DIY Ferrari 2011 Wheel

[William Geuze]

At this point in time I'm in the research phase for my future DIY project. I have never done anything like this, and I'm certainly no handy man. You think this sounds weird? Wait till you read what I want to do...

In short, this is what I want to build:

Features:
Leo Bodnar SLI-Pro
Shifter paddles
Clutch paddles
Hall effect sensors for clutch (Allegro A1302)
Microswitches for shifters (???)
12 rotary switches
3 regular switches
10 (knitter) pushbuttons (only if I can strike a deal)
Quick release
2 layers of Carbon fibre shell
glass fibre cast
rubber grips

I will create my own CAD drawings, guestimating measurements, with the help from some known sizes, and my own 3d model made for my 3D portfolio.

Estimated cost: €450,-

Yes, this might seem way out of my league for someone who has no experience with this stuff at all. Because it is. But I'm a stubborn bastard and I would love to do this. There isn't a single product on the market which suits me for an affordable price. Buying a Thrustmaster and adjusting that still sucks, since thats costs about 500 without the SLI-Pro and buttons added, and it basically is a plastic toy still..

For now, I have the following questions:
- According to Bodnars' website, the hall effect sensor can be connected directly to the SLI-pro, is this true?
- Is it expensive to have moulds routed/cnc-ed?
- Which microswitches for the shifters? What about the mounting, no idea how just yet.
- Is the quick release worth my money?
- Is it possible to route all wires through the steering wheel/colum into the steering wheel base?
- I will be in the market for a new steering wheel base, Im still using an old Momo Racing. second hand g27?

Any feedback, opinion, help etc, is much appreciated.


edit:
Before I forget, any plans, templates, files I create, will be free to use by the community Im just not responsible for any mistakes in them

 

[belldanndy]

Looking forward for you web site to start!


http://www.slihub.com/zdoc/?p=337
I think they use Photoshop to mask the SLI-F1 on a Amalgam Full Size F2012 wheel.

 

[William Geuze]

I used technical drawings of the real unit in the same manner

The site will be very straight forward, one page, explanation of the project, some pictures, and a donate button

edit:
Seeing that post, and having found a commented section in the lua script, who knows we might have a Christmas release for the SLI-F1. I think that would be a realistic expectation, as I think he plans on the SLI-F1 being the next best sli board next to the SLI-Pro. I don't mind to wait those months, as long as the product is awesome when I can finally get my greedy hands on it

 

[belldanndy]

Hopefully the SLI-F1 will fit into your time frame.

 

[William Geuze]

I don't have a time frame It is done when it is done and I'm no hurry to half ass anything.

 

[Miguel Gonzalez]

I got an email from Leo or his tech support saying the F1 would be available in june... lol Try emailing him, 2 months later maybe he has a few to sell but its just not on the website.

 

[William Geuze]

Oeh that is still a long way ahead. It does grant me time enough time to collect more funds and try working with carbon fibre

 

[William Geuze]

Careful good news on the Aluminum frame, the person who is arranging a quote for me actually said it can probably be made through laser cutting instead of milling, which is cheaper. So hopefully I can have it cut and anodized, for a lower price than milling alone. I calculated €75 for this part in my parts list, I really hope I can get if for under €50

 

[Miguel Gonzalez]

Oeh that is still a long way ahead. It does grant me time enough time to collect more funds and try working with carbon fibre

No no you misunderstood, they were supposed to be available June 2 months ago Try e-mailing Leo he HAS to have a few units out for review by now. The tech spec pics were pretty much done and the software is really close to the existing boards.

 

[William Geuze]

Oh sorry i did so indeed :-P
Ive tried sending him mails but didnt get a single reply.
Im going to save money now anyway so its okay, im sure it will
be released as soon as he is able to

 

[William Geuze]

My god, too many buttons...
I don't know what to do with a third of them!

