News
The photos are pouring in and right now I feel like the only one who didn't attend NAHBS. Its alright though, I'm still getting things sorted.
This past week I visited Altech Anodizing to check out their shop. Their GM, Ed Bryant showed me around and explained their processes to me. I was pretty stoked to see a company be so up front about how they go about business. They're ISO 9000:2008 certified, and it makes sense. They are running Race Face parts all day long, and if they didn't have strict process control, then they could end up with different looking parts from day to day. They've got it down to a science, and can do pretty much any colour of the visible light spectrum. I'm not going that far though. Just a simple electropolishing, anodizing, then laser etching. Like so:
The laser etching is the only tricky part, as their laser shoots on a single axis.. so complex wraps (as some Raceface cranks have) take multiple setups, and accurate fixtures. We ended up talking about all sorts of different manufacturing issues, and I walked out of there with a good feeling. I'm really looking forward do doing business with them.
Stepping back a few steps, I've been finalizing things with DMT for the machining of my parts. Before I know it, I'll have my creepy white van full of 12' bar stock! At our last meeting I just realized I didn't have any markings on my cogs! That just won't do. So I guess I have a choice of fonts based on what cutter the mill runs. I'll probably go with a very simple Arial type done with a ball cutter. Its not a huge deal either way, but its just funny how I've got all these little choices to deal with.
Anyways, here's the production hub set profile:
The new rear collars are flared a bit, with wrench flats to ease removal after they've been abused. Since the fronts don't have room for wrench flats, they'll have pin spanner holes, so you can break them free, should they ever become seized to the axle (worst case scenario, you run the hubs through a salty winter and don't forget to clean them until sometime in the summer). I've changed the collars to 7075 as well, to be a bit harder. The tradeoff is that the bar stock is slightly more expensive, and I'm warned that the anodizing might not be a 'perfect' match.
The flanges are now going to be drilled on an angle optimized for deep section rims. I've taken a good look at quite a few 700cmx trick forks, and I've got the front flanges as far out as possible so that they still fit within the legs. I feel this will give the front wheel a good amount of lateral rigidity for those who choose to land their bikes sideways. Despite the differences in flange width, the spokes still calculate within 1mm of each other so wheelbuilding should be a snap.
That's about it for the updates. I'm going to go look at a few more NAHBS photos now.
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