Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Brake caliper adapter

I made my first cnc milled part, an adapter for T4 front brakes for our street car. It took about 6 hours to make it while learning to use all that there is to make such part from a cad model. I've milled some small pieces before, but nothing this complex and doing it independently still takes some practice.

I'm already comfortable using a cnc lathe, but the bill is so much more versatile and complex. I'll have to start milling every wee, so I won't forget the skills that I've learned.

The adapter looks horrible, compared to what it should. Luckily it's just a mock up piece. I didn't dare to make the thread (I'm sure something bad would have happened), so I made it by hand. That's why the part has some marks from clamping. The raw material I started with was just a bit too thin, there wasn't enough material to machine it smooth, this is why the surface looks dented.
I'll make it better next time...

It took about 9 minutes for the machine to make the part, so it doesn't take very long to make once you have made the code and set up the machine with the right tools.

A nice home studio. The edge of the A4 breaks the illusion in the upper edge.

Even when T4 brakes will fit with these parts to the RaceTaxi, we're not sure yet what brakes to use, so all suggestions are welcome. We have to use brakes from a car that weighs the same or more as ours, so there aren't many options available. We already had Cayenne brakes, but they required so much space that the rims you had to use made no sense.

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