. Every few inches, lube the blade with soap, or better yet, get a tube of blade grease. They come in cardboard sleeves & you stick the blade down into the grease. This helps to shed off the relatively soft aluminum from the teeth of the blade & keeps everything cool.

We keep bars of soap at all metal cutting stations like bandsaws, jigsaws, scroll saw. Lubrication really does help

.

dusterdude · « **Reply #14 on:** June 05, 2006, 05:31:24 AM »

tintin,dont pay no mind to pantywaist terry

,he`s just the scaredy type.it looks good and i like your use of the word fuzz,aint heard that in years,made me smile.

ProTeal55 · « **Reply #15 on:** June 05, 2006, 06:22:47 AM »

Slick plate idea !
Nice and clean, the way it should be.
Once I get my bike back from the "shop", I plan to re-create my
sidemount plate, as the one on their now is way too bulky, and "over-enginered"

Klark Kent · « **Reply #16 on:** June 05, 2006, 04:52:41 PM »

Sorry, as it was my first post I just blurted it out. Forgot to mention that the plate bracket was a boss piece of hardware. And if your name is tintin you should make everything out of aluminum. But purely from a metalurgical stand-point does anyone know if there is another metal that you can cut with a jigsaw that holds up better under temp change, vibration, etc? As someone with a habit of constructing his own "custom" vehicle enhancements, I should really have a better understanding of different metal's properties. Links to resources would be cool if no one feels like going into it- but i've lurked around here long enough to expect that someone will come along with a brief lecture in no time. But seriously, links are cool.

P.S. I feel like I know some of you already from lurking and I am not so good at introductions, but pics of my recently aquired 75' 550 and more posts will follow.

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #17 on:** June 06, 2006, 04:35:13 AM »

Hey Dusty, what's "Panty-waist"? (I know your spelling's not too flash at times, did you mean "panty-waste"?) Sounds horrible mate, I think I'll stick with Vegemite, ha ha! If you want to bend aluminum you better use some heat, an oxy/acetylene torch works ok, and makes it nice and pliable so it will bend without any signs of cracking.

If you don't have access to an oxy torch, just use mild steel plate, it's a bit heavier, but much easier to bend without fear of cracking like alloy, and much stronger, so you can use thinner steel to reduce the weight, if that's important. Save up for a cheap band saw Tinny, it's great for cutting alloy and mild steel, and much more efficient than a jigsaw, just watch your fingees! Cheers, Terry.

Steve F · « **Reply #18 on:** June 06, 2006, 04:41:50 AM »

I might add that if you want to bend aluminum sheet, it's better if you don't bend it sharply, but with a radius. A radius of about 2-1/2 to 4 times the thickness is about the minimum.

Tim. · « **Reply #19 on:** June 06, 2006, 05:07:10 AM »

From what I've read on aluminum in the short time I've actually been interested in it (72 hours) I've seen recommendations of 2 times (general rule of thumb) and some specific tolerances based on the type of material.

I'll get a better pic, but by no means is my bend that sharp. I don't have good enough tools to make a sharp bend

This was done in a small bench vise with 20 year old wood blocks that have been beaten to death over the years.

How does one measure radius of a curve properly anyhow? Aside from putting a pencil in the inside corner to see if it fits (would be about 1/4 inch or better, making it 2+ times the thickness of my material), is there a better method? Assuming the measuring would normally be done as part of the bending process, how does one check after the fact?

dusterdude · « **Reply #20 on:** June 06, 2006, 06:18:44 AM »

Quote from: Terry in Australia on June 06, 2006, 04:35:13 AM

Hey Dusty, what's "Panty-waist"? (I know your spelling's not too flash at times, did you mean "panty-waste"?) Sounds horrible mate, I think I'll stick with Vegemite, ha ha! If you want to bend aluminum you better use some heat, an oxy/acetylene torch works ok, and makes it nice and pliable so it will bend without any signs of cracking.

If you don't have access to an oxy torch, just use mild steel plate, it's a bit heavier, but much easier to bend without fear of cracking like alloy, and much stronger, so you can use thinner steel to reduce the weight, if that's important. Save up for a cheap band saw Tinny, it's great for cutting alloy and mild steel, and much more efficient than a jigsaw, just watch your fingees! Cheers, Terry.

hey mate,it means limp wristed scaredy butt or something like that.

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #21 on:** June 06, 2006, 02:13:00 PM »

Oh, fair enough mate, that sounds like me, ha ha!

John C. · « **Reply #22 on:** June 06, 2006, 06:52:58 PM »

I had a plate mount like that. The P.O. made it out of aluminum plate. One day I got home from a ride and it was gone. just check it now and again, if it hairlines its done, time to make a new one. It should last quite a while though. Nice work... me wanty

Klark Kent · « **Reply #23 on:** June 07, 2006, 07:20:14 AM »

Maybe its cuz Im a noob. maybe it's cuz of the lecture comment, but I have been forced to do my own metallurgical research. In theprocess I have learned a lot and found a great website that I would like to share with all you who couldn't or wouldn't speak knowledgably about metals. Now you can:

http://www.azom.com/materials.asp

everything you wanted to know (and much much more) about every material used to make anything.

I realize it wasn't a bike question per se, so I apologize if it wasn't answered due to being inappropriate. I am adjusting the valves and taking the carbs off my new bike for a good cleaning today, so I will likely have more appropriate queries soon. I should thank you all ahead of time as without this board I doubt I would have had the confidence to do the work myself. First bike, first carb rebuild, we'll see how it goes!

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Author Topic: Made a license plate bracket (Read 4304 times)

theunrulychef