CSR1000 Project Build

The next axis is the profile. A new template;
 
Using the hand held hot-wire for this;
 

and that's pretty much as far as I can go with the hot-wire cutting.I will have to trim about 8mm or so off the bottom to compensate for the seam but that'll be later. Now its free hand time.
This is the scary bit. Easy to take off,not so easy to put it on again;
 

Sorry. Not axis. Plane or shape?? Not sure of the proper language for this process. Doing my best though.

Ended up with some sharp edges on the front of the tank. From what I understand,carbon fiber doesn't like sharp edges,so I glued in some foam to thicken it out. The front and rear ends of the tank come together and end with the seam/flange.I've discounted the flange on the foam block but I still have to try and thicken it up around these areas. I need to end with a round or a block shape. Something that the carbon can wrap around comfortably ( and also something that will not be too tight or difficult to break the foam out of)
 

This looks a bit better though,I will probably have to do some adjustments. This is just a starting point. Once I've offered it up to the frame,I'll get a better idea of what has to come off;
 

 One of the changes I want to make, I mentioned earlier, is that I want to have the aircraft style fuel cap set into the tank and sitting flush. I've raised a section of the top of the tank to give a level area to mount the cap;
 

Here you can see the raised area and also side by side tanks for comparison;
 
 

I'm not sure exactly how to finish the front. I'm having ideas but I would rather ruminate on it a bit more before committing. So far,everything seems to be going ok. I've been going at it bit by bit in small chunks so as not to take too much off and the outside shape is a lot easier to work on than the tunnel.
 The next stage will be to offer it up to the frame and see how it sits. Apart from having it sit down to the right level on the frame, I also have to think about the turn radius of the handlebars, making sure they don't hit the front of the tank on full lock. There's also the seat to think about.I don't want to have to mess around with that,so I need a reasonably good meeting point at the back of the tank.(Again without the sharpe edge of the flange).

Coming along nicely, it's worth taking the time to get it exactly how you want it. Doing it this way without a mould means you only get one shot 

Once you are satisfied with the shape, perhaps you could have a 3D rendering made so that the foam shape could be replicated with a laser cutter or mayhaps a 3D printer that could print with an appropriate material.

wrote:

Once you are satisfied with the shape, perhaps you could have a 3D rendering made so that the foam shape could be replicated with a laser cutter or mayhaps a 3D printer that could print with an appropriate material.


 

             I did think about this a while ago. I'm sure there is technology for this kind of thing out there but I'm just a 20th century boy and that is a whole different world. I would have to give everything over to somebody else to scan it,render it and god knows what else. Wheres the fun in that?!!
 Wookie 58 had a good idea about using the earlier fiberglass molds to create a foam tank. At first I thought this was not possible but I've been cogitating on it and I reckon it might work. I have the molds already,sitting there doing nothing,so,I might experiment with that idea. Like I said before,this is a winter project. I'm in no hurry. I've got all winter.
 For now, I'm concentrating on the 'foam block' tank. Once that's shaped,looking good and fitting right, I'm going to have a break,as I'm still figuring out the actual carbon fiber/resin situation. I might have a go making another tank 'blank' with the fiberglass molds and builders foam. See which one comes out best.

Trying the tank on the frame for the first time.Sitting way too high;
 
Needs a bit of adjusting front and rear;
 
I trimmed  1 cm off the bottom of the foam to compensate for the seam;
 
It still wont fit. I've got to carve out some more from the tunnel. The problem is,with the engine in place ,I cant get my head in to see where the foam is touching the frame.This is a bit of a challenge.

A bit more work on the top of the tank and the raised filler cap area;
 

I've still not decided on the shape at the front of the tank. Something like this looks good,I think;
 
Just a rough idea for now. once its sitting properly on the frame mounts and everything is matching up properly, then I'll finalize the look.

Looking really good, you might find using a small mirror useful to see where it's fouling (I recently did timing chains on my car and due to space limitations I had to do half of the job using a mirror  )

wrote:

Once you are satisfied with the shape, perhaps you could have a 3D rendering made so that the foam shape could be replicated with a laser cutter or mayhaps a 3D printer that could print with an appropriate material.

Genius!

A very cold day to be out messing around with bikes. The fitting is coming along. Its sitting better on the frame now;
 

The joint by the seat still needs work;
 
 

I think this is as good as it gets. You can just about see where I marked the line from the lip of the original tank on the yellow tape. A bigger difference than I was expecting.
 

and after a bit more sanding around the seat joint, its pretty much there. The foam is  a bit squeaky when I put pressure on the front of the seat, so I'll sand a bit more to get rid of that but the shape is good now;
 
 

The front needs more work as the forks are still banging into it on full lock. I marked up where they're hitting so I know where to shave a bit more off. I don't want to lose too much of the original shape,if I can help it;
 

So far, I think I've kept pretty true to the original shape (and size). Seems my sculpting skills are better than I thought. I was worried it would end up out of proportion and lopsided;
 

 Next up is the fuel tap mount. When I originally fitted it, I used a bit too much heat on the alu and when I pressed it into the foam the heat spread out making a hole way too big. You live and learn. Also, since then, I've trimmed a the bottom off the foam tank. So, the tap mount  needed properly re-positioning. As I said before,I originally discounted using builders foam because it cant be dissolved. Now that I'm not planning to dissolve anything, its very handy to use.
I filled up the oversize hole with foam,remounted the tap mount on the jig and just pressed it all together.
 


I also made some adjustments on the front of the tank as the edge was a bit too sharp to wrap the carbon around.
 

Checking and comparing the three mounting points. The front ears, the tail piece and the fuel tap. All now seem good. The bars clear the front of the tank,the fuel tap sits exactly on its spot (with less than 2mm deviation horizontally and vertically!!) The joint between the back of the tank and the front of the seat is even nicer than with the steel tank, I think.


 

Next is to concentrate on the fuel cap area and the final shaping on the front of the tank to get a nice flow to the curves. Then a final sand over everything and that'll be it ready for the laminate.

I made a drill/sander to get the recess I need for the fuel cap. Unfortunately its not easy to control and I ended up with an oval rather than a circle;
 

It also came out a bit deeper than I wanted but that's not too much of a problem as I want to pack plenty of fiber under it to give it strength;


A bit of builders foam and some sanding and its pretty much there;
 

All the hardware on the underside is also sitting nicely;
 

I will need to pull it all out and widen the areas around it slightly to take the peel-ply and a couple of layers of fiber and then bed it all back in again but for the rest, its ready to go.Then a final sanding before laminating.
So thats pretty much it for now. I'm happy with the result. I think it came out better than I expected.I hope I can do as good a job on the laminating.