Thought you guys might like to see the new TROPHYLITE truck being built. This is the first one that has been laser cut and CNC bent from the 3D CAD work we did. Pretty cool....

More...

Again More.

That is pretty cool...

Once Again

How are you doing the notches?

laser cut notches

How are you laying out the notches in solidoworks and then getting it the the notcher?

I have been solidworks for awhile and have trouble laying out tube work.

Any pointers?

How are you laying out the notches in solidoworks and then getting it the the notcher?

I have been solidworks for awhile and have trouble laying out tube work.

Any pointers?

Set up your center line between the center line of the two other pieces of tubing "extrude" the anulus "to surface". Once you export that individual tube to a drawing you will have the angle(s) of each notch and your clocking position.
Atleast that is how I do it.

Edit: When you "extrude to surface" make sure you select "both directions".

looks very cool!

Set up your center line between the center line of the two other pieces of tubing "extrude" the anulus "to surface". Once you export that individual tube to a drawing you will have the angle(s) of each notch and your clocking position.
Atleast that is how I do it.

Edit: When you "extrude to surface" make sure you select "both directions".

So are you making each tube a different part? Then putting them in a big assembly. How can you make the notch if the piece you are making the notch to is a different part?

Any hope of a "weld it yourself" Trophylite kit for us poor folks? :shaking:

who is doing the laser cut tubes? Could be interesting and time saving to be able to desing an entire vehicle in cad, send the file to you and just pick up a pile of tube ready to be built...

Once Again

Hey Travis:flipoff2:

Awesome work. :smokin:

laser cut notches

That is cool. I'd love to see how that is done.
I can cut and bend the tube for my chassis in about 2 days, but with the notching and fitting it takes over a week. But I'm also just doing them in the garage with Bend Tech Pro and a manual bender :p

So are you making each tube a different part? Then putting them in a big assembly. How can you make the notch if the piece you are making the notch to is a different part?

Yes. This isnt necessary to model a entire cage for fitment but if you want to be able to extract individual tubes from a drawing/assembly, this is the way that I learned. You basically start your assembly with one tube and build the rest of the cage by adding the part (tube) to the assembly. I will try to find some pictures.

More pictures of this BA truck! Any pictures of the CNC bender or laser cutter set up for tube?

Edit: Would you mind sharing where you obtained the human model? Is it available online or did you guys create it. I have seen a couple others but they did not look that clean.

looking good! that is just one BIG puzzle. :D

How are you laying out the notches in solidoworks and then getting it the the notcher?

I have been solidworks for awhile and have trouble laying out tube work.

Any pointers?
Call me and I can show you. Its not too hard once you know the little tricks.... The system will let you extrude the tube over a line and then help you do the trimming and everything. You have to build a library of tube profiles to make it all work.... Again not too hard but TIME CONSUMING..... PM me if you want....

Any hope of a "weld it yourself" Trophylite kit for us poor folks? :shaking:
Not likely.... SPEC class.... They need to be built in the fixtures to make them right..... We do have a roller chassis kit you can do if you want to save some money.... Let me know....

Yes. This isnt necessary to model a entire cage for fitment but if you want to be able to extract individual tubes from a drawing/assembly, this is the way that I learned. You basically start your assembly with one tube and build the rest of the cage by adding the part (tube) to the assembly. I will try to find some pictures.

More pictures of this BA truck! Any pictures of the CNC bender or laser cutter set up for tube?

Edit: Would you mind sharing where you obtained the human model? Is it available online or did you guys create it. I have seen a couple others but they did not look that clean.
YouTube - TROPHYLITE new Laser Cut chassis work (http://www.youtube.com/trophylite)

Check this out. The laser cutting....

I got the seat and human from MasterCraft Seats... One of the TROPHYLITE sponsors....

Hey Dan, enjoyed talking to you at V2R. Greg you need to a post a pic of a TrophyLite in a barrel. When we recieve the tubes.

YouTube - TROPHYLITE new Laser Cut chassis work (http://www.youtube.com/trophylite)

Check this out. The laser cutting....

I got the seat and human from MasterCraft Seats... One of the TROPHYLITE sponsors....

Wow that really is awesome! I am guessing that the machine is also scribing a tube "number" into the surface. Any close up shots of how that turns out? Does it weaken the tubing at all?

Wow that really is awesome! I am guessing that the machine is also scribing a tube "number" into the surface. Any close up shots of how that turns out? Does it weaken the tubing at all?
It is just etching a part number. No it dosent get into the material really at all. Its more like when you scotchbrite the tube, but in this case just a part number thats shiny. I will post a picture of one. Its hard to see in the pictures.

YouTube - TROPHYLITE new Laser Cut chassis work (http://www.youtube.com/trophylite)

Check this out. The laser cutting....

I got the seat and human from MasterCraft Seats... One of the TROPHYLITE sponsors....

Fawsome! Looks like we're on the verge of a tinkertoy chassis revolution. (Meant in a good way.) Hell, with that kind of repeatability you could almost use it to start your own off-road spec racing class.

Nice.

Yes. This isnt necessary to model a entire cage for fitment but if you want to be able to extract individual tubes from a drawing/assembly, this is the way that I learned. You basically start your assembly with one tube and build the rest of the cage by adding the part (tube) to the assembly. I will try to find some pictures.

More pictures of this BA truck! Any pictures of the CNC bender or laser cutter set up for tube?

Edit: Would you mind sharing where you obtained the human model? Is it available online or did you guys create it. I have seen a couple others but they did not look that clean.

this is how i did all of my builds.

the cool thing is if ou change i demension then all the peices update automatically (if fully defined).

looking good.......travis any pics of your beautiful weld beads?

Thanks for sharing.

On the tubes that are both CNC bent and laser notched, which process is done first? I'd be interested in hearing of any good shops that can do CNC tube bending as well. I've looked around a little and haven't found any good shops to send work to.

Fawsome! Looks like we're on the verge of a tinkertoy chassis revolution. (Meant in a good way.) Hell, with that kind of repeatability you could almost use it to start your own off-road spec racing class.

Nice.

Are you making an attempt at sarcasm? Cause I'm pretty sure TrophyLite IS a spec racing class.:homer: