The Fusion Workshop - Dorset

TFW creates a "Fly by Wire" clutch control system for a classic Aston Martin DB5

The car came in to Wren because the owner, having had a bad motorcycle accident back in the 1960s, could not really enjoy driving the car with the weight of the clutch as it was.
Less radical methods to lighten the clutch had been tried, but none could create the light weight feel, with the precision required.

In the latest, and longest, collaboration with long time client Wren Classics - www.wrenclassics.com we have designed and installed a custom clutch actuator that completely replaces the original hydraulic master and slave cylinders with a "Fly By Wire" digital control system.
The software contains over 500 lines of custom code with complete control of responsiveness, speed, bite point control and manual over ride buttons.
The project took 6 months from blank page to handing the car back to a delighted customer.

Read more of the story and how it was done at:
https://thefusionworkshop.co.uk/electronicssoftware.html

The Fusion Workshop enters the world of exotic polymers!
TFW is now the proud owner of a new IDEX (Dual axis) printer capable of the high printing temperatures (300 Deg C) and enclosed print volume required to handle some of the more advanced polymers used in the automotive industry. Polymers such as ASA and Carbon Fibre reinforced Nylon. ASA has been specially developed for harsher outdoor environments and has exceptional resistance to UV light. Nylon+CF is used widely in high temperature applications such as engine inlet manifolds with temperature resistance beyond 180 Deg C depending on the exact blend.
The dual axis enables mixing of not only different colours on the same print, but different materials. An example would be a rigid hub surrounded by a flexible outer layer all done as one print.

If you have a project that may need some of these features please let me know.

Link to video of the new printer:
https://youtu.be/ztwqHWLtrNY

See more at: www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

Introducing Snapmaker J1: The High Speed IDEX 3D Printer Snapmaker‘s first independent dual extruder (IDEX) 3D printer with a maximum acceleration of 10,000 mm/s² and up to 350mm/s printing speed.Buy now: https://b...

Custom Gear k**b for an Aston Martin DBS restoration.
Wren Classics - www.wrenclassics.com is working on a three year full restoration of a 1970's DBS Vantage. Andrew, Wrens chief engineer is looking ahead to the interior. As part of the restoration the car is being extensively upgraded including a new gearbox so the gear pattern was going to be different to the original. So a new gear k**b need to be fitted.
Wren's client had chosen a shape he liked from another car, but wanted it to match the dashboard when it was restored. He also wanted the gear k**b locally made to his exacting standards.
The dashboard is going to be remade in African Walnut as used in the original car. As part of the restoration the dashboard is going to be remade by specialist car trimmers - https://www.silvercrest-woodtrim.co.uk/gallery-restoration.html.
Andrew asked if I could create a custom gear k**b for the car with the new gear pattern laser engraved in the top. Liaising with Silvercrest we decided on African Walnut for the dash and the gear k**b. In the 70's the classic instrument layout was white on black so that was used for the engraving. The level of detail required was such that the grain of the wood against the white gear pattern was even orientated to match the pin striping on the seats and headlining! After a prototype was approved for feel and finish the final gear k**b was hand turned and finished with a tough acrylic finished polished to high gloss. The laser engraving was 0.5mm deep filled with a very fine grain white epoxy putty. The gear k**b was fitted with an M12 steel insert to match the new gearbox lever.

I think the end result will look outstanding in the finished car.

If you have a project that I can help with please let me know.
See more at: www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

