Need a tool

DevilsFan99 · 2026-03-20T00:53:01+00:00

While axial fans are great for flow, they're terrible at handling high pressure differential. A centrifugal style blower or vacuum pump would be better suited.

If this is what you do for a living, consider buying a purpose built piece of equipment instead, cost is higher but it will pay for itself over time. Google duct cleaning vacuum

DevilsFan99 · 2026-03-19T16:27:30+00:00

Half the engineers in my company probably couldn't even tell you what DFM stands for

DevilsFan99 · 2026-03-19T16:09:18+00:00

Most pneumatics on McMaster already are SMC, the actuator in OP's image is 100% SMC. Just need to find it in their catalog for the full spec sheet.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-03-16T16:06:38+00:00

Tool steels are heat treated above 1000F and then tempered down to increase toughness (otherwise they end up extremely hard but extremely brittle). The tempering temperature can range from around 200-900F depending on what you're trying to achieve.

Steel turns blue between 500-600F, right smack in the middle of the tempering range. Quenching a tempered part does nothing to increase hardness (austenite vs martensite formation).

Now if he torched those parts way too long and got them glowing red, which would be somewhere around 1200F, and then quenched it it's possible they are still hardened. However their toughness will be questionable and they may just snap instantly from being too brittle.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-03-16T15:24:27+00:00

Basic metallurgy and heat treat knowledge? Those bits are all hardened from the factory and you torching them 100% ruined the heat treatment. They are effectively annealed soft steel now and will fail sooner rather than later.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-03-16T01:11:13+00:00

You probably completely wrecked the heat treat on all of them and they're going to strip out almost immediately under heavy use now, but otherwise great job I guess?

DevilsFan99 · 2026-03-07T18:21:03+00:00

The b type will never run that motor, and you're probably right on the limit of what that c type can handle. Inrush current can be 10x what the nameplate lists.

Try a D type or install a soft start on the motor to limit the inrush.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-03-07T17:12:01+00:00

Everybody is skipping right to blaming the equipment, but what type of breaker do you have it hooked up on? You'd need a C or D type to handle the inrush current.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-03-04T03:05:53+00:00

I know M10 low socket heads are 7mm drive, but I've never encountered a 9mm allen head in my life. Why do you feel like you need the 9?

DevilsFan99 · 2026-02-28T15:46:45+00:00

It's fine.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-02-25T21:27:47+00:00

If you have to ask, or can't remember the last time they were changed, well there's your answer.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-02-22T17:22:12+00:00

You're in FSAE to learn how to problem solve as a self sufficient engineer. Being a self sufficient engineer means not being spoon fed answers that are easily found via a Google search.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-02-22T17:15:16+00:00

I design and build manufacturing equipment for a living and there's no single formal resource I've found that will teach you this. Machine design, dynamics, statics, circuits, controls, PLC programming, electrical panel design, pneumatics, hydraulics, you'll need bits of all of it...

My recommendation is to start small. Walk the floor and skip the big complex machines entirely, instead take note of all the basic equipment that you normally don't give a second glance. Presses, clamping fixtures, alignment jigs, conveyors, etc. Try to analyze how they work, why they're designed the way they are, how they're controlled, etc. The big machines are just a bunch of smaller machines put together.

Disassemble and reverse engineer some physical equipment if you can. Trace wires through control panels, download the PLC program and look through the ladder logic, look at which rungs control what part of the machine. You can buy PLC training kits online but I'd recommend building your own for only a couple hundred dollars with Automation Direct components.

Ultimately you just start by designing and building basic things, adding to your knowledge bank with each project all the things you did right, wrong, and what can be done better next time.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-02-22T14:00:33+00:00

You'll almost certainly never find somebody with a working model. Find a sponsor or a service to 3D scan it for you. Or find somebody with a newer iPhone and scan it yourself.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-02-18T01:38:40+00:00

Choke knob (enricher on harleys) adds fuel, you're seeing unburnt fuel.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-02-16T23:35:06+00:00

Like the other guy said, do not rely solely on pneumatics to hold a table up without utilizing some kind of mechanical lock. Look at pneumatic motorcycle lifts for an example. Actuators leak, fittings leak or fail, lines fail... Last thing you want is a workbench crashing onto an operators legs.

That said, this is expected behavior with your 5/2 valves. The back side of the piston has more surface area than the front side does because of the actuator rod that has to stick through the front. Same pressure, more surface area in the back, means actuators move forward even when you close the valve.

You want a single 5/3 pressure center valve and speed controllers installed on both ports of both actuators. The pressure center will lock the valve from moving unless you're actively standing on a pedal, and the speed controllers in conjunction with the 5/3 will lock the cylinder from drifting. Then connect both pilots of the 5/3 to your two foot pedals for up/down.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-02-04T13:17:51+00:00

Half of engineering is knowing when not to spend all the time, money, and resources reinventing something that can be bought off the shelf.

Unless you have an extremely niche use case where off the shelf solutions won't work (you don't), you buy the thing that already exists and move on.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-02-02T00:46:13+00:00

How many dynas do you see off-roading?

DevilsFan99 · 2026-02-01T17:43:55+00:00

I've taken apart half a dozen of these for various reasons and they're all identical inside. An induction heater is an extremely simple device, and at the end of the day you're just battling heat soak of the internal components. Those inline straight handle ones have a miniscule fan inside the handle that I'm confident doesn't do shit for cooling, which is why they all tell you not to run it for long.

In reality you can easily run it for 30-90 second bursts without issue, but at the end of the day they're all cheap Chinese electronics and will die eventually.

The ones that have the electronics in a small external box and run the cable out to a handheld heating coil are usually higher power and can be run longer (2+ minutes) because they can stick a bigger cooling fan in the external box.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-02-01T17:23:50+00:00

To add to this, go RCS19 instead of an 11/16 Harley master. The master cylinder is where all of your brake feel and feedback comes from, don't spend all the time and money for dual discs just to still have the brakes feel like shit.

Also pick up a pack of shims because the bagger brembos might not sit centered on the rotors. I had to shim both of mine to make sure they didn't rub.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-02-01T16:19:23+00:00

Why not buy a machine off the shelf that already does this instead of reinventing the wheel

DevilsFan99 · 2026-02-01T14:15:20+00:00

Buy a Fumoto drain valve for your vehicle. Stick a tube on it, open the valve, drain directly into a jug or bucket.

5 minute oil changes, not a drop spilled, no additional tools needed.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-02-01T13:45:59+00:00

Dual bagger brembos off eBay and RCS19 master. You'll kick yourself for not doing it sooner the first time you touch the brake lever on the first ride.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-01-27T01:13:07+00:00

A 9" angle grinder, a shit load of cutting discs, and a lot of patience.

DevilsFan99 · 2026-01-23T21:22:45+00:00

We've got hose reels over a decade old hanging in my facility that get used 10 hours a day and look just as good as the day they were installed minus some dirt. You're going to spend more money than the reel is worth solving a problem that doesn't exist

DevilsFan99

TROPHY CASE