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Comment by justinclift | Hacker News Reader

  CNC machined parts
  
  Machine at your local machine shop by through leveraging
  Fictiv's distributed manufacturing network

Looking at the parts in the photo, they'll need at least a 5 axis CNC machine. If it's for a one-off (or even low volume) job, that's not going to be cheap.

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They're probably using a stock engine. They're not building tires, wheels, bearings, seat, controls, transmission, or chain. This looks like a custom frame job, not an "open source motorcycle".

There's an active market in aftermarket frames, but they're usually welded. This thing is held together with hex head screws. Tighten before each ride.

Now if Fictiv wanted to make frames to order, they'd have a CNC tube [1] bender and a CNC tube welder.[2] A service which could make welded units out of tubing cheaply, accurately, and to order would be useful. Custom car, motorcycle, beach buggy, trailer, and go-cart jobs are often built from tube steel, so there's a market. Design your collection of tubes, and have the software figure out the bends and welds, telling you if you've designed something not buildable with the available equipment. There's software for that, not from Fictiv.[3] With a service like that available, others might find new applications for custom tube assemblies.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m99U7qejm2g [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRuqb6wquig [3] http://www.bend-tech.com/product_infos/bt_pro.html

On a related topic, here's a scary video of a tubing bender.[1] This is an example of something that's automated just enough to be out of human control, but not enough to be safely keep the operator out of the workspace. Note the operator being hit by the end of the tube at 00:45. If that job had called for more bend, he would have been impaled. OSHA lists 85 bending machine injuries, usually involving finger amputation.[2] Bending machines are unusually hazardous because the workpiece can move way outside the machine's own boundary.

Don't design stuff like that. Either put the process under continuous operator control, or get the operator clear of the moving parts.

[1] https://youtu.be/ocvx_gQJ0sI?t=41 [2] https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/AccidentSearch.search?acc_keyw...

Some of the more complex parts are better suited for a 5-axis machine, but there are some great machine shops (including ones we work with)that specialize in this kind of work.

The goal of the project was to keep the cost to build at around $10-15k, which is cheaper than most custom jobs. This prototype ran closer to $20k, but with improvements on new versions, and the possibility of producing the parts in batch for interested parties, we can continue to keep the cost down.

Of course, cost can vary greatly depending on any additional modifications you might want to make.

Well I guess the idea is that by using Fictiv you should be able to have these parts machined at a relatively low cost.

By the way, I'm always thoroughly impressed by Fictiv's marketing strategy, blog posts, and community outreach. They're doing a great job at making you WANT to use their services.

> They're doing a great job at making you WANT to use their services.

??? You're literally the first person I've seen give that sentiment. Maybe I'm just getting the wrong impression from this "Open-Source Motorcycle" vapourware of theirs.

Thanks, gregscholm, appreciate it!

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