Making shims

[steve wood]

Iv’e had several people ask about buying my shim building tools. I am posting pics of how i make head and liner shims so people can ask themselves if they can make them and is it worthrrtr it(no it’s not)first pic is26 sets of head shims in a clamp with aluminum sacrificial plates on top and bottom of shim stack(you have to have these) pic 2 is the stack in drill jig used to drill for 10-24 bolts, pic 3 is the stack loaded in cnc mill fixture ( yes you need a cnc mill)pic is probe touching off top of shim stack,next pic shows finished bore, next pic shows the stack bolted down through bore ready to turn od,last pic is of completed shims. Now yOu just have to separate all the shims and place the in bags. At this point i have about 4 hours invested, if nothing goes wrong. If you get to aggressive milling the od,and kick the pack off,even a little,they are junk and you get to start over.
i used to do these on a lathe, but it takes a lot longer and doesn’t do as good a job. Cnc is the only way to go

 

[Mike Hughes]

I can concur. Doing small batches is not worth it with the time involved. I have done some in the past for myself. Doing them on a lathe.
Mike

 

[Bradley Maglinger]

Iv’e had several people ask about buying my shim building tools. I am posting pics of how i make head and liner shims so people can ask themselves if they can make them and is it worthrrtr it(no it’s not)View attachment 317270View attachment 317263View attachment 317264View attachment 317265View attachment 317266View attachment 317267View attachment 317268first pic is26 sets of head shims in a clamp with aluminum sacrificial plates on top and bottom of shim stack(you have to have these) pic 2 is the stack in drill jig used to drill for 10-24 bolts, pic 3 is the stack loaded in cnc mill fixture ( yes you need a cnc mill)pic is probe touching off top of shim stack,next pic shows finished bore, next pic shows the stack bolted down through bore ready to turn od,last pic is of completed shims. Now yOu just have to separate all the shims and place the in bags. At this point i have about 4 hours invested, if nothing goes wrong. If you get to aggressive milling the od,and kick the pack off,even a little,they are junk and you get to start over.
i used to do these on a lathe, but it takes a lot longer and doesn’t do as good a job. Cnc is the only way to go

Thanks for sharing Steve, appreciate everything you have done to help the hobby over the years.

 

[Tom Foley]

Nice process !

 

[Wasted wages]

Always made mine in a lathe also...

Simple centering pin bolted thru a square of 1/4" marine grade plywood with double sided sticky tape on it. Chuck it in the lathe,
Stick the shim stock on, use an extremely sharp cut off tool, cut to size...
Takes a slow steady feed rate.

Not fancy, but gets the job done for one off
shims..

 

[Danny King]

Great post. Thanks for sharing. And thank you for all you have done over the years.

 

[Timbo Whalen]

Doggone it, Steve...are you sure you want to get out of the rc boat parts business?.... It seems like now we'll have to run all CMB equipment for parts support reasons, and one of the sources is rumored to be selling to only people they want to.

Maybe Al Hobbs will come to the rescue with his global connections.

Steve, please check your messages.

Thanks-

Tim

 

[dave roach]

I have two fixtures for the lathe one for the ID and the other for the OD.I can make any size.

Dave

 

[Timbo Whalen]

I have two fixtures for the lathe one for the ID and the other for the OD.I can make any size.

Dave

Thanks, Dave.