Cnced Parts For Radio Controlled Cars

[Heatsink]

Hi,

I'm looking for some pointers from any of you into Radio controlled cars!

I might get hold of a hobbyist's 3 axis CNC miller, a small desktop toy, which would allow me straight away to machine small and I'm assuming relatively simple jobs.

It made me think of Radio controlled cars - Can anyone point me in the direction of the sort of things companies are selling for Radio Controlled cars based around CNCed parts. I thought this would be worth a look, and it certainly makes sense to try and make the mill pay for itself!

Cheers,

Steve

[Fixed Pants™]

Chassis's are sometimes CNC'd, other bits like that would be shock towers. Brake disks.

Yeah, sounds like it could be good.

How much will this machine cost if you don't mind me asking?

[RicH_87]

not directly useful really but you should check out www.tamiyaclub.com

there are a few people on there that machine their own parts and are very popular amongst it's members.

they mainly collect older more realistic models so things like aluminum bumpers, tailpipes, wheels etc are always wanted.

for newer models you would be looking at things like front and rear uprights/wishbones etc. (i don't really do r/c cars anymore so can't really remember all the lingo).

probably not much help but that site is definitely worth a look in terms of customers.

[Nick Garland]

When my mate gets back from work I will have a chat with him as he is into his RC cars, he has A LOT of carbon fibre parts though, including chassis.

[Brisa]

RC drifters are very intpo thier cnc'd bits.

Could check ebay and search for RC hop ups. Things like camber kits. bottom and top arms, hubs, motor mounts and motor heatsinks (even got the name for that one).

drift rc site

Forums worth a look. Mostly american but very helpful.

[adamtrials]

I don't know about cars but you may be interested in this company, they are one of the best for aftermarket RC heli upgrades.

http://quickuk.co.uk

[nmt_oli]

been out of the game for a while, but used to race em.

http://www.maxbashing.com/

off road race club and forum, shoudl be able to find some useful info and links. I don't know what companies are up to right now, as i havent touched my RCs for 2 years.

[Tom Booth]

Stuff like Servo arms could be very good sellers if they where Cnc'd, I know mine always used to flex so my car handled like cack till I fitted an alloy one. Also Steering hubs could be good. Look at the little things such as them and you'll be onto a winner!

[Heatsink]

Chassis's are sometimes CNC'd, other bits like that would be shock towers. Brake disks.

Yeah, sounds like it could be good.

How much will this machine cost if you don't mind me asking?

The machine is a relative steal at about £1000 (!) I don't know how much of a toy it will be, so having some idea of some simple work it could be used for would be a good idea to pay for it!

When my mate gets back from work I will have a chat with him as he is into his RC cars, he has A LOT of carbon fibre parts though, including chassis.

Keep the ideas coming including any photos of example parts so I can see how complicated they are!

Stuff like Servo arms could be very good sellers if they where Cnc'd, I know mine always used to flex so my car handled like cack till I fitted an alloy one. Also Steering hubs could be good. Look at the little things such as them and you'll be onto a winner!

Thanks for all the forum links! There is such a variety of cars, which could mean almost every job is a custom one. If there were certain ones that were more popular then I should find out about these. Are there are any companies that sell standard CNCed upgrades / replacements for popular models? I'd love to see how much they sell them for to see if it's worth the effort!

Steve

[Danny]

I used to have a HPI RS4 Rally. The 'hop-ups' for them were never cheap as most were carbon/alu bits.

Am i right in thinking if you got some carbon sheet you could make stuff like chassis? (2-3mm thick). Most carbon parts for them are just cut from flat sheet.

Take a look here http://www.hpi-europe.com/options.php?lang=en

[djb]

I've just been discussing this with my brother as he regularly races RC model cars. In his opinion there is a limited market for alloy components outside of those parts already readily available and since these are simple items there is little room for improvements or variations giving you a fair bit of competition, especially if you consider companies in America (my brother mentioned JCONCEPTS for example) that produce a number of components that can be imported for dirt cheap prices.

He thought your best way to get into making and selling parts was to get in touch someone like Atomic Carbon who my brother is sponsored by. It's a small company that has relatively recently taken off making carbon fibre components and chassis kits. At the minute all the CNC components that come with that kit are sourced from America but a UK supplier may interest the owner and my brother says he is highly likely to be supportive of anyone wanting to make a start, especially if it could assist him as well. Apparently he is currently developing a 2 wheel drive chassis that will I assume require different bits to those he already gets for the 4 wheel drive so you may be able to help out there.

