[mlc66]

A while ago I hand made a sliding cup holder for my Elise. It was functional but a bit crude. The Elise was replaced by an Exige (sans cup holder) so I figured it was time for cup holder mk2,....oh and the perfect excuse to buy an old but very functional mini milling machine [EMCO FB-2E] to hopefully remove some of the rough edges of cup holder mk1.
~$10 of aluminum, a few hours of setup and milling later the cup holder is finidhed. The spring I used on the slide detent could do to be a bit stronger but otherwise it works really quite well, and a great excuse to buy a mini mill.

 

[cmaser]

Wow, you did an incredible job. I'm sure a lot of forum members would be interested if you ever thought of doing a run of these.

 

[JoelCool]

That looks really great!

 

[ZookIniBob]

Extremely excellent work. It fits with the design esthetic of lotus very well. I would definitely be interested if you decided to do a run of these.

 

[onboost91]

Nice job looks great!

 

[MMachines]

That's awesome!

 

[Kimgt]

I'd buy that.

 

[Flemgunner]

Yep Id buy one too! Awesome job!

 

[DWilde]

Very neat! Many questions... Is your mill large enough for a dual holder? Does it interfere with the OBDII port? Are the straps hand sewn? Thank you for sharing!

 

[forkmeupscotty]

Nice work! Love the ball-detent bit!

 

[mlc66]

Thanks to everybody for liking the idea.
To answer a few questions: I wasn’t intending to produce any more but I might be able to encourage my son to do so (the first one was a bit of an exercise in father / son bonding). However, if people are interested I would be happy to share dimensions or a CAD file.
if someone wanted to make more than one it would be a lot easier to have the actual holders waterjet cut from 3mm plate (I used 6061 sheet and bar stock for this project). I also think that the slide mounting could be 3D printed if the dimensions were increased a bit to give it more strength, which would leave the straps the only part to fabricate. The straps on Mk2 are 1inch tubular climbing webbing, and at 18 kilonewtons breaking strength I’m pretty sure it will hold the odd can of coke,......if the stitching that my wife added doesn’t break😉. Again, if somebody fancies making a run of these I would suggest plastic rivets would be fit for purpose and faster than stitching.
The answer to the question “does mill have enough X/Y travel to cut a double holder” is yes, however I wouldn’t recommend it due to the fact that when I knocked up a symmetrical prototype it interfered with my right knee. I deliberately offset the single holder to the passenger side to avoid contact and I think a symmetrical double holder would intrude into “knee space” of the driver.
Thanks again for the interest.

 

[rb26dett]

I was about to make a cup holder this winter but your design is way better than mine.

 

[MMachines]

Places like emachineshop could make this a reality. I wonder what an instant quote could come back with. Do you have the CAD for both parts (if son not interested).

I'm not looking to make anything off this but have been looking for a reason to get my feet wet in custom parts for a while and while cars laid up for the winter there's no rush. Assuming all works out have no issue sending the parts at cost for someone else to do final assembly and distribution.

 

[StressCraxx]

@mlc66 I would also be interested in the files to make the above to learn turning a CAD file into a machined or 3D printed product - or a combination of the two.

TIA.

Dan

 

[RapidLotus]

Wonderful design and it looks like fun and a great bonding project. Also a great way to get a milling machine. !! PM sent.

Does it use the 2 existing holes under the climate controls? I have used those for other projects and that looks like where yours is mounted.

Happy Holidays!

 

[Alan9234]

I'm interested in one as well

 

[MMachines]

Bump as seems there are/were a lot of interested parties in making/creating/supporting small father-son run.

 

[RapidLotus]

I sent a PM a few weeks ago requesting the CAD file/dimensions. I like the idea and have access to a water jet and I 3D print. Send me what you have and I'll see if a 3D print in PETG would be strong enough. Keep up the good work!
Fred

 

[mlc66]

I sent a PM a few weeks ago requesting the CAD file/dimensions. I like the idea and have access to a water jet and I 3D print. Send me what you have and I'll see if a 3D print in PETG would be strong enough. Keep up the good work!
Fred

Apologies to RapidLotus and others. I had asked my mechanical engineering student daughter to redraw the design files. The request met the same level as urgency as most requests from parents to children. The outline file is attached as a pdf and I'm led to believe the *.stl file will follow shortly.

 

[RapidLotus]

Apologies to RapidLotus and others. I had asked my mechanical engineering student daughter to redraw the design files. The request met the same level as urgency as most requests from parents to children. The outline file is attached as a pdf and I'm led to believe the *.stl file will follow shortly.

Very nice work! Please thank her from the Lotus crowd!