#Instamachinist Video:Special Form Tool for 7075 Sprockets

Located in the heart of Southern California, Zodiac Engineering is a small-scale machine shop focusing on prototypes to low volume production. Specializing in knives, firearms and automotive components.  Here's some of Ken Spaulding's instagram posts via @ZodiacEng on a special form tool we made for them to profile the tooth area of a 7075 sprocket.

@destinytool did a great job with this custom form tool for the upcoming run of @animalbikes V3 sprockets. This form tool will be used to profile the tooth area, giving the tooth its taper, thickness and blend to the total thickness of the sprocket.

A photo posted by Ken Spaulding (@zodiaceng) on Jun 18, 2013 at 10:26am PDT

Roughing the backside of the teeth before the @destinytool form tool. 100IPM Max RPM at 7,500 0.065 DOC

A video posted by Ken Spaulding (@zodiaceng) on Aug 24, 2013 at 10:47am PDT

Last one of these, promise. This shot shows just how clean the @destinytool endmills, chamfermills and formtool cut. Chamfers were done in one pass with a 2flt 1/4" diameter 90 degree chamfermill at 7500RPM & 50IPM. The parts went straight from the mill to anodize with no deburring/tumbling process between. Anodize is Mil-A 8625 Type II Class 2 black dyed. Laser etch process done by high speed Nd: YAG lasers. Every single detail from the raw 7075 aluminum plates, endmills, form tools, vices, CNC mill, anodize, lasers, poly bags, header cards, right down to the staples that held everything together was made right here in the United States. □□ Side note, the Zodiac sticker was one of the very first ever made nearly a decade ago. Come a long way from making seat clamps for buddies on a Bridgeport to running production for one of the most respected brands in BMX. Thanks for your support!

A photo posted by Ken Spaulding (@zodiaceng) on Oct 30, 2013 at 9:55am PDT

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And this post from Zodiac's Facebook Page...

Update: November 12, 2013

Now that @animalbikes dropped these, I can give a little more info on what went into these this run. From the feedback from our followers it was decided to add an additional color to the line.

Neither of us, Animal or myself, are big fans of bright colors and all that crap so we kept it industrial and went with black and clear for these.

The finish is Mil-A 8625 Type II clear sulfuric anodize. This shows all details left in the material giving a raw look but the anodize will help resist wear and gives a nice surface for the laser to etch into. For all of those that asked for raw sprockets, these are for you!

​Head over to www.animalbikes.com and order yours now!​