BLF GT custom handle bracket kit. (DBCustom approved. Post #121)

This must be either raw aluminum of a very soft alloy. These are 60-61 T6 which I have handled a great deal for over a decade. It absolutely will not stain your hands or cause any sort of odor.

My experience come from handling old lawn chairs, rolled sheeting used as roofing and side panels sections on utility & travel trailers, older power tools (cast? Not (carbon) worn brushes) so that makes sense. Anodize and extruded has no affect. Sheet goods, most does not bother me. I still wear gloves if I have to handle bare aluminum more than open/close the truck box type. For years I would not drink soda or beer from the can. It was always from the bottle. It tasted better in glass containers anyway.

Now, back on topic of the handle.

Though it looks very sturdy indeed, I’m wondering if the handle were able to recess into the 4mm wide heat fines a bit whether it would be even more sturdy or probably not worth the extra work.?
I am definitely interested in possibly 2.

Added a little shine to one.

Looks real classy, still interested in 2 :+1:

Are they done yet!! :slight_smile:

Very nice indeed Tbc!! :+1: . Looking good…… :beer:

A look on a GT.

Next we have a new feature I found tonight that I’m sure I must have been secretly planning for months and hiding it from myself.

The “peanut” can simply be flipped aside and lightly tightened and in the hand it’s almost like it’s not even there. Sure as hell doesn’t add and weight to this monster.

Edit: This is also the first and last polished version y’all can figure that stuff out yourselves if you want shiny.

Like the shiny. Very nice.

Hey folks, be forewarned… if you are planning on radiusing and polishing this bracket you need to spend some quality time at the gym until you get it, take your Vitamin C and be on your A game, because this aluminum is some seriously tough stuff! He must have used 7075 here, I’ve got very little experience with the top grade alloy but I have a lot of experience with 6061 and 6061 this is not! I used my belt sander with a 150 grit belt and this was like carving on a piece of steel, slow and monotonous! Sanding it down by hand after getting a pretty good radius cut, the resulting powder tells me this is some very hard aluminum! It does polish nicely though with some Mother’s Billet Polish, but getting it down to that final stage before polish is a chore!

I’ve been sick over a week, am definitely not on my A game, so I’ll have to revisit this later and try to finish it up, but just wanted y’all to know this bracket is as overbuilt as the GT itself!

Happy modding! :smiley:

I have a friend who’s daily attire is a Tyvek suit. He specializes in polishing stainless (and aluminum)
Guess what he’ll be getting :smiley:

If need be, the pieces will be radius’d before he gets it.
Looks good! :+1:

It’s 6061 T6. It’s all about the temper.

Looking sharp Dale!
Hopefully you’ll feel better soon to polish out the latest minor scratches, but still, looking good!

Turningbluechips, When and where can we order it? :wink:

All my aluminum I machine lights from is 6061-T6 from online metals.com, complete with certification sheets. The only aluminum I’ve found as hard as this is a piece of 7075 I used to mount a sheet of Titanium when I re-created the plate they screwed to my spine. I’ve got a 55gal drum full of 6061 T6 shavings, I’ve worked it by hand quite a bit too, this just seemed much different, much more resilient.

Edit: Glutton for punishment that I am, the bracket polishing got me started and after lunch I got busy with a piece of Titanium… the presentation side of my SpydieChef! :slight_smile: Had to flame it when done polishing, of course… :wink:

If only Aluminum were as easy to anodize…

You’re probably used to finishing parts you have turned. Just the heat from turning will soften the metal quite a bit. There is no heat with the waterjet.

Sink a drill bit into it and you’ll quickly find out it’s not 7075. That stuff chips up. This will make strings.

I was making stuff for lights by hand quite a while before the lathe came my way. Used to hack saw off a chunk from bar stock, drill it and tap it, mount it to my drill with a bolt in the end and spin it up (very slowly) using the cordless drill, carve off what wasn’t staying with a rotary tool in the other hand. Or file it down and sand it, no heat at all. The Old Lumens way. :wink:

Regardless, I was surprised at how tough the material for this bracket is.

My first real experience with 6061 came in the form of a 1/2” rod 2’ long that I was going to use to make a video rig for my camera. I figured I’d bolt it to a 15” car wheel and bend it around the wheel to form a curve. Ended up using a 12” handled 8 lb sledge and about 30 minutes of hard labor to force this skinny rod around the 15” curve, flat couldn’t believe aluminum could be so dang strong! And no real hammer marks on it either, in spite of the furious pounding I gave it with that little sledgehammer head. 6061 or not, either way the bracket is probably stout enough to break the 1/4” bolt, wouldn’t surprise me at all.

I know this is a old thread but did these ever go on sale? If so where and how much? If not I’ll just draw one out and have my water jet guy cut me one real quick then i will turn me a handle real quick. Just too many other projects and looking for a quicker option. Looks great.

I’d like to know that too

This thread pretty much faded into oblivion. I was really interested in one of these last year. Are they for sale?

It just kinda stopped all of a sudden. No mention of where this idea went. It seemed like a good one. Nice design. Functional.