Gordon E Peterson II

Well-known member
First Name
Gordon
Joined
Apr 29, 2021
Threads
4
Messages
63
Reaction score
110
Location
Farmers Branch, TX
Vehicles
currently 2000 Chrysler Town & Country minivan
Occupation
retired computer programmer and consultant
Country flag

Delusional

Well-known member
First Name
Phil
Joined
Dec 5, 2019
Threads
11
Messages
197
Reaction score
310
Location
Pittsburgh
Vehicles
F-150
Occupation
Construction
Country flag
Very, Very Nice! Thank You Gordon for the link
But the drone moves way too fast, I had to pause it repeatedly to try to figure out what is what. I've been inside steel mills before, but the sheet rollers were the only thing I could pick out right away on the first time through the vid. A little commentary would go a long way.

Now I'm hungry to see some of those interior drone shots produced at Giga Texas!
 

Mini2nut

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 2, 2020
Threads
87
Messages
2,188
Reaction score
4,120
Location
CA
Vehicles
2019 Tacoma TRD Pro
Country flag
The steel plant appears to be state-of-the-art. SpaceX has a lot of experience with SS so I am confident they can engineer the scoring, bending and welding of a Cybertruck monocoque exoskeleton. I am very curious as to what the final stainless formula/exterior finish will be.

Everything is slowly coming together for Q2 2022 production of the Cybertruck. A new 4680 battery cell production building, stainless steel supplier, huge Austin assembly plant, 8-ton Giga casting machine soon, etc. Multiple sources from Tesla confirm that they are working on pilot production of the Cybertruck at Fremont to speed up validation and then moving the production equipment to Giga Texas.

Tesla Cybertruck Fascinating look at Sinton, TX plant being built to produce stainless steel Cybertruck exoskeleton 57E378BE-42BD-44A1-8ABA-25B2C63D5DE6
 
Last edited:


OP
OP
Gordon E Peterson II

Gordon E Peterson II

Well-known member
First Name
Gordon
Joined
Apr 29, 2021
Threads
4
Messages
63
Reaction score
110
Location
Farmers Branch, TX
Vehicles
currently 2000 Chrysler Town & Country minivan
Occupation
retired computer programmer and consultant
Country flag
Very, Very Nice! Thank You Gordon for the link
But the drone moves way too fast, I had to pause it repeatedly to try to figure out what is what. I've been inside steel mills before, but the sheet rollers were the only thing I could pick out right away on the first time through the vid. A little commentary would go a long way.

Now I'm hungry to see some of those interior drone shots produced at Giga Texas!
Does anybody know whether this 3mm thick stainless steel is going to be delivered as flat sheets, or how? Hard to imagine how it could be bent onto a spool or something...?!
 

jhogan2424

Well-known member
First Name
Jason
Joined
Apr 24, 2021
Threads
8
Messages
331
Reaction score
497
Location
USA
Vehicles
Moped
I know it is delivered to Boca Chica in rolls for use building the starships but the starships are mostly round so I would imagine a different plan for the CT but I’m just guessing.
 

Crissa

Well-known member
First Name
Crissa
Joined
Jul 8, 2020
Threads
126
Messages
16,227
Reaction score
27,096
Location
Santa Cruz
Vehicles
2014 Zero S, 2013 Mazda 3
Country flag
Does anybody know whether this 3mm thick stainless steel is going to be delivered as flat sheets, or how? Hard to imagine how it could be bent onto a spool or something...?!
Spool.

Everything can be bent at some deflection. In fact, that's how they describe making the truck. It's not being stamped, after all.

-Crissa
 

JBee

Well-known member
First Name
JB
Joined
Nov 22, 2019
Threads
18
Messages
4,752
Reaction score
6,129
Location
Australia
Vehicles
Cybertruck
Occupation
. Professional Hobbyist
Country flag
So are they making the spools here, or the CT panels as well? Looks more like spools, but it's huge, if this is the body shop, we could be looking at much higher CT production numbers.
 

