So... I'm a student and I wanted a project so I decided I'd try my hand at machining Grand National style horn rings by hand. I've been working on it a few days and I thought I'd share my progress.

I think I'm going to end up writing a CNC program and cut some out on an old Fadal and maybe sell some. Looks like similar rings go for about $60

Heres what a factory ring looks like:
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My supplies (wheel for test-fitting, factory ring for sizing, and my blank):
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What my blank looks like:
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Starting to cut on it...
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One side done.
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Today I finished up the other side, drilled the holes for the allen screws, and then chopped my blank in half. I'm able to cut two rings out of one blank so thats going to save me some good coin on material when I start buying it. The school shop lets students use the bits of scrap thats laying around for free as long as we aren't using it for commercial purposes...

More pictures tonight. Anyone else do little projects like this? I'm doing it for more experience and maybe have something to take into a job interview too.

Thats pretty neat. Can't wait to see the finished product.

:subscribes to thread:

I also can't wait to see what it turns out like.

I see why you are doing it that wheel is rough condition.

What about finish? Anodizing or plating?

My handmade ones are just prototypes so I'll probably just clean them up and call it good... however I am planning on making a batch on a CNC machine. I'm doing this for practice more than anything.

For those of you familiar with this style of ring on turbo Regals (they were used on LeSabre T Types too!), you'd know that they were made out of plastic and are very prone to breaking at the point where they're screwed down. Lots of companies do make aftermarket rings out of plastic, cast metal (like my gray ring shown here that I"m using to take dimensions), and machined aluminum. Since I have access to a shop and plenty of aluminum I figured on playing with some

Anyway...... Picture time!

Yesterday I had a blank that was cut on one side so the first order of business was the cut the other side with a new boring bar since the last one came apart.

After this was done and both sides were a mirror image I cleaned up the part to prep it to mark spots for the bolt holes.

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Remember, this is two parts back to back:
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And here it is after drilling the first two holes. I drilled through both blanks at once instead of cutting them apart so that I wouldn't have to drill holes on two parts.

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On to drilling and the result:

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Ready for cutting... getting it lined up and hopefully straight:

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And TADA! Two parts!

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For tomorrow, I just need to machine the cut faces, drill the countersunk parts for the allen heads, mill off the places for the spokes, and clean it up. Should turn out allright.

wow thats really cool.

i wish i had some of those tools handy

i could think of alot of stuff to tool around with


but hey it looks really good

Man, these lounge threads get buried fast! Only a weekend and it was 3 pages deep :P

Anyway, I finished them today other than glueing in the fake allen screws. I took plenty of pictures so expect an update tonight

For a one-off part, its not too bad to do by hand but in bulk its gotta be done via CNC... which is my next step

sweet cant wait for the photos

And pictures!

After chopping the two rings apart, I had to throw it on a lathe and clean up the cuts.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...1/DSCF3496.jpg
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...1/DSCF3497.jpg

(Edit: Sorry, had to kill off some pictures to keep under 25.... or does that count for this forum?)

And then drilled the countersunk holes for where the allen bolt heads would be recessed in.
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Billet rings vs. factory style Kirban Performance ring:
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Taking measurements for where to cut to mill out the sections for where the ring sits over the spokes.
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Milling out the spoke area.
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After this, I threw it back on the lathe to clean it up with some sandpaper to give it a brushed look and to kill of some burrs. Final fit is pretty good!

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Whew! Took long enough! All I have left to do now is to track down some more allen bolts, glue in the fake ones and trim the ends, and install on my car.

My plans are to use the knowledge gained by hand-machining these to write a program in CADD to cut them on a CNC machine. I'm going to make a big batch (like 50 or so) and give some to friends as favors and sell the rest on eBay.

Fun project though!!