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Fabricated my own slab yokes

24K views 93 replies 46 participants last post by  wolfhound 
#1 ·
Pics seem to have disappeared. You can find them in my album here: http://www.fz6-forum.com/forum/album.php?albumid=1427

DISCLAIMER: I am not now, nor ever have been a machinist, just a guy with more time than money. So those of you that are machinists, go easy on the comments.

As usual I am unable to wait till the project is completed to post up, so hopefully I will finish it soon. I always feel like I have bitten off just a little more than I can chew :eek:

I decided to make up a slab yoke for the R1 forks that I mounted on my FZ6, just to beef up the whole front end. The tools I used are: Drill Press, Chop Saw, Belt Sander, Cross-Slide Vise, C-Clamps, HSS Whole Saw bits, 10" Aluminum Cutting Carbide Blade (for chopsaw), rotary spindle sander, tap & Die, various drill bits.

Materials: 11.5" X 1.5" X 4" (top) and 11.5" X 2.25" X 4" (bottom) T6 6061 Aluminum, cutting wax

Here is the original pattern laid out on the aluminum (I ditched this pattern for one that allowed me to put my clamp bolts on the back side).


This is the new pattern, keep in mind this triple clamp is designed for an FZ6 Stem with 2001 R1 Forks:


Drilling and cleaning the holes.



Cutting the shape.




'You can drill with a mill, but you can't mill with a drill,' so next best thing, lots and lots of holes :eek:


Ok, ok, I confess :(, I did mill a little bit with my drill, but in my defense, I did use a mill chuck and I did bolt the chuck into the arbor. Just wanted to clean up the face a bit.




Finished the riser for my triple :D


 
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#6 ·
badass work there buddy. amazing. cant wait for more pics!
 
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#7 ·
i must admit, i dont quite get how you went about cutting the body shape using that chopsaw! there was no mention of a bandsaw or anything, so im stumped. do you have any more pictures from the cutting step? im really psyched to see this piece work! how does the steering stem fit in? if you used the stock stem it would be too short below the bearing race for the beefy block right? sorry if this is too many questions.im just really intrigued.
 
#11 ·
No bandsaw was used. I used a 10" non-ferrous metal blade in the chopsaw and clamped the crap out of the part so it wouldn't move, I then proceeded to cut all necessary angles as laid out on the part and then walked small cuts around the circular parts to reduce the amount of belt sanding needed.

I used the original FZ6 steering stem. The steering stem was pressed into place, with a spacer between the stem and the bottom clamp to insure the bearing was seated well and the clamp didn't rub on the frame, I then drilled and tapped a hole through the back of the clamp and through the steering stem then inserted a bolt (I will show a picture after the camera is charged).

No the stem is not to short because the bearing sits above the bottom clamp. The stem fits nicely at the top as well I drilled the top hole the same size at the top of the steering stem then sanded for a smooth fit, I then counter sank the back og the hole so that the stem seats when tightend down.

Hope this answers the question.
 
#9 ·
when i first read your disclaimer i was like "oh shit.."

but you did that WITH OUT!? a machine?

jesus christ on a rubber crutch that's amazing work.
 
#12 ·
That is some impressive work with minimal tools!
 
#14 ·
Excellent. I've been wanting to do alot of this type of thing myself, but seriously lack the workspace and basic needs to do it.

A good many parts can be made from machine shop scraps and junkyard pickings for nothing but a few bucks and a bit of time, and the work you put in to something is what truly makes it yours, imo.
 
#15 ·
if i didn't see pictures i would have said "no way, can't be done". How long did it take you to bore through that with a hole saw? How accurate are they? Great job by the way. My only concern would be their accuracy both to each other and to the fork diameter. Ive used some heavy duty drill presses before and i wouldn't have attempted that on those:)
 
#31 ·
Everything is aligned perfectly, the fork legs in relation to each other, to the spindle and to the top and bottom clamp. The holes were drilled with a bi-metal hole saw each one 2mm undersize from the their respective holes. Each hole took approximately 30 minutes to drill using the cutting wax and blowing off the bit frequently. I didn't use a boring bar (aka flycutter) because the drill press does not provide the ridgidity that would be needed. After each hole was drilled I removed the remaining 1mm (to the line scribed on the metal) using the spindle sander with 50, 80 and 120 grit sandpaper,. the sanding took approximately 15 minutes per hole, so 45 minutes per hole total. An example of the accuracy of the hole diameters themselves is provided by the fact that when pressing the stem in, it went perfectly smooth, with no binding and required 300 ft/lbs to press into place.

With regard to the vise, it is a simple cross-slide vise from Harbor freight with 7" travel both ways. I secured it to the drill press table using t-bolts and nuts.



Hope this helps to answer all of the questions. Here is the pattern that I drew up and scribed onto the metal face, keep in mind this triple clamp is designed for an FZ6 Stem with 2001 R1 Forks:

 
#16 ·
Nice work.

I'd like to know about your dimensions as well, and would also like to see some pics of your milling vice!

I probably would have used a boring bar to finish the big holes, instead of the sanding drum.
 
#20 ·
The setup I'm thinking of would consist of an offset cutter that could be chucked in a drill press.

Picture a "T". Upside down. With one horizontal leg longer than the other, and set to the radius of the hole size you want to cut(rough or finish). That longer leg has a cutter insert at the end. The shank of the "T" gets chucked in the vice and the tool cuts the ID to size as you plunge the cutter.
 
#18 ·
Where nobody knows your name, and they're never glad you came. That's a boring bar.
 
#21 ·
That is one seriously cool job with minimal tools! Nice work!
 
#22 ·
There's one problem putting a boring bar in a drill press. It don't fit. I've looked into the idea. Unless I'm missing something, most boring bar shanks or larger then 1/2" so you can't even get it in the chuck. The exception to that would be if you had a drill press that excepts something like an 2MT arbor and could swap the drill press spindel for something tht can accept a collet holder.

Either way. Still killer work. I am curious to hear how close the hole sizes came out as well.
 
#24 ·
Great, now they're comparing chuck sizes...
 
#33 ·
You're like the Bear Grylls of CF, minus the drinking piss part...

Mad props man, I think every "non-machinist" on this site has experienced the "DIY Yokes" delusion of grandeur. Thanks for knocking down that wall...
 
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