Aluminum Dead Pedal

I had the opportunity to manufacture an aluminum dead pedal for a numerical controls course at the University of Washington.  I figured I could do this and the stainless steel door sills as a final project.  Here are the results for the dead pedal.

Everything started out in the program Solidworks.  This program allowed me to design a 3D model of my part.  The first thing defined was the size of the aluminum stock to be machined.  The final model is shown on the right.

Once the stock dimension were determined, the location of holes were replicated using the pattern functions.  The holes were also repeated.

This shows a cut-away view of what the holes look like.  The diameter and other dimensions can all be specified exactly.

To do the Si logo, I first found an image off the internet and imported it into Solidworks.  Next, I had to trace the logo using exact line and arc dimensions.  I just traced over the image and specified each dimension.  The points needed range from A to X.  These points designate the beginning and end point of each segment.

That pretty much completes the modeling of the pedal.  The outer profile was an estimated cut.  It would be too complicated to try to machine exactly the slant desired.  Its very easy to get something close.

Once the model was complete, I just had to prepare the stock and square the edges and corners.  From there, I just followed my process plan by using the 2-axis CNC mill to locate and tap the center of each hole.  The mill was programmed to find each location.  Next, an appropriate drill size was chosen to drill the small diameter holes.  A chamfered bit was used to create the upper portion of the holes.  Finally, a slightly larger diameter drill was used to clean out each hole.

The advantage of using a CNC mill is being able to etch a logo like this one.  I programmed each point mentioned above, including the beginning and ending points and the radius of each curvature.  I used a 1/8" ball nose cutter to do the etching.  I made a few passes, cutting a little deeper each time until I was satisfied.  And there you have it!

The final product sitting in my car.   I haven't really figured out a way to fix it in the car.  I can either screw it in or maybe use some adhesive or velcro to hold it in.  I saved at least 50 bucks by making this myself.  And it was tons of fun!