For the past few months we've been building up to complete another five Sector 111 Drakans. This means taking inventory, finding out what we need, what we have etc. I typically end up taking care of all the lathe parts which is a big job. The CNC mill we have in the shop runs more or less autonomously. As long as a part is installed properly it will do its thing, sometimes running for 45 minutes at a time or longer between part changes. The lathe on the other hand requires constant attention.

To start each part that is made uses a series of tools that must be manually swapped during the production. So for example, a single part might include a spot drill, drill, internal boring, external facing then a parting operation (pretty common for most parts) which means all of those tools will have to be changed along with redirecting the coolant spray pattern to hit the cutting insert on each tool. A run of parts can range from 5 or 6 to 250 or more which means one run of parts can require well over 1000 tool changes! On top of that the tools ware much faster than mill tools and the length of stock in the machine causes different harmonics that cause tools to remove more or less material so it is not uncommon to have to add or subtract .001" of an inch or more every now and then to keep things dialed in. Once they are all made they are all deburred to knock off any sharp edges and sent off to plating to be turned into beautiful finished parts.

Fortunately all the tool changes and measuring will be coming to an end by this week or early next week. Pictured above are the parts I've been able to check off my list over the past few days. Suspension bushings and suspension bushing inserts were all wrapped up Monday and Tuesday. Components for control arms and brake master cylinders (which will need to have the bore honed after plating) got checked off my list last Thursday and Friday. I’m looking forward to no longer getting sprayed with coolant and thousand degree chips of metal, for a bit at least.