Scratch Build – Complete Cygnus X1.

yeah this is a sweet ass mod!

 

I thought that was a metal bending thingy (y'know, the thing that lets you bend sheet metal into neat angles).

I tried clamping 3mm aluminum sheet to a table and hammering it down to a right angle - bad idea

That roller looks WAY cool.

 

Already planning another project

 

Lol! and great work! Not to mention the wisdom and explanation of the evolution of a modder!

looking forward to your next post! Nice new tool! I'm not sure what your next step with that machine will be, but I'm sure it will be great! A nicely radiused angle would look good on the side panel I think, if you have to cut those beauties shorter.

Ditto!

 

Thanks guys.


After some more thought I decided not to cut the panels and I came up with
another idea to allow the doors to open. But I'll show you that when I've made
it (next update).

The new trim pieces were cut out with the jigsaw.



Filed down close to the line.





Fitted to the panels after a few more cuts.



Then, with the trim in place, it was filed very close following the profile.



And the last 0.25/0.5mm is taken off using the file like a spoke shave.



The trim was fitted carefully to avoid scratching the front.



On the home stretch now, just the top and front to go.

 

Catching Up

I've followed your thread from the get go and been silent. Just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed seeing your work and that the level of it is certainly a great example for others to aspire to.
And thanks for the simple sheet medal brake design. Will build one if I can ever get back in my shop, such a mess now I don't even go in it. Health issues kinda brought shop work to a screaching halt, along with any mod plans. Kinda why I have been part of the silent majority, nothing to add to the community.
But I got such a laugh out of your post about chasing skirts I just had to share this, from friend in Texas. He's about 6'4" and 270 but scared of dogs. Not to manly a thing being that size and growing up in Texas. A little puddle would make him cut a shuck. So he looked back thru his life to see why he was afraid of dogs. When he was 7 he was chasing the little girl on the bike and her dog bite him.
Well, there it was, bold as day; he had been chasing girls all his life and running from dogs and dogs were not his problem. LOL
Looking forward to completion of your very artfull and detailed excellence in this project.

 

Takes a brave man to file away without taping off the wood. I'm a doomed klutz. I buy the tape by the carton.



Most excellent

john

 

I was seriously considering bumping this thread earlier today, but I had a feeling you would come through...

Awesome work as usual

When it was just the aluminum I (along with many others) considered it a work of art. It is simply amazing to me how you can keep improving on perfection.

 

I would say brave man, but you're a master at the craft so it's the status quo. Amazing work, as usual mate!

 

Are you gonna anodize the non-anodized parts?

Also, this thread is filled with epic win! Great great mod!

 

One after another the updates on the process keep me busy trying to imagine how this piece will turn out. And I never come close lol.

Can't wait to see how the front turns out!

 

I think you can still get the front to fold over the top...

Okay, have pics now. I apologize for the low quality of both the pics and the build - I did this with a few LEGO pieces I just had sitting around; no time to search for ones that would make the idea more clear right now, nor time to resize the pics to thumbnail versions, so clicking is necessary. If you want/need further explanation, let me know and I'll do what I can.

This general technique has been used in a few older LEGO sets before, and I thought it might prove handy.

[pic 1]

On the far left is your "anchor area" - the available space between the top and front of the aluminum construct and the top and front boundaries of the side doors; in other words, the space that your front and top panels need to fill. The LEGO piece used is roughly reminiscent of the shape of the area you have/would need to work with. In the center are a couple of "liftarms" - beams, either wooden or aluminum, that you would need to attach to both the front panel and the aluminum construct. To the right is the "front panel" - much less wide than yours, of course, but it's only meant to demonstrate the concept.

The liftarms would need to be attached to some place in the anchor area like so...

[pic 2]

...and then the door attached to the liftarms.

[pic 3]

Ideally, as in this demonstration, the liftarms would sit flush with the front and top panels, so when the front panel is in its default (down) position, no discrepancies between liftarms and panels would be noticeable. However, since the liftarms would be attached at points that would allow them to swivel, the front door is allowed to essentially swing out and upwards in one smooth motion...

[pic 4], [pic 5], [pic 6]

...and eventually come to rest laying horizontally on top of the top panel.

[pic 7]

All that would be required to lift the panel in a real implementation would be to leave something of a lip off the edge of the front panel - just some space between where the lower set of liftarms would be anchored to the front panel and the bottom edge of the panel, for a handgrip - and a small amount of space between the panel and the ground, probably no more than you have between the side panels and the ground right now. Just grip the bottom lip of the panel and lift up - it swings up and over, and you have frontal access.

Thoughts?


- Diosjenin -

 

As always your craftsmanship is impeccable and the outcome is awesome, eagerly awaiting more

 

Gull-wing doors. For your scratch-built computer. Depicted in Lego form.

This must be what home feels like

 

lol!

Well, it's technically not a traditional gull-wing configuration. A gull-wing like the kind that are on Lamborghinis are configured either as 1) a single fulcrum located at the top and a separate pneumatic/hydraulic cylinder as support, which allows the entire door to swing open around the one upper fulcrum, or 2) an additional fulcrum in the form of a segmented door, which allows the lower part of the door to "fold into" the upper part, which reduces the amount of clearance space needed to open the door.

But a straight door attached via two separate and perpendicular (at rest position) sets of liftarms which swings both outwards and upwards at the same time as demonstrated above does not exist on any car that I know of - if it did (or if I knew of it), I would have just cited it. But I've never bothered to learn Sketchup, and I had some LEGO bits lying around on a table, so that's what you all get.

- Diosjenin -

 

Haha, thanks for the story, the world is indeed an interesting place.
and thanks for the kind words.

Thanks John, although this file cuts metal like butter it's hopeless on wood so there's
not a lot to worry about if contact is made here and there.

Thanks a lot Fisher.

Thanks mate.

Thanks, yes some parts will be anodized. The hinges, the mounting for the side
panels on the front and the "rests" inside the panels will be anodized.
All the rest ( and there will be a lot) will be polished.

Thanks TG.

Thanks for the time and effort to show me this idea.
I wanted the top and front to fold completely out of the way so that the chassis was
visible much as it is now. But the side panels were designed almost purely for
aesthetics, hence the large overhang on the rear. This overhang, and the resulting
pivot point well forward of the back of the panels has led to all sorts of problems.
I've come up with an idea that suits my needs and work has started on the parts
already. In the next update you can see how it's going to look and how it's going to
work.

Thanks mate.

 

I repeat myself and others, Mod of the Mil.

 

Quite so

Indeed.

 

I second that as well!

 

Me 3