Zytek DB7 ECU tester
My regular client - Wren Classics - www.wrenclassics.com is one of the pre eminent Aston Martin restorers in the country and we have worked together on some very interesting projects over the last two years. This latest one pushed the boundary's that's for sure!
The Aston DB7 has an ECU based around a Ford unit from the 90's. Ahead of its time with the level of engine management coupled with a separate EDIS unit to manage the ignition advance. A car not starting can be many things, but the ECU and the alarm are often the ones most difficult to diagnose without actually substituting the unit. This particular ECU has been obsolete and virtually unobtainable for many years. With less than 200 in circulation finding one to try is very difficult indeed.
Wren receives ECUs from around the world to prove that they are defiantly the root cause of a particular problem, but up until now they have needed a DB7 in the workshop to test them. Something not always possible. Andrew, the chief engineer at Wren asked me to design and build a one off custom tester for this particular ECU. It needed to be able to mimic the sensor signals sent from the car engine, the EDIS module and the alarm system. The tester needed to simulate different engine RPM under idle and full load conditions. Air and coolant temperatures, exhaust lambda sensors etc and display the resulting outputs from the ECU under test. All in a simple to use, bench top tester that would be robust enough for a workshop environment.
Many hours were spent collecting data from a running DB7 car. 50 data points were measured at different RPM and load and from these the final inputs and outputs were decided.
Crank and Cam angle sensors, Tacho and TPS (throttle position sensor) all needed to be electronically generated as complex pulse trains. Sensors inputs like air, coolant, exhaust Lambda, MAP (manifold air pressure) all needed to be adjustable to trigger the correct outputs.
The outputs included the fuel injectors, two fuel pumps, Lambda heaters and cooling fans.
The ECU needs to have the correct alarm pulse train coming in at exactly the right time to even start the cranking process. The test box has an internal alarm simulator and I designed an external simulator module to be used when the ECU is fitted in the car to ensure that all is working perfectly.

I chose a Raspberry PI Pico micro processor to be the heart of the system and wrote the code in MicroPython. I needed all the pulse trains to be synchronised as they would be in a real car and this took some clever programming to generate the five concurrent pulse trains while keeping microsecond accuracy.
As this is a one off at this point in time so I didn't design a PCB keeping it on prototype board until Andrew needs another one!

Wiring up the 104 pin connector was a nightmare in such a confined space, but in the end we got there.

To make the final product look the part I laser etched a white on black facia with Wren's logo and all inputs and outputs identified. All in all a very interesting project that has already proved it's usefulness to Wren and customers around the world.

If I can help you with your electronics/software project please let me know.
See more at: www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

Custom woodworking for local restaurant group.
It's not often I get asked for a large volume of custom parts, but a call came from a regular client - The Clockspire restaurant at Milborne Port, Somerset - www.theclockspire.com asking for a promotional gift for the three restaurants in the group. In keeping with their source local ethos they wanted a product that was locally crafted with locally sourced materials. We settled on some custom designed and engraved spatulas. Made in Beech wood locally sourced in Somerset. Designed and created by the Fusion Workshop in Dorset these fitted the bill perfectly.
They needed a lot! for the three locations they needed a total of 200.
With only 2 weeks before their event deadline it was all go to get them made and delivered.

The Beech needed to be re-sawn and sanded to 4mm thick before laser cutting and engraving. The blade edge of the spatulas had to be hand shaped to a sharp edge to make them perfect for any manner of tasks. Nothing like the blunt ended ones you often find!

Engraved with the names of the three restaurants and finished with a food safe oil they certain looked the part and were a great hit with the lucky guests who received them.

If you have a project you would like to get off the ground please contact me. See more at www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

3D Printed mould box for a flexible silicone jelly mould.

Thus is something I have wanted to try for some time, but the right project never came along. Recently, my regular customer; The Clockspire restaurant in Milborne Port, Somerset. - www.theclockspire.com, gave me the perfect opportunity to try out the technique. Making a mould is not the easiest thing in the world as there needs to be perfect alignment between the parts, a very good internal finish and the correct draft angle to enable the finished piece to be removed.
This wasn't the most sophisticated product to be ever moulded, but the most tasty! The head chef Luke, had the idea to make an after dinner jelly with a raised clock face based on the clock tower at the restaurant. So we have a 34mm dia jelly with a raised clock face with Roman numerals less that a mm wide; how hard could it be??

I don't have a photo of the finished jelly, well, because they all got eaten! However, as this whole project was designed in Fusion 360 CAD, I do have a computer rendering, so use your imagination and think jelly.

