Quote:
Originally Posted by Otaku
Filing? Half a pound? Are you crazy?
Filing will do more than make it flat. Filing will take more off. Lapping would make it perfectly flat (assuming you're using 2000 grit or better). However, I severely doubt that all the alu. you will file off will even be close to a half pound. A quarter, hell, even an eighth of a pound, maybe. But a half? no.
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We traditionally mirror polish many components of our robot, and the parts become noticeably thinner in some places. That might have some bearing on weight.
I see all this stuff about changing out bolts and such coming before using lighter materials. As a mountain biker, I should technically be counting the weight of my bike in grams. There are people out there that switch out their water bottle cage bolts from aluminum to titanium just to shave a gram off. But the best way to shave weight is to not put heavy stuff on there period. I switched out my wheelset for a lighter, stronger one, and took two whole pounds out of my weight. I replaced my handlebars, stem and seatpost for lighter alloys (and carbon fiber!) and took off a pound and a half. I can shave off another three by changing my mountain tires to my road slicks (but this only is ridable on roads). My bike was 35 pounds when I first got it, and I've knocked the weight down to 30 when riding mountain and 27 when I ride on the roads. If you thought FRC was OCD about weight, you should see the mountain bike community. The sky's the limit when it comes to weight reduction. Sad thing is, unless you're really one with your bike, shaving off 5 pounds actually isn't that noticeable on the mountain.
Moral of the story: when you build, keep weight in mind. It's better to save weight in pounds than to remove in grams. You've got a lot of grams to go when your robot weighs 150 pounds (or your bike weighs 40). Save the desperate stuff like bolt switching and speedholes for last.