MTFCA Forum

Progress update:
The Laser metal cutter is FIXED! I had to order replacements for several burned out parts in the servo control board, but this old man has't lost his touch when it comes to fixing power supplies...

Cutting parts today and tomorrow. Here are some pretty cool Videos of the laser metal cutter in action. Its cutting 16 gauge test parts but is capable of cutting up to 1" thick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xTzbsU ... p=gAQBiAQB

There are also some videos showing the actual voltage regulator in action.
I'm inching closer and closer every day! I've found about 37 cutout tops so far, but I need a LOT MORE!
Jeff

Curious... As someone who has zero experience in this area, how does one go about making, or having made, circuit boards such as those? Do you design the board, then have a company produce the boards for you? Do you solder each component to the board yourself, or does it come supplied that way?

Jerry VanOoteghem wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 17, 2023 2:24 pm

Curious... As someone who has zero experience in this area, how does one go about making, or having made, circuit boards such as those? Do you design the board, then have a company produce the boards for you? Do you solder each component to the board yourself, or does it come supplied that way?

All of the above. You start with a schematic, turn that into a circuit board, get them produced offshore and in this case I populate the boards. At some point I'll be converting to SMD (SURFACE MOUNT) and then have the fab house produce them.

The REALLY exciting news is I just got back from the laser cutting guy and pressed my first set of bases. They literally came out perfect. The old Ford Cutout cans fit perfectly. This is a VERY challenging part to reproduce. The angles are complex, and everything has to line up just right. I must have made a dozen changes to the deep draw die set I made.

Tomorrow I'll be cutting a few hundred copies. There really is light at the end of the tunnel, and it's a looong tunnel!

Jeff

Looks good, can we see photos of the die forming process?

John E. Guitar wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 20, 2023 8:39 am

Looks good, can we see photos of the die forming process?

Coming soon! It's been by far the most difficult mechanical piece in this project. Tooling often is. My prototype works perfectly and will get the first batch completed, but I'm now designing a more permanent, precise & easier to use version we will cut in the laser cutter over the coming weeks.

Jeff

Its been 10 days since my last update and huge progress has been made. I got the cutout bases formed and Zinc plated today. I picked them up from the laser cutter and had a helper here today and was able to complete 100 of them in 2 hours. I finally upgraded my press with air actuated hydraulics - what took me so long to do that????
.
Deep draw die tooling I made.
. This forms the base of the cutout can. This was by far the most complicated part of all this. it's an odd shape, but I nailed it. Unlike "other" cutouts, mine slides onto the generator nut and the 2 mounting screws perfectly. I must have put 100 hours into getting this part exactly right. The original Ford cutout top fits over it and has a nice snug interference fit. I also got a spot welder to fully secure it, and that also works really well. (I STILL need more old cutouts!)
.

Zinc - I'm very happy with the final result - I got a "Copy Cad" kit from Caswell Plating Co. to do just enough of these to fulfill the orders I have now. Next up is the battery and generator tabs laser cutting tomorrow and then zinc plating those. The other 1000 sets will get sent to MI for Zinc plating. I found a really good and very reasonable outfit that will do all my plating work at scale.

Uline Shipping boxes and Brother Postage label printer arrived today and I just shipped all the orders I've gotten for plain cutouts (I had enough parts from all my test cuts to build those). I must say, that felt good!

If you know anyone who might have a stock of old cutouts, please let me know!!! jeff @ modeltstarters.com

That looks great!

Is the V cutout to help in the metal forming process?

The “V” bends up and is used for the ground connection.

update: All cutout enclosure parts are cut, formed, and the Zinc/chromate plating is finished using the Caswell Plating kit for the first batch of 50 cutout enclosures. I just mailed off 450 additional sets of bases, generator and battery tabs to be Zinc plated by a commercial outfit in MI. I'd be here plating for a year if I had to do all 500 myself.

Tomorrow I'll finish putting the circuit board on the base, testing them and then packing and shipping them. I will likely get the first dozen shipped tomorrow. The rest on Friday.

Its been quite a journey, and the light at the end of the tunnel keeps getting brighter. I severely underestimated just how much work it would take to replicate the Cutout enclosures. Breaking it down into manageable tasks really helped. Thankfully all that is mostly behind me now.
Jeff

Excellent work. Perseverance certainly pays off in the long run. I have a need for two units. I have original covers, but it seems silly to ship them, only to have them come all the way back. How difficult would it be to pack them sans covers? Rather than spot weld the covers on I could use soft solder in a couple of spots.
Allan from down under.

Happy to! It would probably be better if you tapped a couple of screws to hold the tops in.

Email me at Jeff at modeltstarters.com.

Jeff

where do i find the video's of the amp meter while the car is running ?

Don ellis wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 19, 2023 4:12 pm

where do i find the video's of the amp meter while the car is running ?

On my YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JWtOeVxIRc

Very satisfied with your expert work on generators and regulators. Thanks !!