The final jelly mould was to be 2mm thick clear silicone rubber.
The mould was made in two parts; a mould box and the mould insert that carried the clock face pattern. A consistent 2mm gap was left all around the insert to create the final thickness. A 2 deg taper was applied to the both the jelly cavity and the walls of the mould box to ensure easy release and jacking screws were added to separate the two halves.
I used a PLA filament to create the parts as this can recreate the very fine detail required. I chose a A40 shore hardness silicone for the final mould so that it was still flexible but tough enough to be used many times in the kitchen. https://www.mbfg.co.uk/polycraft-k4.html
The silicone had to be degassed before moulding to be sure there were no air bubbles in the final product.

After a few false starts and 3 prototype moulds I was able to produce an almost flawless clear mould that held the clock face detail very well. Again, no pictures of the final mould, sorry!

Just for fun I placed the hands of the face at 19 mins passed 8 - 20:19 the date the restaurant opened!

If you have a similar project in mind or would like to see if we can help you with your idea please see more at:
www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

Delicate engraving on vintage lace bobbins.

This laser engraving required very special care as the bobbins were exceptionally delicate and of sentimental value to my client. The area to be engraved was very a small diameter requiring the text to be less that 2mm high. I was able to find a "single stroke" font for this so that the text still looked sharp and easily readable despite being so small. The end result looked great without over powering the bobbin.

See more of what we can do at: www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

Custom panels for a very special Suzuki Katana.

Another interesting project from my regular customer Wren Classics - www.wrenclassics.com. This time a bike project rather than one for the cars. A customer of theirs was having them make a very customised version of a classic 1986 Suzuki Katana. One of the major mods was a new fuel tank shape and that meant the original side panels needed to be replaced. These original panels are very hard to get and very expensive; especially as they would need several waste panels to try new designs. They asked me to first create an identical copy of the original panel and then create new printed designs as it evolved before finally 3D printing the panels that will be fitted to the completed bike.

The panels have some very difficult curves and twists in them that made the 3D CAD work very difficult, but after many hours and multiple prints I arrived at a near perfect replica of the original panel. Within minutes of delivering the panel to Wren they were attacking it with an angle grinder! Several new designs were tried with each print taking approximately 36 hours! However, we got there in the end and both the engineers at Wren and their customer were very happy with the result.

To see more pictures of this project and others go to:
www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

New bodywork for a vintage racing car!

A very interesting, but very different project from a regular customer - Wren Classics. An historic racer and Aston Martin restorer - www.wrenclassics.com.
Steve Farthing the owner, contacted me to produce some scaled body work from his Lola T332 Formula 5000 for a 1/16th scale model he was having created by a specialist company in Australia. They could handle the chassis and some parts of the body, but not those parts very specific to Steve.
I needed to recreate full size body panels in 3D CAD before scaling and finally 3D printing. Very careful measurements, LOTs of photos and many hours of CAD design later, I was able to faithfully reproduce the whole backend deck and engine cowl in a carbon fibre lookalike black filament. The parts were sent off to the maker in Australia and came back looking amazing!

Do you have a special project that TFW can help with; no matter how strange it might seem...Contact us at:
www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

The Fusion Workshop is based in the Southwest of England, in the beautiful county of Dorset. Our goal is to help the Maker Community, Hobbyist, Crafts people or small businesses to turn ideas into reality. From simple sketches, broken samples, or 3D models downloaded from the web.
We have a 3D printer and a large format laser. if you are a crafts person that wants to stand out from the crowd we are ready to create or enhance your own products. If you simply have a broken part that is impossible to find we can help with that.
We also offer 3D design services to create solid models ready for 3D printing or laser cutting.

We also offer Rapid Prototyping with 3D design services to create solid models ready for 3D printing or laser cutting. We offer electronics design/PCB design and small batch production of the completed product.

See more of what we can do at; www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

Saving a cherished MK 3 Zodiac restoration.

