When Dennis Boring wanted to add twin turbochargers to his custom motorcycle, he needed a mounting bracket that would be durable and look as good as the rest of the bike. Dennis turned to Big Blue Saw for help in creating it.
He began by creating a 3D CAD model of the upgrades.
Below is the turbo bracket isolated from the rest of the model.
This was then exported to a 2D DXF file for Big Blue Saw to use.
Dennis also tested the fit of the design on the actual motorcycle using plywood parts he cut on his own laser cutter.
Satisfied with the fit, he ordered the pieces to be waterjet cut from 0.135 inch thick stainless steel 316 using our online quoting system.
The pieces were fit together and TIG welded in place before final installation.
Here's what Dennis had to say about Big Blue Saw:
The first step was to fabricate the turbo support bracket from the pieces I had waterjet cut at Big Blue Saw which you can go check out at http://www.bigbluesaw.com/ .
They have you upload your DXF file(s) to their website, pick the material used, the thickness, and any further processing or finishing and then provide a detailed quote for the work. Nest your parts tight and fill in all the space you can for the best pricing. The workmanship is beyond compare! I recommend them 100% for any waterjet process needs.
If you want to install your own custom twin turbos, or are just interested in finding out more, Dennis's website is The Original Flapper Adapter and his contact information is available there.
2019 is the International Year of the Periodic Table, and Big Blue Saw is ready to serve you with all the right elements. Big Blue Saw is starting off the year with discounts on custom parts from 3 of our most popular stock materials, made from some amazing atoms. We have both aluminum 6061 and stainless steel 304 on sale during the month of January.
Monday, January 7-Wednesday, January 9: Save on 0.5 inch (½") thick aluminum 6061
Monday, January 14-Wednesday, January 16: Save on 0.12 inch thick stainless steel 304
Monday, January 21-Wednesday, January 23: 0.16 inch aluminum 6061
All orders placed online for the sale materials during the sale period will automatically receive a quantity discount. That means that when you order as little as one part, you get the same price as if you had ordered 10.
Aluminum 6061, is our most popular material. Its primary component is, of course, aluminum, element 13. But it gains extra strength by being alloyed with its periodic table neighbors magnesium (element 12) and silicon (element 14).
Next is stainless steel 304. As the name suggests, it's mostly made of iron, element 26. But by blending iron with a healthy amount of chromium (24) and nickel (28), it becomes corrosion resistant stainless steel and able to stand up to harsh environments.
Ready to order? Upload your design now to order waterjet cut parts online!
If you're like many of our customers, you have questions about ordering from us. We've put together a list of Frequently Asked Questions to eliminate uncertainty and banish bewilderment. This has been a feature of our website from early on, but thanks to the diligent work of Customer Advocate Julie Simancek, we have recently added answers to many more of the most common questions we hear. Check them out:
And be sure to visit our full list of FAQs for the answers to more questions. Need to know something that's not in the FAQ list? Just email us at info@bigbluesaw.com or contact us via our contact page.
Before he became world famous as the builder of HUGE, Jonathan Schultz was a senior in college who had never built a single robot. In 2016, he turned to Big Blue Saw to provide the parts for Duck Yeah, a 30 pound robot which fought at the Franklin Institute and Motorama events.
I designed it after similar robots like Shaka that also compete in the 30lb Featherweight class in the northeast. The main difference that I tried to go for was to not pack electronics under the front wedge like similar competitors, but to have it be a breakaway wedge leaving smaller wedgelets underneath. And to have the wedgelets be breakaway from super thick front panels.
This worked well in competition, keeping all opponents from digging into the main chassis at all, leaving the internals untouched even though it suffered some fairly brutal losses. I just didn't account for how little grip the tires would have, resulting in opponents not being able to actually climb the wedge to get to the disk often. And a motor exploded just from general shock and vibration of combat.
Duck Yeah's 2016 appearance
I brought it to the 2016 Franklin Institute event first, but it was unfinished and suffered reliability problems. I then brought it to Motorama 2017, and did well, getting a 3-2 record.
Duck Yeah in action vs Poncho at Motorama in 2017
Who says fighting robots aren't educational? Jonathan's Senior project presentation.
In its final fight, its disk got smashed to bits and I've spent the couple years since focusing on Huge-related stuff. I may drag it back out in the coming months, it still runs and drives fine, just needs a disk.
The price of experience
Duck Yeah and Huge (not HUGE)
Various CAD designs for Duck Yeah's parts
Here's Big Ripto, Kyle Singer's 30 pound combat robot. Big Blue Saw helped supply the business end of this machine: the cutting disc low-taper waterjet cut from ⅞ inch thick S7 tool steel.
Since S7 is not a material we typically offer, Kyle sent us a piece to work from.
He designed the entire robot using Alibre Design CAD software.
Have a look at Big Ripto's big disc doing its thing against Duck Yeah! at Motorama Robot Conflict in 2017. Incidentally, Duck Yeah! also was built with parts custom made by Big Blue Saw.
A closeup of the disc and some of the damage it did:
Can we cut metals for you like S7 that are not on our list of standard materials? Usually, yes! Just contact us to get the process started.