Super Rat Machine Works » FEATURED

black cat bicycles

Phil — Thu, 01 May 2008 02:29:54 +0000

primarily our work is in aluminum. and it’s nice to change things up. these dropouts, made of good ol’ 4130 chromoly, are for todd over at black cat bicycles.
he makes handmade bicycle frames, utilizing this dropout design of his and subtle mods such as the ever so sightly radiused toptube on this bike which result in these wonderful examples of craftsmanship.
these are some pics of the process of making them for a peek at the drops on a finished frame have a look at his blog- http://www.blackcatbicycles.com/

little ol’ wine drinker me…

Phil — Thu, 01 May 2008 02:13:50 +0000

merle haggard shows up on the ipod the other day and and i was stoked! little ol’ wine drinker me caught my attention especially since i’ve been experimenting with these dust caps on the pedals: (these are the pedals off my bike, being disassembled for inspection. everything looks good.)

it seems that this tune was done by dean martin earlier on and i couldn’t seem to find merle’s version on youtube but i did find this version:

the prototypes are re-purposed wine corks but the “production” version will be a commercially available version. i suppose this could be considered part of the eco-friendliness of the things we’re making but really it’s part of the DIY style and i think it looks cool, it’s a bonus that cork is a renewable resource and is not typically used on bicycle parts, thus a bit unique. i guess at this point cork is an option, it’s reusable after being removed via corkscrew and functions as it should.

for what it’s worth our grocery store carries a particular brand, tisdale, that is $2.99 a bottle! i’m no sommelier but it seems good? i prefer the shiraz although the cabernet sauvignon is tasty as well.

we’ve got some other interesting projects that we’ve been working on that i’ll be posting pics of over the next few days. as well as the ever tedious anodizing samples…

Super Rat Machine Works Pedals!

Phil — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:31:08 +0000

the inaugural batch of S.R.M.W. pedals are finished! here are a few pics of what they look like…

spindle detail:

end cap:

the end cap proved to be a slight hurdle, it’s not necessary to the function of the pedal but i felt like it needed to be there to provide a finished look. and it’s a great spot for our little logo! we’re working on a “parts drawing” that will be included with the pedals that will illustrate how everything is assembled, as well as a sweet set of instructions.

another interesting decision has been packaging? i’m guessing that few people are interested in our products because of our packaging merits… but it can add cost and waste very easily. as a machine shop we try our best to be environmentally friendly, and as a machine shop that can be a difficult task. we recycle our aluminum chips, we’re switching to a more eco-friendly coolant. even purchasing domestic material plays a part since domestic aluminum mills are held to higher environmental standards than most would find in other countries. it’s a work in progress but we try to do our part. i think we’ve found a nice method of minimal and functional packaging. and of course it’s simple since i’m the one doing the work!
i’ll get some pics up soon of the packaging and included contents…

friday report, pedals version 3.0

Phil — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:35:35 +0000

after spending some time with pedal v2.0 and talking with people about them and looking at them way too much we decided to make a few changes… they still have a slightly larger area but i brought the angle of the sides in and shaved away some material, chose to use flat head bolts that will mount flush and look way cleaner. the button head bolts seemed great initially but they were a pain to install and looked a bit bulky. i’ll have some detail pics this weekend after i get a few properly de-burred and assembled. till then here are a couple of pics, spindles in process, and the left side bodies. we get random requests for “raw” parts, with no anodizing, so they will be available in the store next week!

friday report, terrible-one stems…

Phil — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:15:31 +0000

i’ve got a couple of pics of the latest revision of the terrible-one stem. we made a few tweaks to the wedges that clamp the steer tube, added a nice transition between the split cap and the relief on sides now wraps around to the back somewhat. i think it even shaved a little weight? on my ghetto scale they weigh in just under 10oz (9.76 is what it read but i’m not sure of it’s accuracy)

i’m working on an overall view of the process involved in getting this bad boy to this point, from the concept and fax that illustrated it, to the different versions and so on. i hope it’s as interesting as it seems to me?