BMW had a joint venture with SGL Carbon in Washington that apparently they have been bought-out of. I'm surprised BMW exited since I had expected CFRP use to only grow in automotive.
Chris
CFRP use is expected to grow in automotive.
Tech innovations make CFRP car parts manufacturing easier and cheaper to manufacture (notice below reduction in required mold pressure)
https://pdf4pro.com/cdn/high-volume-manufacturing-of-carbon-fiber-reinforced-4a1c85.pdf
BMW has another big issue.
It seems car manufacture is to undergo a major shift.
Now with electrical and autonomous cars on the foreseen future (which drives all of the investments), car manufacturers will be forced to become implementers of an all-decisive electronic (hardware/software) platform which most likely will be offered by non car makers. There is a great risk they (all traditional car manufacturers) will turn into hardware fitters.
George
CFRP use is expected to grow in automotive.
Tech innovations make CFRP car parts manufacturing easier and cheaper to manufacture (notice below reduction in required mold pressure)
https://pdf4pro.com/cdn/high-volume-manufacturing-of-carbon-fiber-reinforced-4a1c85.pdf
BMW has another big issue.
It seems car manufacture is to undergo a major shift.
Now with electrical and autonomous cars on the foreseen future (which drives all of the investments), car manufacturers will be forced to become implementers of an all-decisive electronic (hardware/software) platform which most likely will be offered by non car makers. There is a great risk they (all traditional car manufacturers) will turn into hardware fitters.
George
@George, is that already not the case. The production line integrates parts from many suppliers which may or may not be owned by the main company?
One of the unspoken problems for electric vehicles, that are on an accelerated implementation cycle, is the need for copper for the motors.
Now sure there will be a massive need for copper recycling at end of life for the vehicles, but in the short term worldwide copper production will need to quadruple at least. It is already increasing by 600,000 tons a year (10% per year), and electric vehicle production has not really made a major international impact yet.
By far the most comes from Chile, with China second, and Peru and USA third.
Now sure there will be a massive need for copper recycling at end of life for the vehicles, but in the short term worldwide copper production will need to quadruple at least. It is already increasing by 600,000 tons a year (10% per year), and electric vehicle production has not really made a major international impact yet.
By far the most comes from Chile, with China second, and Peru and USA third.
I remember mixing tallow (sheep fat) and parafine when I was an apprentice, lovely smell. It was used when fitting guide pillars/bushes in bolster plates. We named it AFC - ace fitting compound🙂 Never had problems with parts 'picking up'.
Dev Tap was an aromatic tapping/cutting fluid I recall using, it made almost anything machine cleanly, smelt quite nice.
Bill, yes it happens today and up to now car makers are the toughest to sign a contract with 2nd, 3rd tiers (very low profit margins for them).
I don’t think they will be able to play the same card with the big names gathering around icar now (NXP/Kalray, Apple (Foxconn?), Mitsubishi, Honeywell, Sony, Bosch, Tesla)
I guess VW is well prepared and will stay afloat. VW cooperates with Google since 2018 (Azure edge services) and has established a branch in Seattle (Volkswagen Automotive Cloud, VW.AC)
George
If traditional auto manufacturers become hardware fitters, they will not be
able to compete (for long). Most of the emerging cutting edge EV
manufacturers are, to a larger degree, vertically integrated and are doing
their own autonomous driving software, Tesla are also doing their own
hardware. Tesla are going to be a tough cookie to crack for most traditional
auto manufacturers, it's likely that many will go broke this decade.
TCD
Being in the birthplace of self driving cars, I had forgotten how rare they are elsewhere until I was driving a visitor to lunch and he spotted one. It of course amazed him as it was the first time he saw one.
Around here we have been sharing the road with them for 35 years or so! First generation was all television cameras, the second used the lidar, hard to spot the third generation. The sensors are built in.
Around here we have been sharing the road with them for 35 years or so! First generation was all television cameras, the second used the lidar, hard to spot the third generation. The sensors are built in.
Last edited:
A trick is to 'ring' the grinding wheel before you mount it on the spindle. In Toolmaking we always gently tapped the edge of a grinding wheel with a
small piece of metal whilst holding it in the center prior to mounting. It should make a clear ringing sound. If it doesn't ring there could be some type
of fracture.
Surface grinders are dangerous machines, especially big ones. It can be a little intimidating for a young person learning to use one. The Toolroom
where I learned my trade had a fairly large Blohm surface grinder. It had automatic side table feed (as many did) but also automatic grinder head
depth feed. You had to get that right 🙂 I've seen a couple of jobs thrown off the magnetic table of that machine by operators using to much depth feed,
not enough coolant and not enough 'fencing' around their job = bang.
Like one of these BLOHM HFS 512 Surface Grinding Machine - Flachschleifmaschine - YouTube
TCD
On the radio yesterday they played Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue. Played by Gershwin and recorded in 1924. I was rather impressed by the quality and the restoration. It was played completely differently that I am used to and rather nice. I have heard the Duo art reels of Gershwin playing but never a live recording.
GERSHWIN, George: Gershwin Plays Gershwin (1919-1931) - 8.120510 A sample of it here, but I think its not available in NA due to copyright. Restoration done by David Lennick who I hadn't heard off but has a spectacular collection of 78s.
GERSHWIN, George: Gershwin Plays Gershwin (1919-1931) - 8.120510 A sample of it here, but I think its not available in NA due to copyright. Restoration done by David Lennick who I hadn't heard off but has a spectacular collection of 78s.
There is a massively talented Oxford pianist called Jack Gibbons who specializes in Gershwin. He has transcribed music rolls of Gershwin.
What I did not realize is that music rolls masters were produced on a special piano, played by (in this case) Gershwin. So Gibbons plays entirely original Gershwin, most of which are extemporized and don't compare at all to the sheet music version of the pieces.
Oxford Concerts
The Holywell Music Room in Oxford is somewhat famous in that Leopold Mozart took his prodigy son around Europe astounding audiences; and one of those visits was to this music room.
What I did not realize is that music rolls masters were produced on a special piano, played by (in this case) Gershwin. So Gibbons plays entirely original Gershwin, most of which are extemporized and don't compare at all to the sheet music version of the pieces.
Oxford Concerts
The Holywell Music Room in Oxford is somewhat famous in that Leopold Mozart took his prodigy son around Europe astounding audiences; and one of those visits was to this music room.
Yes that was the Duo art. I have a recording of a live orchestra playing along to the Gershwin roll.
Steinway Duo-Art: "Rhapsody in Blue" played by George Gershwin - YouTube here is the rhapsody in blue roll being played
Steinway Duo-Art: "Rhapsody in Blue" played by George Gershwin - YouTube here is the rhapsody in blue roll being played
The samples played fine here. One of my more shocking experiences at a meeting of The Boston Audio Society was several well known senior members declaring Gershwin as "pure noise".
Ah so the samples play but you can't buy the CD. Curious.
Still I raise a glass to those who preserve these recordings for us all to enjoy.
Still I raise a glass to those who preserve these recordings for us all to enjoy.
You can probably thank several heirs and assignees or family trusts lobbying to move the copyright goal posts.
Possibly of some interest to a few here. Comparative measurements from JA on the oktodac pro 8 vs DAC 8 stereo and how much you lose with 8channels vs 2. Okto Research dac8 PRO D/A processor Measurements | Stereophile.com.
In a nutshell you get 20bit rather than 21 bit performance. For most of us I reckon that's good enough for music.
In a nutshell you get 20bit rather than 21 bit performance. For most of us I reckon that's good enough for music.