slomove Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 (edited) When I removed the tail lights for other repair work, the embrittled plastic broke apart. I know I can buy perfectly good tail lights but I used this as an excuse for a nice project on the CNC machine. 1/2" aluminum plate as blank, inside hogged out. Outside machined and chamfered: Polished: Wired and epoxy encapsulated. Installing and wiring about 190 LED took a little while..... Edited March 29, 2013 by slomove Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomove Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 The LED are 5mm Hi-Flux and very bright. The digital camera can not really reproduce the contrast. Driving Light: Brake light: Reverse: Turn signal: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderbrake Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Excellent craftsmanship, and the degree of overkill in the whole project is impressive. There is nothing like taking a project to the extreme..... it gives great satisfaction. WELL DONE !!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancylad Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Look forward to seeing those when we meet you in Kalispell....great craftsmanship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Over the top! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsimon Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Gert, Here's an idea: http://www.webelectricproducts.com/products.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Look forward to seeing those when we meet you in Kalispell....great craftsmanship. ^^^ What he said. Great work, I really like the look. On a set of black fenders and the light bezel blacked out, they would almost disappear. Planning on selling a few machined bezels in the future per chance? lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automoda Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 You know what would look good to me, on a 7, would be something like that but rather wide and very thin. My imagination is going nuts now-- thanks a lot. I wish I had access to CNC. I'm great at 3D models but I need to learn how to model for CNC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z3 Stalker Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Gert, looks good but instead of holes in the middle I am suprised you did not incorporate a 7 logo, just food for thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBEARDEN Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 It just amazes me the time some of you guys have to work on your cars and the quality of the workmanship...nothing succeeds like excess. Unreal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hettric Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Can you tell me what mill and CAD/CAM you are using? I'm lucky enough to have a CNC Bridgeport (2 1/2 of them actually). Unfortunately I don't have a clue how to program/run it. Thought if I got the mill I'd think of things to make and learn, hasn't quite worked out that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomove Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 (edited) It just amazes me the time some of you guys have to work on your cars and the quality of the workmanship...nothing succeeds like excess. Unreal. Hey, I am an extremely hard working individual. :blueangel: Mostly, that is.... Anyway, other people collect stamps and I have my little projects. Actually I have neglected my poor Seven for the last 2 years and some renovation was overdue. Can you tell me what mill and CAD/CAM you are using? I'm lucky enough to have a CNC Bridgeport (2 1/2 of them actually). Unfortunately I don't have a clue how to program/run it. Thought if I got the mill I'd think of things to make and learn, hasn't quite worked out that way. This is a homebuilt 4-axis XYZA moving gantry CNC router (34"x31"x8" range, see below), originally designed for woodworking and another one of my projects. The frame and gantry are actually made from bamboo, but it is rigid and precise enough for some light duty work in aluminum and mild steel. I designed the tail lights in 3D CAD, but used a 2.5D CAM system (Vectric Vcarve-Pro) to create the tool paths. For such pocketing work of mechanical parts, it is more efficient and precise than full 3D CAM. That is more for the artsy stuff. ^^^ What he said. Great work, I really like the look. On a set of black fenders and the light bezel blacked out, they would almost disappear. Planning on selling a few machined bezels in the future per chance? lol Well, this is not a production machine. For an occasional job in metal it is O.K. but I can not run coolant, there is no tray to catch the chips which are also too heavy to be caught by the dust extractor.That means the chips are flying everywhere and the noise of the high speed spindle in metal is annoying for the neighbors. The tail light is actually shallow enough to be mounted flush with the fender but I had already the cutout and mounting holes so I just left the size and outside mounting position. Edited March 30, 2013 by slomove Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hettric Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Thank You for the reply. I feared after posting it really wasn't the place for that question, It's just that your project was just the sort of thing I had in mind when I got my mill. Great job on the tail lights and your CNC! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee break Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Awesome machine set-up, love it! :hurray: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XR4Bill Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 nice work, very impressive, well done. Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 It's too bad that you can't go into production mode. I'm sure you'd be inundated with orders given how nice they turned out. Great work again, they fit the look of your car perfectly I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTexasS2K Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Nice work. I envy you guys that can use the CAD software. I really would like to get into it. The local junior college has a course, but class just doesnt fit my schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomove Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 (edited) Thanks for the nice words. Machining the body isn't that bad in principle. Took me about 90 minutes on my funky machine. With a proper high speed CNC machine center I guess you can cut that down to 15 minutes or so. Wiring the individual LED by hand is a bit maddening and took me 2 evenings But somebody could do a PCB layout and get the boards stuffed with the LED, ballast resistors and some diodes by a contract manufacturer. All possible but even in the best case you would probably have to charge a couple of hundred bucks for it to make money and find there are not that many people willing to shell out that much. I am just not cut out to be an entrepreneur. Too much work to make a living. Maybe when I retire... Edited April 1, 2013 by slomove Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 I just got a closer look at the images. The yellow turn is arrow shaped! So the white are around the arrow? And the red are dual brightness? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomove Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 Yes the yellow light is supposed to resemble an arrow. I thought it to be a nice touch . This arrow is indeed created by the white LED that fill the gaps while the area behind the arrow is red, running at high current for the brakes and reduced current for the tail light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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