A recent project that was probably the most technically challenging that TFW has undertaken to date.

My customer is doing a full restoration on his 1965 MK3 and has scoured the world looking for replacements for the front quarter light window rubbers, with no luck at all, although not short on undelivered promises! Apparently, window rubbers for MK1, 2 and 4 are commonly available, but the MK3 is a rarer beast. He came to me with a carrier bag of completely rotten rubbers on which most of the profile had simply gone. After months of 3D CAD work I recreated as close as I can the original profile. Although this could be improved if I ever got to see an original! Once the CAD drawings were complete I was able to give the customer two options: The first is to 3D print the rubbers in a very flexible TPU polymer, and the second is to 3D print with a solid polymer and create a near original to mould new rubbers in Silicone rubber. There were price constraints on this project and the customer opted for the 3D printed set. The flexible printed versions are complete and now installed and they look pretty good. The customer is as happy as he can be given his options. Not only do the printed rubbers look good he tells me that even at 50mph there is no more wind noise than the originals had and so far they don’t leak. These really got him out of a big hole with his project.
As an option I created a sample mould of one corner and created a nice black rubber piece and that turned out very well indeed, but the upfront cost was a little steep at this point. There is an option to upgrade to the moulded ones in the future, but at the moment the printed ones are working fine and as it’s a bit of a workup to change the rubbers once installed they will probably stay there!
If you are working on a restoration or simply a repair to a classic car, I can also recreate other parts such as broken light lenses etc. as long as I have a drawing or the broken sample or even the opposite hand I can usually reverse engineer the part and either 3D print the piece or create a mould.

Please contact me if I can be of service to you on your own project or maybe you are a member of a car club that would be interested. To see more of what The Fusion workshop can offer, please contact me here or go to - www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk.

3D printing saves the day in this high mechanical stress environment.

At first this looked like an impossible task for the client – A broken gear in a shredder.

Shredder gear trains have massive loads put on them when people overload the shredder and if a single tooth is damaged the machine is usually written off.

With the broken gear in hand, I was able to reproduce an exact copy in a high strength industrial polymer. This one had the addition of a metal driving gear embedded in the surface of the original. A matching recess was created as part of the CAD model and the gear fitted perfectly in the final 3D printed part. The new gear was fitted and the shredder returned to its former glory…

To see more of what TFW can offer go to - www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk or contact me to discuss your own project.

Photo realistic rendering makes a first time design decision easy.

TFW has recently added the ability to laser mark stainless steel and regular customer The Clockspire restaurant – www.theclockspire.com took full advantage.
They asked for a custom logo to be “engraved” onto these stainless napkin holders. With a single sample and a PDF of the logo I created a 3D model of the napkin holder complete with the logo. The rendering was so realistic that the customer was able to make a decision on the design from a first look, saving time and money in this important stage.
Once we had the go ahead 15 pieces were created and delivered within three days. The final pieces looked exactly like the rendering and everybody was happy with the result. So much so that their sister restaurant – The Woodspeen - www.thewoodspeen.com a Michelin starred restaurant in Newbury, Berkshire, wanted the same! They took a slightly different approach and wanted a custom base made. After a single design meeting a rendering was produced and again a go-ahead decision was given. Within a week 14 were created with a Black Walnut base that look fantastic on the Scandinavian design tables at the restaurant.
The photos below show the CAD rendering alongside the finished article.

See more of what The Fusion Workshop can do please go to my website @ www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

Repair to a classic Mercedes VDO speedometer.
The client came to be after trying, and failing, even from the largest parts suppliers in Germany, to find a replacement trip drive cog for the VDO speedo in his Cosworth powered Mercedes.
The original cog had split on the collar and would not grip the shaft. I was able to reverse engineer the tiny 11mm dia gear and reproduce the 8 degree helix angle to ensure smooth operation. It is printed in a tough Nylon polymer. Tests showed that the trip is now working perfectly.

Reverse engineering and either 3D printing and / moulding replacement parts is great way to get that classic car back on the road.

