Beer can - Cam caps

[petersenj20]

To continue the beer can series, I offer this teaser of a camshaft cap.

I was going to paint the whole thing black and polish the rim and the S, but I like this look so well I want to leave aluminum. When I drill the mounting holes, I will see how it looks and let that make the decision.

No sand inclusions this time

[tkent02]

I'll take four of them.

[NoH2Oh]

To continue the beer can series, I offer this teaser of a camshaft cap.

I was going to paint the whole thing black and polish the rim and the S, but I like this look so well I want to leave aluminum. When I drill the mounting holes, I will see how it looks and let that make the decision.

No sand inclusions this time

Wow, I like that much more than the too shiny CNC'ed stuff you see on ebay. Looks like it could be a period mod. Nice.

[Greg B]

Nice.
Are you using lost wax, or lost foam for your molds?
It would be cool to see some photos of your process.

[petersenj20]

Thanks for the comments guys. I am using oil bonded sand for the molds. It leaves a beautiful finish I was not able to get with greensand. I could do some pics, but don't have any now.

Here they are on the bike. Now if the rest of the bike looked so nice I haven't polished the raised portions yet. I'm gonna leave 'em like this and see how I feel about 'em.

[Guest]

I like it and easier to get off.

[salty_monk]

Nice... looks like just what I've been looking for!!

[tkent02]

What are you using to melt the beer cans?

[petersenj20]

I have a charcoal furnace I usually use, but since these were small, I used the forge with a propane burner.

I hadn't really thought about selling them, but since I have the pattern made(the hard part) I could make them fairly reasonable. I would say in the $50 range for all four. I had to buy a box of 100 allen screws so would give me something to do with the rest. The cool thing about making items like this, is they can be customized any way you want.

I want to make a points cover too, but will have to study for the pattern. I was getting worried about too much S, but when I see Harley's and all their logos, I am in good company.

The quality of these are miles above the master cylinder reservoir I made. I will have to redo it. Maybe I could take pics of the process then.

[Guest]

Very nice! IMHO, they would look even more finished if you could chamfer that sharp edge on the outer diameter, if you don't mind my $0.02. Probably easier to do with a spindle, if modding the mold is a hassle. That would also make them less susceptible to dings/damage from errant wrenches etc.
They do look great...flat black background, with the 'S' polished, would be the mutt's nuts.

[Greg B]

Ahh, I thought they looked awfully nice for lost foam.
I see now you are doing it the proper way. Don't get me wrong, the foam molding has it's place & uses. But good ramming yields a better result!

[castlekin]

if you could create a PDF and ask BikeCliff to post it, I would love to do this for my bike, too.

[Mindless]

Nice work! Looks a lot better than the Yoshimura and whatnot billet camcaps you see out there.

[Detroit Diesel Man]

Very cool...they have that cool retro look to them...now theirs a money maker for you.


DDM

[petersenj20]

Very nice! IMHO, they would look even more finished if you could chamfer that sharp edge on the outer diameter, if you don't mind my $0.02. Probably easier to do with a spindle, if modding the mold is a hassle. That would also make them less susceptible to dings/damage from errant wrenches etc.
They do look great...flat black background, with the 'S' polished, would be the mutt's nuts.

The chamfered edge sounds like a good idea for protection, but I didn't want to reduce the edge width too much. I guess a tiny knockoff might still look good. I made one painted black with polished raised edges, but liked these better. I guess that would depend more on what you prefer. If it was to match a paint scheme it would be a great detail.

if you could create a PDF and ask BikeCliff to post it, I would love to do this for my bike, too.

I'll try to do a pictorial of the process. It is cool to see, but it doesn't really fit into the how to section.