homebrewedcomponents.com will be down for scheduled maintenance

i’m changing web hosts so http://www.homebrewedcomponents.com will be down for the evening, including email. sorry for the inconvenience!
Dan

Product Updates!

major product updates:

After just finally getting caught up after the holiday rush and a couple group buys, i took today to tinker with some designs i’ve been working on.

I changed the design of my cogs a bit. My splines are shaped more in the typical fashion, similar to Chris King’s. This is to avoid confusion, as i always get asked if they’re compatible with Shimano type hubs. The spline is still CNC milled, and will be pretty much the same fit. There is extra clearance in some areas to allow for the radius, but not where it will effect fit at all. They will still be just as round. This will take effect on all cogs.

Also, i redesigned my 2 piece cogs. I widened the base a hair, and i now use stainless steel pins to hold the teeth to the aluminum hub. It’s stronger, and the weight difference is only about 4g (mostly from widening the base). It also helps me control quality a little better.

Lastly, I have been playing with engraving the chainrings. It’s a little bit if a hassle, but i’m working on dialing it in. What do you guys think?

Turkey Day Pre-Dinner Annual Ride, Tradition in the making!

Here’s a note from my riding buddy Kurt. Join in, and spread the word to other Socal riders! This will be a mixed group, so everyone is invited. The more the merrier!
Email me at sales@homebrewedcomponents.com if you have any questions.

Looking to get out for an early morning MTB ride before eating waaaay too much? A few buddies and I want to get a North County tradition started, modeled after the Turkey Day ride up in the Bay Area which draws nearly 400 people – all riding to the top of a peak with tons of food and drink. More info on that one here:

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=574879

We’re going to meet at the fountain in the town square of San Elijo Hills (google 1225 San Elijo Road, San Marcos, CA for directions), departing at 7AM, so be there a little early. We’ll ride to the top of Frank’s Peak, which has an incredible 360 degree view of the North County. Although it’s too late notice to bring food this year, feel free to bring a couple of your favorite beers or whatnot to consume once we reach the top. Expect to be done and back to the cars by around 9-9:30.

Please spread the word to anyone not on this list. Hope to see you out there!

Kurt G.

Added a couple things to the site

Well, i added a couple things to the website….first being the option for 1/8″ wide chainrings and cogs for those of you who run 1/8″ chains.
The second item is the singlespeed chainring and lightweight bashring for the Sram XX crankset.
I know alot of you been asking about this, so here it is!

10% off everything!

10% off sale, starting tomorrow at noon (PST). Ends when i say so 😀

Prices will be discounted, so no stupid promo codes to enter.

Also, i will be adding 1/8″ cogs and chainrings to the site shortly. Also, the new Sram XX singlespeed chainring and bashring will be added.

It’s been a long time….

It’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog. Things have been so crazy since i reopened that i really just haven’t had time. As some of you might have read on MTBR, i had a few equipment setbacks that really threw a wrench in things, but all that seems to be ironed out and I’m just about caught up. In fact, this week i expect to be ahead of schedule if progress keeps moving the way is has.
Anodizing was one of the issues, but i seemed to have found a reliable way to keep at the right temperature, which has made all the difference in the world. It’s amazing how much smoother things go once you don’t have to constantly mess with something.
Also, the toolchanger on my mill died recently. Normally i would say “no big deal, i’ll just change tools by hand”. Well, the power drawbar is part of the toolchanger, meaning i couldn’t even get the tools out of the spindle. What a headache that was. This toolchanger was the last thing on the mill that still had 30 year old electronics. I had integrated it in to the new controller before i reopened and it was working ok, but occasionally it was a bit quirky. It appears that alot of the solder joints were broken and one, being a snubber capacitor, caused a relay to contact weld itself closed, and “let the smoke out” in a blaze of sparks and glory.
At this point, i decided it was time to do what i had been planning to do after i caught up on work, which was gut all the old logic boards in the toolchanger and throw in a bunch of solid state relays then control them with my cnc controller. This makes for a much more reliable setup since all the logic is done in a program created by a ladder diagram, so there is little to no physical components to burn up. Also, i was able to custom tune the timing of everything to dial it in so it is now MUCH faster and doesn’t throw tools anymore.

Lastly, if you read all that, you deserve a prize. I will be offering 20% off solid titanium cogs for a limited quantity with a guarantee that they will go in the mail within 2 weeks of purchase*. I need to limit the quantity so i can keep that promise, so make sure you get in before the deal runs out.
Enter promo code MTBR at checkout for the discount.

*promise is only for the cog. If you’re ordering more than just the ti cogs, it may affect the delivery date.

Web Store Now Open!

Yep, about time… my web store is officially open. It’s a little crude right now as it’s still under construction, but it is fully functionable.
www.homebrewedcomponents.com

IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!

I had some issues with my web host recently, and i lost all new and old emails from when i switched my email client from POP3 to IMAP (a few weeks ago). Also, i switched my email address to sales@homebrewedcomponents.com so please dont use my old email address anymore, i will not get it as the domain expired.
If you are awaiting a response from me, please resend your last email because i probably didnt see it.
Sorry for the inconvenience!
Dan

Some Shop Photos

Well i’ve been working hard making tooling, building/rebuilding machines, and organizing the shop. Here’s some pictures of what i’ve done. Unfortunately i cant really share the tooling pics because i’m working on a patent for my quick-change pallet system, but machine pics are not a problem.
My floating desk. It swings up to the ceiling in case i need it out of the way for something.

My newly built CNC lathe. This is mostly what took me so long.

FINALLY got a legit air compressor.

My wall of shame..er fame. This is to remind me that i used to have time to ride, and i should make more time to do it. Also in this picture is Tom. He’s a big fan of mine.

A couple more pics of my cnc lathe.

A couple videos of the toolchangers i got working on my cnc lathe and cnc mill. It was a bigger ordeal than i expected. I had to learn to write ladder diagrams. They both do work awesome though, and save me TONS of time. Dont mind all the mess, i had just ran some parts.

OFFICIAL REOPENING DATE!!!!!

Ok, after a loooong hiatis to get machines, tooling, and buisness stuff in order for more production, i am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The biggest things are done and out of the way, and all that’s left is stuff that isnt exactly rocket surgery. Or brain science.
REALLY looking forward to reopening. I have the date set for MARCH 8, 2010.
I’d like it to be sooner, but i have family visiting at the end of Feb and it just makes more sense to wait till they leave. I’d really like to spend some time with them since it’s really been quite a while.
Stay tuned for pictures and videos!