 

[Gary Jibb]

I cannot remember if it has been covered yet but, what game do you play?
If you use rFactor than your rotaries could be used for engine boost map or diff settings, brake bias, most of which I think you covered. I think your getting to the point I am at with my button panel, what do I assign everything to?? I used a couple of buttons to show me the laptime screen/engine rpm/fuel in the bottom right corner in rFactor.
Also, the real wheel would have fuel reset and clear warning light buttons, actually F1 doesn't have fuel stops anymore do they? Wrong person to ask I guess.

 

[William Geuze]

rFactor mostly
Can you adjust differential settings while driving? Didn't know that

But yeah too many buttons, it's no biggie if I leave some unused, but it would be cool if they have a use ofcourse

I ordered the big knob in the middle I created through Shapeways as well btw, so that should be arriving in a couple of weeks. Hopefully by then I will have received the milled out rough shape for the mold. That will need some tlc, grips and the two chrg and diff rounded parts to stick on there. When that is all done, I think I'm ready to order some fibreglass and a mold making kit

 

[Tamas Vargyasi]

Love the enthusiasm on this work, and I also like the approach of the whole concept. A big like for the solid modeling. What software did you used?

 

[William Geuze]

Thanks alot!
I use Autodesk Inventor, it is a very simple piece of software to use, it's almost like using Word or any other Office program.

My approach is giving me some issues from time to time though It usually took some time before I knew how some parts were/are put together.

Next week some more parts will arrive, microswitches, a magnet for the clutch, rotary encoders, a cheap button to compare to a knitter one, and some leds So hopefully in a month, I'll have quite some parts in, and hopefully the first version of the mold!

edit:
yesterday I noticed a very big screwup with the rotary switches, they are not supposed to be in a neat polygon pattern like they are now! The pattern is a bit different, I just assumed they wered divided evenly on a circle, assumption is the mother of all ****ups i guess..

edit2:
just received word from shapeways that they are going to print the button today
shipment from bodnar is on the way
mold design was corrupt, need to resend the file (arrghh)

 

[Mr Pibb]

Hey wgeuze,

A couple posts up you were deciding which buttons to use where.

On my wheel, there are 3 buttons which are easily the most used. That is an "escape" button, an "enter" button and a 4-way mini toggle. ALL of these are used purely for menu navigation. I personally spend a lot of time in the garage tweaking setups etc - all of which is part of the menu navigation.

Don't forget about these. I can't stress how important they are.

 

[William Geuze]

Thanks Mr.Pibb!

I can use the toggle switches for up and down, left and right, and the lower left RF as a cancel button. Lower right I setup to be a 'confirm' button

 

[William Geuze]

Bummer, the knob I wanted to have printed was rejected, the walls were too thin at some point in the part. I think I'll wait untill I have the hardware for it to go on first

 

[Diego Lopez]

no offense I bought a Ferrari 2011 model F1 wheel and pedals from Amazon....

I can't see it doing it myself

 

[William Geuze]

Good for you
If there was an affordable option to go with to have this wheel with these specs, I would own it already And no, the Thrustmaster doesn't qualify

I do have to admit I have yet to see myself complete this. But with these plans, reference, and a ton of experience on this forum, I sure as heck am willing to give it a try

 

[William Geuze]

When I came home this evening, an envelope from Bodnar was waiting on me!
I ordered some parts for reference, the 12 position rotary switch, a knitter button, and those two needleheads on the right, are the Allegro sensors, holy crap, they are tiny!

At the same time, my doubts about how to mount the sensors are out of the window as well, I'll just hot-glue them on the inside of the panel (Im already afraid of ruining them with my soldering iron..)

The knitter button, man that does feel goed, but for the price, I don't know. I've ordered a cheaper kind as well and I will have to compare. The knitter one is 9 euro's, the cheaper one is around 1, the difference is quality obviously, but how much of that will show when in use in this wheel, beats me.

edit:
The brass covers for the pushbutton, they're not what I'm after, does anyone know a source whre I can get the ones like used on the actual wheel? They appear to be a combined nut and cylinder shape.