Ducati Test Drive

My friend Casey from Velvet Oven stopped by yesterday to take the Ducati for a spin....          
He approves!!!

Dropping Out!

A while back I drew up and had my friend Casey from Velvet Oven machine up some swing arm parts for the Ducati. At the time I had no idea what the axle adjusters were going to look like but today it came to me in a vision. Okay, maybe it was more like a drawing than a vision but regardless I figured it out. It takes some nerve to take beautifully machined parts like Casey made and throw them on the mill for some free hand machining.

I am really happy with the way things are turning out!

I totally cheated!

Yup, you heard me, I cheated!

I am a firm believer that a successful craftsman needs to be able to utilize the tools at hand.

To create my wheeled designs I have been utilizing simple machining and fabrication processes and never any CNC machining. Well that has all changed now!

I have a background in computer design and my day time design job relies heavily on hand sketching and computer drawing in both 2D and 3D. My moonlighting design jobs typically utilize lots of 3D modeling and rapid prototyping processes to help realize the functionality of a design.

Because I seem to spend way too much time in front of a computer I have always welcomed the challenge and physicality of creating pieces with my two hands. I never seem to realize a design that I can not make with my hands. Most times this is just fine but lately I am visualizing more and more details that I find nearly impossible to do freehand.

Being a believer in a craftsman needing to master his tools I see a computer to be no different than a pencil and that there is a time and place for everything. With my current build, the Ducati, I happened upon the perfect element to utilize CNC machining.



A dry clutch Ducati requires a cush-drive and the rear hub I am using had none so what did I do, I designed one. Working around available polyurethane cush-drive bushings I created a 3D AutoCAD drawing that not only hid the cush-drive bushings but spaced the sprocket for perfect chain alignment.



I do know I could have machined this part on the rotary table by hand but I wanted a more flowing and sculptural part that closely matched the original Ducati part. Careful measuring, drawing, and incredibly accurate machining created a perfect part.



Casey, thank you for giving me the opportunity to see this piece come to life. It all went together flawlessly! I couldn't be happier!!!!