See more at: www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

Reverse engineering and 3D printing are formidable tools in the battle to reduce waste.

These old window awning awning covers were cracked, ugly and obsolete making the whole awning ready for the scrap heap.

Even in their particularly sorry state TFW was able to reverse engineer the original end covers and produce new ones in a tough, flexible polymer that should be able to withstand the elements for many years.

If you have an obsolete part you need to replace, be it from a domestic appliance or a classic car part let me know. There is often a solution with 3D printing.

See more at www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk.

Replace or repair? £125 or £25?

This was the choice I was able to offer a client this week when he faced the challenge of fixing 12 badly aged window handle covers. Badly cracked and in desperate need of replacing. The choices were replace with new, at a cost of over £125 or for TFW to reverse engineer and improve the design. I was able to 3D print new covers at a cost of just £25. The new covers fitted perfectly and were an easy fix compared to the replacement option.

Do you have a similar project that you can't find a solution for? Reverse engineering and 3D printing can often be a good and cost effective solution.

See more at www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk or contact me through this page.

Lasers are not just for Bond villains!

Here are a couple of projects that TFW helped with in the local village this week.
The first is the very prestigious Shuffleboard trophy held annually in the village hall, and the second is one of the seven category trophies for the even more serious Pumpkin and marrow growing competition, a staple of the country calendar!

The names were laser engraved on the painted marble base and the pumpkin trophy was laser cut and engraved in 6mm solid Beech wood.

If you need laser cutting or engraving of any sort please let me know and we can work together to create your project.

See more at www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk or contact me through this page.

Plankbridge Shepherd's huts gift wine boxes.
If you are lucky enough to order a shepherds hut from Plankbridge in Dorset (www.plankbridge.com) you will receive a bottle of locally made bubbly presented in this smartly engraved wine box. Plankbridge uses The Fusion Workshop to engrave these wine boxes with their logo and tag line. The addition of the custom engraving makes these gifts just that little bit more special.

If I can help you with engraving your corporate branding, or a personalized message on your products please send a message or contact me at:

www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

Plankbridge Shepherd huts goes to Chelsea!

Plankbridge Shepherd huts in Dorset needed some exhibiter badges in a hurry for their staff going to the Chelsea show. The brief was to be large enough to be seen and to use their distinctive logo.
I created a few designs to show them and once they had approved the final version I was able to quickly laser cut and engrave the badges for them. The pin is mounted on the back with self-adhesive tape. I designed and laser cut a small locating jig to ensure each pin was placed perfectly each time.
This was a little, but important job, just 10 pieces that would likely be considered too small for most laser engraving companies. TFW is a local Dorset company that prides itself on providing a bespoke one to one service for these smaller jobs.

See more at www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

3D printed part saves a man's Whisky and soda!
A recent repair brought to the shop was this operating lever arm for an old soda stream machine. A part not available anymore. So rather than consign it to the landfill, I was able to reprint the arm in a PLA polymer. The arm fitted perfectly and restored the machine to it's former glory.
Before you throw out that broken item, give me a call and let's see if we can save it.

See more at www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

A polymer test piece turns into a fun and practical object.

When ever a new 3D print polymer comes along it's important to understand its properties and applications so that I can recommend the correct material to clients. Rather than just run test pieces it's always better to make something "real". I don't know about you, but I hate soft digestives or Hob Nobs...
So a cover was designed that fitted over the top of the open packets with a tight rubber seal to keep them fresh. For fun I created a square one for cream crackers! The polymer was a TPU flexible material ideally suited to this type of application. Let me know if you have a "second bottle of wine" idea that you would like to see in the flesh. You never know, your next mad idea could be the next best seller!

