need help

[fireman5166]

well guys I need help with some ideas. my work makes tooling for c&c milling machines. we are looking for ideas to make new products. like c&c heads, c&c throtle bodys. Or anything you can think of. we have a huge milling machine to test our tools. we now would like to turn the machine into something we can make some money on. Here is just a thought but how about a all aluminum swing arm. milled from a solid block. (maybe to heavy or not strong enough?) any thoughts or ideas. please help. I would love to see my job go towards the aftermarket for quads.

[Blair]

love the idea of a billet swing arm... but i would hate to see the cost... billet aint cheap... neither is machining time...

[fireman5166]

well that is what we are trying to figure out. we have the machine and all it does is sit there. would like to see if we can make some parts. parking break block offs, throttle covers. anything. just looking for ideas i can run by the boss. 

[Krandall]

I would say... Start small.

If you're serious about using billet. Here's the things I see a market for.


Gas Caps, Oil Dip Sticks, case plugs like on the sides of the case. Throttle cover, brake fluid cover.

[Colorado700R]

wheel spacers

[Peelz]

wheel spacers

+1

[Krandall]

I think wheel spacers may be tough, I would bet you have to get some sort of insurance for them. I could see if they broke someone sueing if they got hurt

[fireman5166]

yea didn't think of that.

[fireman5166]

here are some pics.

[fireman5166]

sorry crappy cell phone pics.

[Colorado700R]

any, and I mean any product you put on a quad can potentially fail and cause harm to the rider.  Just think about a dune flag, if it snaps and leaves a sharp stub on the mount, then the quad rolls on you.....X(

Or like CCP, if one of his stabs binds up while trail riding at 40 mph X(


I think wheel spacers for all types of quads is a fairly cheap retool for a machine shop, and as long as you use high quality materials, you'll be just fine.

[Krandall]

Someone was looking into doing custom sub frames. They decided not to due to the insurance cost they needed to back the product. That's all I'm thinking of.

[Peelz]

Someone was looking into doing custom sub frames. They decided not to due to the insurance cost they needed to back the product. That's all I'm thinking of.

Yeah, that was because you need limited liabilty insurance. which is sort of expensive. But necessary if you are starting a business. I know who you were talking about.

Betting Fireman's Co. already has that. THey should be ok.

[Colorado700R]

I bet the machine company already has it for the products the already make

[Peelz]

I bet the machine company already has it for the products the already make

+1

But it costs money to make money. So just making subframes in your garage is not really profitable.