New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

Hello everyone.

After Competition Robot Parts' successful first season, we are pleased to announce our new lineup of products for the 2016 season!

We have overhauled the website and the new products are now available for viewing at www.competitionrobotparts.com.

We are pleased to offer these products to FRC teams and feel confident that they will help you all build competitive robots for the upcoming season.

As always, CRP appreciates your feedback. Reply to this thread or email us as competitionrobotparts@gmail.com and tell us what you think of the new products.

Good luck everyone!

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

Looks good. I especially like the new updates on the rollers.

We used the rollers on our offseason bot and found them to work great.
With correct use we never had it pop off the track and found the tolerances to be very good.

Also thanks for the plate CAD and your fast email responses.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

This looks pretty cool, I like the drum roller products especially, that's a pretty unique product right now. For $30 you can have a pretty nice roller setup.

Are you going to get actual product photos up on the website soon.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

Yes, images should be going up in the next week or so. I'm still getting the last of the stock in and then I'll upload them all at once.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

Pretty great that you seem to now stock 1/16th 2x1.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

But its 6063?... I would rather get 6061-T6 and hit up either online metals or FRC973 (Adam).

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

Getting this thin wall tubing in 6061 is hard in this area of the country. It just didn't end up being cost-effective to ship a large quantity of it from far away.

I will continue looking for a good source for 6061-T6 though. If it's what my customers want, then that's what I'll try to make available.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

Orion,

There has been many threads on CD pertaining to the benefits of 6061 vs 6063 and why it is a superior product. Because you can not source 6061 in your area, I would expect that you would tell your customers that 6061 2x1x1/16" is better and could be bought through Adam Heard to support 973 for a cheaper price or Online Metals. Adam has sold tubing to many customers on the east coast and is reputable. I know we are all trying to making a dollar but I think being honest and spreading knowledge will be better for your business. Modifying your site description would be a good start. Chow out

EDIT: Just checked the site again and realized that you sell 1x1x1/16" in 6063... If you knew that 6063 was an inferior product for tubing why would you sell it for the 1x1 size since its fairly common in 6061.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

Orion is being honest - he's saying it's 6063. He's not pretending it's 6061. I don't think it's right to say he's misleading people about his product. He's saying what it is.

That said, it's not really that hard to get 6063 aluminum in odd shapes around the country, so I'm not sure what the utility is in getting it from this site versus OnlineMetals or your favorite local metal supply store. Or you could just get 6061 from Adam or OnlineMetals.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

Is there any line of business where websites are expected to let customers know where they can get their products cheaper or for better quality? Imagine McDonalds telling customers at their drive through "yeah, we sell Big Macs, but, honestly, the Burger King across the street sells Whoppers that are far better and a little cheaper".

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant...268&top_cat=60

There's a distributor in Northwood, OH.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

That has rounded corners, straight corners is generally what teams want.

Could someone explain what makes 6063 inferior to 6061? Even if 6063 is technically weaker, will it really make a difference in FRC?

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

Anytime I've ordered 1/16th tubing from Online Metals it comes from Washington and is very expensive to ship to New England in a timely manner even though they have a warehouse in Connecticut and several more across the country between here and the west coast.

Like Chris said, Orion is being honest and for some applications for certain teams 6063 will do the job just fine and for less weight than 1/8th. It is inferior and annoying to machine but I remember some seasons on a budget where cheap 6063 available quickly (and locally for teams around CRP) was just what we needed but didn't have.

Thanks for new products Orion. Love the hex roller hub!

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

Good to know, thanks.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

I like the concept of the press-in hubs for rollers, that seems like a useful product for any year where we deal with intake mechanisms. Still might be tricky for a lot of low-resource teams to find a press to actually assemble them though, since you wouldn't be able to fit a reasonably sized roller into a vise. You'd need a stand up press or some fancy jerry-rigging.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

We've used threaded rod, nuts and washers with good success. Had to use some oil because we were just using random hardware, if we planned ahead a brass or bronze nut would've helped a lot.

We've used the above technique with a hole drilled in our hydraulic cart to use it as a pull press for installing long lengths of tubing in plastic tubes. Fun stuff.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

A cheap harbor freight arbor press clamped between two tables would probably work. I've used that setup for numerous things.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

Are the hubs press fit? What's the tolerance? Have they been tested for torque application, or are they intended as idlers only?

If you're pressing them in, how do you make sure the hexes are aligned on both sides?

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

Two ways you can do this: Either put a bearing in one side and a hub in the other, or press one side in, use a hex shaft with a collar on the end to pilot the other side, and press the whole thing down.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

Yes, they are a press fit. The ID of the tubing is 1.120in and the body of the end cap is 1.125in. That results in a .0025in interference (nominally) all the way around.

I have not tested these for maximum torque but I've used this fit on robots before with no issues.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

I bought a few, and intend to use green Loctitie or just bolt through the side of the tube into a tapped hole on the hub. Better be safe than sorry.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

What's the tolerance on the tube and on the hub?

My experience with tubing is that ID is likely a .010 range minimum.

Re: New Product Line (Competition Robot Parts)
 

I like the prices of the 1"-wide brackets for frame building--lower than all of the competitors...wonder if this will drive some price reductions in the market. :D

Just my personal opinion, but some of the prices for other parts seem a bit high for what they are...$10 for a single roller hub?