red1980F150 Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Hey all, My 1980, Elain, still had the original sliding locks on the inside of the door - both were broken, of course. Being new to the Bullnose scene I hadn't realized that they were impossible to find but I saw lots on converting to the post style. Well, I build metal 3D printing machines and sensors for a living so decided to go another route, namely reverse engineering them and making some nice new metal units that bolt together rather than relying on some crappy plastic weld thing. Just for a refresher in case you don't have the sliding locks, here's the backside of the original part with the broken plastic tabs: The machines I make use a process called laser powder bed fusion, we essentially take a software representation of a part, slice it into layers, and weld the entire thing one very thin layer at a time by melting (and welding) powderized metal. In this case I used a relatively pedestrian Aluminum alloy. Anyway, using a handy set of digital calipers and a CAD package I reverse engineered the original part. I'm making new sliders and a new bezel. The metal spring that holds in the door from the original part will be reused, except I'll wobble out the holes to put 8/32 bolts through. Here are the parts as they come out of the LPBF machine The company logo on there are some friends of mine, no real connection to the project. I did a little bead blasting next to remove loose aluminum powder and clean the parts up a little. Here is how they look right now. Notice the little Ford spelled out on the slider. On this last picture, below, you can see I've modified the back of the bezel and put holes in for the 8/32 bolts There is a little bit of deformation on the bezels because I had a slight oversight when designing the manufacturing process, you can see the warping towards the top of the bezels in the above picture. That's something I could easily prevent if I build them again. Anyway, this is a fresh project and you're looking at the current state of the parts. I plan to update the thread as I remove the parts from the build plate and get them installed. I hope you enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 That is really cool! I like that! Have you thought about selling them? I plan to use slide locks on Dad's truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Very cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delco1946 Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Very cool! Wow, that's very impressive! I second Gary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramttocs Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Well done! Those look really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Well done! Those look really good. It's so cool to see the common problems with these trucks finally being addressed after all of these years. Great work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorty Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 It's so cool to see the common problems with these trucks finally being addressed after all of these years. Great work! Awesome. Took me forever to find two used ones on eBay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red1980F150 Posted February 24, 2021 Author Share Posted February 24, 2021 Thanks guys. I didn't get much done today but did get them off the build plate. The little aluminum pillars break off really easy so they won't be a problem really. Still, I wish I changed the angle I built the sliders at a little bit so there were no columns on the front face that people will see... now I'll have to carefully polish that area, adding some time to the project for sure. Basically, this manufacturing process doesn't like doing too steep of an overhang, the limit is typically near 40 degrees. I built these at 55 degrees, if I backed that off to 45 I probably could have avoided the pillars on the front side of the sliders. Learning more for next time, I guess. I would love to help you guys do these for your trucks! The only problem is the manufacturing process is so dang expensive. These parts took about 14 hours to build and typically guys will charge near $25 per hour, plus Argon usage and material (Argon plus material will probably be around $80). The best way to save money is to combine multiple orders onto a single build process. That 14 hours may go to something like 18 so you definitely get some savings. I have a machine with a 10 inch square plate that uses a copper alloy for rocket engines, I could probably fit 4 or 5 orders on it if y'all don't mind copper (I for one think that would be awesome). I also have some NIckel-contaminated copper powder that should build fine, but isn't useful for any critical aerospace jobs, so it should be close to free. If we can get a group together then let me know what embedded logos or lettering you want and where you want it. We can remove NAMPros and put anything... anywhere, because I made the design. **EDIT** I just remembered the copper builds about 25% faster too, so that knocks the cost down some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 Thanks guys. I didn't get much done today but did get them off the build plate. The little aluminum pillars break off really easy so they won't be a problem really. Still, I wish I changed the angle I built the sliders at a little bit so there were no columns on the front face that people will see... now I'll have to carefully polish that area, adding some time to the project for sure. Basically, this manufacturing process doesn't like doing too steep of an overhang, the limit is typically near 40 degrees. I built these at 55 degrees, if I backed that off to 45 I probably could have avoided the pillars on the front side of the sliders. Learning more for next time, I guess. I would love to help you guys do these for your trucks! The only problem is the manufacturing process is so dang expensive. These parts took about 14 hours to build and typically guys will charge near $25 per hour, plus Argon usage and material (Argon plus material will probably be around $80). The best way to save money is to combine multiple orders onto a single build process. That 14 hours may go to something like 18 so you definitely get some savings. I have a machine with a 10 inch square plate that uses a copper alloy for rocket engines, I could probably fit 4 or 5 orders on it if y'all don't mind copper (I for one think that would be awesome). I also have some NIckel-contaminated copper powder that should build fine, but isn't useful for any critical aerospace jobs, so it should be close to free. If we can get a group together then let me know what embedded logos or lettering you want and where you want it. We can remove NAMPros and put anything... anywhere, because I made the design. **EDIT** I just remembered the copper builds about 25% faster too, so that knocks the cost down some. Thanks for that offer, but I think those are out of my league. But it is good to know it can be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorsai Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 Wow, those are nice! Great work. There's got to be a market for those, I'm sure there are people out there who'd like durable sliders on their trucks. I'm still nursing my originals along (the drivers side got JB Welded a couple years ago and is doing fine, the passenger side is original and intact), but if they ever break beyond repair I'll be looking you up. I definitely would NOT want to go to vertical pulls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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