See more at www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

Aston Martin restorer and vintage racer Wren Classics, needed urgent help with this special setting tool.
Wren classics contacted TFW with an urgent need to design and manufacture a special piece of set up tooling. This DB7 Super charger bypass tool is a specialized piece of kit that is one of those things you don't need very often, but when you do it has to be right. A drawing was made by Wren classics and sent over via email. I made a visit to make sure that I understood the sketch perfectly and to get an idea of the tolerances required. Less than 24 hours later a prototype was delivered and tested. After confirming all was ok another 4 were made "just in case". Other than the critical dimensions and functionality, one concern in a busy restoration shop is durability. It had to be able to "bounce" if dropped! This piece was made in PETG, a dimensionally stable, strong and semi flexible polymer. The cost of custom tooling like this may be less than you imagine. Contact me to find out more.

www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

House sign for a special place.
This driveway sign was commissioned recently and needed something special to make it stand out on the end of the driveway. I chose to add a handsome border and a laser engraved picture of a Shepherd's hut. Made in Oak and finished with a super heavy duty exterior varnish. The sign is 300mm x 200mm.

Contact me at: www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk to enquire about your own custom sign.

A special request from a VIP customer of Plankbridge Shepherd huts.
A very recent special commission from Plankbridge Ltd, located, in the Piddle valley of Dorset.
These plaques were obviously for a client that had a passion for Navy battles! I paid special attention to the design and found a font from the period (1800's) and an image of a ship based cannon also of the period. The plaques were made of locally sourced English Oak and finished with 3 coats of a super durable Yacht varnish.

Please contact me if you would like your own hand crafted sign.

Flexible Polymer saves the day for a Plumber
The easiest way to clear an air lock in house plumbing is to attach a vacuum cleaner to the blocked pipework via a tap. The problem is how to connect your vacuum cleaner hose to a tap connector?
You could use lots of duct tape, but would it be water proof? The answer was to 3D print an adaptor in strong, flexible polymer. The adaptor created a water and vacuum tight seal between the 34mm vacuum hose and the 13mm tap hose. The vacuum sucks the air out of the system until water runs freely. No mess, no need to access the loft space. This polymer has a hardness of 40D on the Shore hardness scale so is ideal for applications that require high strength while still offering flexibility.

See more of what we can do at: www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk

Custom bracket for a Datsun 240z restoration.
A popular upgrade for 240z restorers is to modify the car for modern halogen headlights. However, the sensible course is to switch the lights through a relay rather than risk running all the current through the original interior switch wiring. The downside is it needs a relay mount. The customer in this case had searched in vain on the internet for a suitable bracket, but did find one that was close to what he needed on the web site www.thingyverse.com. This site has thousands of free models to 3D print, but you’ll be lucky if they meet your exact requirements. In this case, the customer sent me the original thingyverse file to print, but asked me to reverse engineer the bracket to suit his exact need. The result was a reimagined bracket, printed in a couple of different materials and colours, all within 24 hours. Happy customer.
If you are undertaking this or a similar restoration project and need a special part, contact me at: www.thefusionworkshop.co.uk.

3D printing for engineering prototypes.
Whether it’s for a one off, impossible to find spare part, a prototype for a production run, or a proof-of-concept model for marketing, 3D printing is the most cost-effective way to get the job done.
While photo realistic computer renderings get an idea into a form a customer can understand, a prototype model gives them something they can hold, and that means a great deal, especially to customers that are not from an engineering background.
Take this idea for example: It cam from a regular business traveller that was fed up with unknotting his ear buds as he settled in for a flight. He had a very vague idea that the cables should wrap around something, but that was as far as it went. He brought the idea to me and I went to work creating various designs. Photo renderings narrowed it down, but it wasn’t until we both held the model that the good, and the bad points came to light. Coping with different lengths of wire or just the tightness of winding caused issues with slack cables. A few ideas were tried, some more complicated than others. Just two more iterations followed, each only taking an hour or two to print and we had a working product with a smart, simple, cheap method of changing the effective winding length. Now in this case it was a one off for personal use, but it could just have easily been the beginning of a great commercial product. We could even try different colours and textures, including a blingy gold one…
So, before you give up on your idea, come and talk to me at The Fusion Workshop. www.thefusionworkshop.com