Miss Geico offset brackets

[ecoovert]

I made one of these but what I found is the back part of the offset bracket catches water and creates a lot of drag like a parachute. What I plan on doing is rather than this method making an upside down U shape thus eliminating drag. Imagine looking at the boat from the back and you would see the upside down U shape or an H minus the top legs. I have 2"X 1/8" aluminum strips that will work just fine for this.

[toyotatruckin]

you got it the 1/8 may be a little thin also if the inside corner is 90 degree square thats a weak spot, rounded inside corner will give more support, the picture above was the first prototype I made, the first pictures in the thread is an end product I discontinued due to not much demand I also dont advertize much for electric parts, it is an upside down U with a slot milled in it for the control rod to have a direct shot back, I could have made it with-out the slot but that would have done one of two things, weak top support OR one heck of an angle for the control rod, the way I made them gave the most amount of material for a stronger bracket and perfect control rod alinement, I also cut the U in the bottom thin and trimmed the bolt down so it wouldnt be hanging out there all added up to more machine time but stronger part
I havent pulled the Geico bracket off my site yet so follow the link below and you can see it mounted

http://www.aircapitolhobbies.com/Miss_Geico.html

[ecoovert]

you got it the 1/8 may be a little thin also if the inside corner is 90 degree square thats a weak spot, rounded inside corner will give more support, the picture above was the first prototype I made, the first pictures in the thread is an end product I discontinued due to not much demand I also dont advertize much for electric parts, it is an upside down U with a slot milled in it for the control rod to have a direct shot back, I could have made it with-out the slot but that would have done one of two things, weak top support OR one heck of an angle for the control rod, the way I made them gave the most amount of material for a stronger bracket and perfect control rod alinement, I also cut the U in the bottom thin and trimmed the bolt down so it wouldnt be hanging out there all added up to more machine time but stronger part
I havent pulled the Geico bracket off my site yet so follow the link below and you can see it mounted
http://www.aircapitolhobbies.com/Miss_Geico.html

I have made one with 1"x1/8" aluminum strip and it held just fine. Going over the top should make it stronger as there won't be any water pushing back on the bracket as it will be out of the way. I do wish I had access to a cnc machine though. It would make this kind of modification easier.

[toyotatruckin]

Shoot if I had a CNC machine id be putting out some killer hardware, Ive got some drives drawn up (for gas) that would be sweet, I could make them with my mill and some hand work but id have to charge a ton for them just to cover all the time invested lol. If you can make parts yourself that work for your needs thats awesome, many boaters do it and that kind of separates you from being the average R/C'er and places you in the hobbyist category!

[ecoovert]

Thanks, Sometimes it's a matter of cost, other times it's a matter of not having the part on hand at the time. In this case I saw what seemed to be some flaws in the Kintec product so I thought I'd try my hand at it. All I used is aluminum strips I had left over from building a kite aerial photography rig. As for tools I used a hack saw, a vice, a drill, a file and some sand paper.

Any idea where someone can pick up an affordable mill?

[ecoovert]

Hi there toyotatruckin, You sure do nice work.

[toyotatruckin]

Any idea where someone can pick up an affordable mill?

Look on Craigslist BUT make sure you know what your looking at before you buy it, next is the mill itself can usually be bought very reasonably, its all the tooling you need thats gonna cost ya, as an example I make a hinge for rudders that has a slot cut in it for the blade, a slot dont sound like much and its not for 1 or 2 parts but for making more than a one off or prototype I had to buy a slitting saw and an arbor to hold it so that simple slot just cost me about 100$ (import arbor saved me some cash on that)-and a slitting saw is NOT something that an inexperienced person needs to use, by far the most dangerous tool Ive chucked up in my mill!
someone that just bought a mill to do basic work would need
parallels
vise
collets
endmills (cheap ones will work to get you over the learning curve)
test indicator ( to tram in the machine and vise)
calipers ( to measure everything else lol)
That would get you started making some chips but buy tooling as you need it not as you want it or you will end up with expensive dust collectors
I am lucky, im not a machinist by any stretch but have good friends that are and had a retired tool maker teach me how to operate and set-up my machines, even with that the learning curve is there and you will break tooling and waste parts

Id say strictly for hobby use an x2 or x3 mill would get just about everything you need done plus some, an x2 add a belt drive and tool package new should run around 1200 give or take
feel free to call me and BS about it if you would like (kind of taking up sales space here on the board) I dont mind http://www.aircapitolhobbies.com/Contact.html

[ecoovert]

Sorry it took me so long to reply toyotatruckin but between work and the fact that we are moving out of state I just don't have much time right now. I now live in Bellingham, WA and am moving to Lenoir, NC. I'm gonna love the warmer weather but do understand that I will have to watch my temps more closely. I do plan on calling you, and by the way I love your site. At this time I don't think I will be buying a mill unless I plan on making lots of parts to sell. Knowing there are people like you making parts that I need I think I'll just order from you. My offset bracket doesn't look great but for now should work fine however I think I will order one from you once we have moved.

Thanks,

Eric