MG Metalworks Build

[mgmetalworks]

Originally Posted by REDOVAL

I have a machine that is very similar. Does your setup run a motor with a clutch or a servo control setup allowing you to dial in the speed? Mine runs a standard clutch which is ok for about 90% of the work needed, but for those super intricate pieces the servo setup is killer.

Scott

I upgraded to the servo motor. Small price to pay for the control it gives you.

[mgmetalworks]

Originally Posted by Otter

Bad-a** indeed! I've been sewing all my life and still don't have a setup like that. Nice! Boats are my other hobby and I've made all my own sail covers, boat covers, etc., partly because it's so much cheaper to do it yourself, but more because it's fun to design as you go. Have fun!

It is a lot of fun! My 5 year old daughter loves watching me make the pillows. I can't wait until she's old (coordinated) enough to sew herself.

[BrianW]

Originally Posted by mgmetalworks

I upgraded to the servo motor. Small price to pay for the control it gives you.

Only a bunch of motorheads would bring clutches and motors into a discussion of sewing! :-)

[TomsBeast]

Back in the early 1980's I used to "flip" air-cooled VW's (not the Joey Chitwood show, buy and sell :-) )... Most of them needed seats, as the dried out horse hair stuffing filled your eyes ears and nose if you drove with the windows down. After getting the run around from a couple of upholstery shops, I bought a brand new Brother walking top foot machine (Pfaff knock-off, the standard for the 1980's) so I could do my own auto upholstery/sewing. It turned into a 7 year, part time business for me, pushing over 300 sets of VW seats during that time out of my little garage shop.

Sewing is a little like welding and fabricating I guess, the more you do, the better you get, and if you get out of practice, those skills fade. Maybe sewing is a closer to doing sheetmetal work (the patterns and layout) and a little like running a bandsaw.

You'll be glad you can do it under your own roof!

[skoronesa]

So is the cummins in yet? This is a beast build thread. You sir are living/building my dream.

[mgmetalworks]

Originally Posted by skoronesa

So is the cummins in yet? This is a beast build thread. You sir are living/building my dream.

It is veeeeerrrryyy close to being roadworthy. My to-do list is now under 30 items (ranging from "torque radius arm bolts" to "program CAN gateway"). Some easy things to knock off the list and some rather difficult things to finish up. Kinda the norm around here...

A better place to watch the action is here:
http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...-10952-52.html

Thanks for following along!

[mgmetalworks]

I sold my last set of Sienna seats and mounts a little while back. It was time for a new direction and a new look... So with the Sienna seats out of my life, I started prototyping some adapter brackets to mount these new seats to factory E-series bases.



I'm in love!!!! These baby's are comfy, supportive and designed for long-range travel.

The Sienna seats are nice seats for the price and they're unique with the foot rests...plus the quality of construction and nice leather. However, for my body type the Sienna seat was only comfortable for me for about an hour and then I'd start to fidget all over the place trying to get comfortable. I had to have something much better suited to what we'll be doing with the van and more comfortable and supportive for my back and hips.

Enter Scheel-Mann USA... A German seat company that's been around for a long time with a relatively new distributor in the US (scheel-mann.com). The distributor is local to me and we've been working together on some adapter designs so it made sense to try these out in our van.

My current interior design (iteration #5) has a driver and passenger swivel so I'll be mounting these on the commonly seen swivels that you find through 1der's group buy or other sources. I've got the adapter bracket dialed in so the CAD drawings will be headed to the laser cutter this week. I have to come up with a cover for the seat belt pre-tensioner but that shouldn't be too difficult....just need to have one mounted to figure it out.

Right now I have these demo seats mounted but I've just ordered a custom set for the front and will order the matching set for the rear once the integrated seat belt option is available (this summer). Our custom seats will have adjustable bottom section and side bolsters, plus lumbar support and arm rests then topped off with a color combo to match the Cummins van theme. Super excited about these seats!

[Flux]

@#$&.

I just dropped a grip of change on 4 captains chairs. Those are some beauty seats. Such a pisser that all the really nice stuff comes from europe. The rock and roll seats they make for VW's are amazing. Nothing like that for domestic vans.

Hopefully my qualitex stuff doesn't disappoint.

Really great stuff MG. You engineer some nice bases for those and folks will want em.

[mgmetalworks]

Originally Posted by Flux

@#$&.

I just dropped a grip of change on 4 captains chairs. Those are some beauty seats. Such a pisser that all the really nice stuff comes from europe. The rock and roll seats they make for VW's are amazing. Nothing like that for domestic vans.

Hopefully my qualitex stuff doesn't disappoint.

Really great stuff MG. You engineer some nice bases for those and folks will want em.

Thanks man!

Europe does have some sweet stuff for camper vans. I'm designing some folding seat/bed mechanisms for our vans but I'm on the fence about offering them for sale. A friend and product liability lawyer gave me the run down of "worst case scenario" and how to mitigate risk. Not sure I want to make an insurance guy rich just to sell a few seats.

[86Scotty]

The sad truth........