T-maxx going brushless...tips?

[JERRY2KONE]

I am glad to hear that. I have been using one of the newest Dremmel cutting wheels myself and it seems to work ok for me. It is a little bit heavier than the usual ones in the kits. Just about anything you use for grinding or sanding will gum up over time or if you use to high of a speed. You can either clean them off or have spares to switch out heads. Like I said it tends to be kind of soft and a little tricky, but it all works out in the end. Using a mill of drill press works a little better in some cases, depending what it is you are trying to accomplish. There are a few guys on here that do a lot more aluminum work then I do, so maybe they will chime in and give some supportive advice. Mike, Metalman, Linc, Serum. You guys are the master in here. What do you think???

[lincpimp]

I am far from master status! But thanks for grouping me with the greats Jerry! I am flattered!

I usually cut al with a fine tooth metal blade in a std cheapo reciprocating saw, soem people call it a jig saw. You could use a sawzall, but they are not as handy as the jig saw, the blades are too wide to make good cuts in tight areas. Variable speed is handy too. Get some good metal files, they are very handy too. And a drill press, even the 50 dollar harbor freight kind are invaluable. Also buy a good set of drills, and some cutting oil while you are at it. I also have a bandsaw, but mainly use that for cutting plastic, it is not the best tool for cutting al or steel.

I do intend on buying a small mill, or combo machine (mill and lathe). Small ones can be had for less than 500 bucks and that would most likely let me hone my machine tool skills (which are non existant at the moment!)

Paitence is a good thing for doing metal work, Jerry is right about that one. You will have to make a few items and then you will get better, at least I had to do that!

[J3110]

Oodles of weasels....man, I was just thinking about that on my way home from work today when I heard this noodle commercial on the radio.

Cool, so get a drill press and some good cutting gear.
Check:


I jest...that's not mine. :)
...but I have seen the aluminum metalworking live and in the shavings, so I know what you mean.
Home depot, here I come.

[JERRY2KONE]

Now that is just sick. Someone is having way toooooo much fun there. Nice shop whom ever it belongs to. I wonder how much time is spent playing in that little hole in the wall.

[J3110]

I've spent days down there prior to each of the final 3 seasons of battlebots.
An old friend of mine used to run a superheavyweight bot asked me if I wanted to help him out. Sounded like fun, so I figured why not.
I'd help him tear it down, clean it, solder stuff, put it all back together and operate the weapon during competitions.
He spent most of his time doing complex math and milling heavily lubricated 6061 and 7075.

The jet was just over 10 grand, I think...
DooAll here:

was about 30...grand in parts and materials.
The speed controller alone was about $2,500.
375lbs driven by 2 wheelchair motors in the trackpods being fed with 6 plates of 18x3000mAh panasonic nimh C-cells.

It actually ran better on the older gel cells, but they were fairly heavy.

Anyways, to bring it back around to the topic at hand...I don't have this guy's budget, so I'll most likely have someone else craft a motor mount for 1/2 the cost of a cheap drill press.
I like to keep the material posessions to a minimum if possible and don't see myself needing a drill press before, say, a decent makita or something a little more useful to me ion a daily basis.

Where do you folks think I should start with the pinion and spur? Currently I have a 70 tooth(I think) RRP spur. I was thinking about going with maybe a 13 and a 17 tooth pinion for starters and after runing those, maybe have a better idea of what's needed if neither of them will work out.