It may also be worth having a trawl through the photos on oople as there are quite a few shots of cars where you could get a a good idea of what is already made and the complexity of the components. My brother also mentioned some other more custom items that would be good including out drives (basically a cylinder with a groove in coming off of the gearbox that transfers drive to the drive shaft) slightly longer than the ones available and gearbox casings though they could end up quite intricate.

Sorry that turned out to be a bit of an essay but I hope it helps a bit. If you want any more info i'm sure either my brother or Jonathan at Atomic Carbon would be willing to give it.

Daniel

Edited May 24, 2007 by djb

[Heatsink]

I've just been discussing this with my brother as he regularly races RC model cars. In his opinion there is a limited market for alloy components outside of those parts already readily available and since these are simple items there is little room for improvements or variations giving you a fair bit of competition, especially if you consider companies in America (my brother mentioned JCONCEPTS for example) that produce a number of components that can be imported for dirt cheap prices.

He thought your best way to get into making and selling parts was to get in touch someone like Atomic Carbon who my brother is sponsored by. It's a small company that has relatively recently taken off making carbon fibre components and chassis kits. At the minute all the CNC components that come with that kit are sourced from America but a UK supplier may interest the owner and my brother says he is highly likely to be supportive of anyone wanting to make a start, especially if it could assist him as well. Apparently he is currently developing a 2 wheel drive chassis that will I assume require different bits to those he already gets for the 4 wheel drive so you may be able to help out there.

It may also be worth having a trawl through the photos on oople as there are quite a few shots of cars where you could get a a good idea of what is already made and the complexity of the components. My brother also mentioned some other more custom items that would be good including out drives (basically a cylinder with a groove in coming off of the gearbox that transfers drive to the drive shaft) slightly longer than the ones available and gearbox casings though they could end up quite intricate.

Sorry that turned out to be a bit of an essay but I hope it helps a bit. If you want any more info i'm sure either my brother or Jonathan at Atomic Carbon would be willing to give it.

Daniel

Thanks Danny and Daniel! Your essay is much appreciated DJB! Those links are great. There is such a huge range of kits out there and some very cool cars and bodykits to be had!

Reviewing all the cool help everyone has given me has got me thinking that it's a pretty saturated market really. There appear to be plenty of others who got into the sort of thing I was thinking about, 5 or 10 years ago! The market has really exploded in the last 15 years since I last had an RC car.

Currently I think it makes sense for me to stick to what I know. In an act of financial abandon I ordered the desktop CNCing machine From speaking to the designer behind it, it will open up alot of possibilities to make huge variations of components in as small batches as I like. It isn't as sophisticated as the large scale machines I normally use, but it'll definately be very useful to compliment what I can offer, opening up possibilities of more designs being economically viable.

I think I'm going to have my hands full when it arrives learning all it's ins and outs!

Steve

[Token]

I think I'm going to have my hands full when it arrives learning all it's ins and outs!

Steve

As if you haven't already got your hands full! Company, work and family/kids yet you've still got time to fiddle about with mini cnc machines (superman?). I guess, with this, you could make heatsink snail cams.... I can't really think of anything else in the bike market thats small and worth CNC'ing?

[Si-man]

Perfect for making head caps, bar ends, mech hangers etc.

Will be cool that, or are the above mentioned to big to be done?

[Haz]

What sort of size bed does it have?

If it's quite large, maybe you should up your scale, look at small parts for full size cars?

[Heatsink]

As if you haven't already got your hands full! Company, work and family/kids yet you've still got time to fiddle about with mini cnc machines (superman?). I guess, with this, you could make heatsink snail cams.... I can't really think of anything else in the bike market thats small and worth CNC'ing?

Life is certainly busy, but if I can make this machine earn its keep plus a bit more, then it helps the bills. I'm really happy if I can ensure that my wife isn't forced to return to work leaving the children at nursery like others do.

For bike parts I had a few things in mind. I was thinking of boosters in unusually wide sizes (when running Vee adapters on 4 bolt frames). Plus a wider variety of bashguards.

Perfect for making head caps, bar ends, mech hangers etc.

Will be cool that, or are the above mentioned to big to be done?

All the above should be straightforward! With a machine like this I could also personalise parts for riders with their own designs / text. I'll have to see how much time all the coding takes, but unless I'm mistaken about its capabilities, it's certainly allowing some cool new things to be explored.

What sort of size bed does it have?

If it's quite large, maybe you should up your scale, look at small parts for full size cars?

Thanks for reminding me about full size cars! The bed is almost 1/2m square. Parts for full size cars would be possible The idea of "Modding" products like gear knobs, brake pedals occurred to me.

I could offer people a one off service, with those things that may appeal to others getting priority

Steve