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Group buy: steering wheel button plate
rodgling - 23/7/15 at 09:24 AM

I'm going to get a plate made up for my steering wheel buttons. I've done the CAD (see below) and will get it CNC'd out of carbon fibre, so it should look really nice.

Doing it this way means that there's a lump of tool setup cost, but per-unit cost is quite low.

So - if anyone wants one let me know. If I get one made I think it will cost about £40-50, this will drop a decent amount if I have more done.

Design: this is to suit the OMP Kubic wheel which has quite wide spokes, so it will work with most wheels. Has holes for 4 x 13mm buttons.


peter030371 - 23/7/15 at 09:43 AM

If it had 8 holes for buttons I might have been interested but 4 is no good for me :-(

[Edited on 23/7/15 by peter030371]


loggyboy - 23/7/15 at 12:56 PM

Might be interested, price would need to a lot lower as off the shelf ally ones are about £35.

[Edited on 23-7-15 by loggyboy]


rodgling - 23/7/15 at 01:58 PM

I think even with only two or three it's probably going to be closer to £25, material cost is quite a small proportion compared to tooling / setup cost.

Plus it's CF so you could save literally several grams of weight :-)


Rosco86 - 23/7/15 at 02:05 PM

i would say if you found a friendly laser cutter they shouldn't be costing you more than £10 but they wouldn't look as good as carbon


DW100 - 23/7/15 at 02:08 PM

You might need it cut from reasonably thick carbon to be able to get a radius on the edge that doesn't slice your hands as you turn the steering wheel.


Charlie_Zetec - 23/7/15 at 03:44 PM

quote:
Originally posted by DW100
You might need it cut from reasonably thick carbon to be able to get a radius on the edge that doesn't slice your hands as you turn the steering wheel.


Was also thinking that. Plus you'd want to know the composition ie. 100% CF or glass backing. And the rear of the material would ideally have to be sanded smooth and uniform thickness throughout to make it nice. Sounds silly, but even 0.Xmm difference across the thickness of the material will have an effect on it, and the sandwiching of it between steering wheel and boss.


rodgling - 29/7/15 at 08:13 AM

Prototype turned up yesterday, 39 grams of CF goodness. Obviously the wires need tidying up but I think it will do the job nicely.




peter030371 - 29/7/15 at 08:22 AM

Who cut it for you? I might still get an 8 button version done for my wheel


rodgling - 29/7/15 at 08:27 AM

Arc Angels. Very good turn around time - I sent them a DXF file, got this back a couple of days later.

They will do the design for you if you don't fancy doing the CAD yourself I think, obviously that will cost though.


peter030371 - 29/7/15 at 09:12 AM

quote:
Originally posted by rodgling
Arc Angels. Very good turn around time - I sent them a DXF file, got this back a couple of days later.

They will do the design for you if you don't fancy doing the CAD yourself I think, obviously that will cost though.


Cheers for that, I can do the design myself if I go down this route :-) What thickness CF have you gone for and does it flex much once bolted to the wheel?


rodgling - 29/7/15 at 09:24 AM

Can't remember thickness, think about 4-5 mm. I didn't specify it, I just told them the application and they said "OK, we'll use this spec of CF". There is next to no flex at all, it's very stiff and more than strong enough.


peter030371 - 29/7/15 at 10:33 AM

I will draw up what I need and give them a call then


lsdweb - 29/7/15 at 11:10 AM

I'd be interested. The off the shelf ones have a small hole near the switch hole for a cable tie to secure the cabling. Any chance this could be incorporated?

Ta

Wyn


FuryRebuild - 29/7/15 at 05:13 PM

did they laser or water jet cut it?


rodgling - 29/7/15 at 08:43 PM

quote:
Originally posted by lsdweb
I'd be interested. The off the shelf ones have a small hole near the switch hole for a cable tie to secure the cabling. Any chance this could be incorporated?

Ta

Wyn


It certainly could, just apply a drill to it? I don't plan to modify the design as then one-off costs go up.

It's CNC'd.

Price will be £29, assuming 2 or more people definitely want one. Currently trying to source buttons, but it looks like a set of 4 would be £12.


rodgling - 2/8/15 at 07:47 PM

Installed it on my car today, looks good. Had a quick test drive and it seems to do the job nicely.


RogerM - 3/8/15 at 11:32 AM

They look very nice and definitely better than sinking a button into the spokes of the wheels as has previously been done on my car

One question, what on earth are you connecting 4 buttons to?

I've been thinking about it and I can only think of horn and lap button if you have a user operated timer on your dash.


rodgling - 3/8/15 at 03:04 PM

quote:
Originally posted by RogerM
One question, what on earth are you connecting 4 buttons to?


They're for controlling the dash (RaceTechnology Dash2Pro) - menu, select, up, down. Could probably make use of more buttons to be honest.


peter030371 - 10/8/15 at 10:53 AM

quote:
Originally posted by RogerM
They look very nice and definitely better than sinking a button into the spokes of the wheels as has previously been done on my car

One question, what on earth are you connecting 4 buttons to?

I've been thinking about it and I can only think of horn and lap button if you have a user operated timer on your dash.


I will be fitting 8 wheel mounted buttons on my new Striker build 4 to controll the Dash2 as rodgling is doing and then left indicator, right indicator, horn and main beam.....if I could fit more in I would (lights, fog lights etc) but i need to leave some room for my hands inside the steering wheel