Crissa

Well-known member
First Name
Crissa
Joined
Jul 8, 2020
Threads
126
Messages
16,227
Reaction score
27,096
Location
Santa Cruz
Vehicles
2014 Zero S, 2013 Mazda 3
Country flag
So are they making the spools here, or the CT panels as well? Looks more like spools, but it's huge, if this is the body shop, we could be looking at much higher CT production numbers.
Spools. Maybe sheets.

The actual folding is for the Austin plant.

-Crissa
 


tmeyer3

Well-known member
First Name
Trevor
Joined
Jun 27, 2021
Threads
10
Messages
539
Reaction score
1,066
Location
CA
Vehicles
Model 3, Wrangler, Tractors
Occupation
Computer Scientist
Country flag
Tesla will receive them as spools, just like their aluminum raw materials.


SS rolls come in gauges down to 7, anything under 0.187" (4.5mm) in thickness will definitely come as a roll--also depends on the specific steel. Gauges under 7 will come as sheets. This is just a path of least resistance thing and a money equation. Each material has similar thresholds. No manufacturer I've ever worked with will ship 11 gauge (CT thickness) SS in plates.

Aluminum alloys are kind of weird and are usually plate after 1/4", but sometimes they'll stop rolling it over 8 gauge (around 1/8" I think?) depending on the alloy and it's elasticity.

SDI is producing the rolls
SDI -> Tesla -> cutting/folding -> Cybertruck-ifying -> My garage plz, thx
 

JBee

Well-known member
First Name
JB
Joined
Nov 22, 2019
Threads
18
Messages
4,752
Reaction score
6,129
Location
Australia
Vehicles
Cybertruck
Occupation
. Professional Hobbyist
Country flag
Tesla will receive them as spools, just like their aluminum raw materials.


SS rolls come in gauges down to 7, anything under 0.187" (4.5mm) in thickness will definitely come as a roll--also depends on the specific steel. Gauges under 7 will come as sheets. This is just a path of least resistance thing and a money equation. Each material has similar thresholds. No manufacturer I've ever worked with will ship 11 gauge (CT thickness) SS in plates.

Aluminum alloys are kind of weird and are usually plate after 1/4", but sometimes they'll stop rolling it over 8 gauge (around 1/8" I think?) depending on the alloy and it's elasticity.
Good to know.

I'm wondering what the CT panel folding line will look like. I'm expecting it to be mostly automated.
But I'm still a bit unclear on what parts are folded and which are stamped. The cabin frame looks stamped to me because of its shape. So this part might be much thinner that the skin.

Also I wonder how heavy the doors will be because of the thick skin used, and maybe the reason it might need a door assist system to some degree. I don't believe the doors themselves help structurally in any way either, except for side impact protection.
 

tmeyer3

Well-known member
First Name
Trevor
Joined
Jun 27, 2021
Threads
10
Messages
539
Reaction score
1,066
Location
CA
Vehicles
Model 3, Wrangler, Tractors
Occupation
Computer Scientist
Country flag
Good to know.

I'm wondering what the CT panel folding line will look like. I'm expecting it to be mostly automated.
But I'm still a bit unclear on what parts are folded and which are stamped. The cabin frame looks stamped to me because of its shape. So this part might be much thinner that the skin.

Also I wonder how heavy the doors will be because of the thick skin used, and maybe the reason it might need a door assist system to some degree. I don't believe the doors themselves help structurally in any way either, except for side impact protection.
I can sorta explain this, but Tesla hasn't released enough details to be 100% certain.

Facts:
The the 8000 ton casting press from IDRA will be creating the Cybertruck rear underbody in a single piece. This will not be made from the 30X stainless steel, but from a different alloy that permits casting much better than SS.

Educated guessing:
That being said, that casting will not be exposed to the elements like the SS unibody will be. The unibody is folded and holds the stresses and weight of the vehicle. If I understand correctly, the rear underbody casting will be inside the bed of the truck to distribute loads evenly across the chassis (in this case exoskeleton, that's weird to say). There are a lot more parts than just that shiny exoskeleton, and the super-duper press reduces production time/costs and potential points of failure.

The doors will probably be pretty heavy!! I can do some guestimation math if you'd like, let me know.

Cheers!
 
OP
OP
Gordon E Peterson II

Gordon E Peterson II

Well-known member
First Name
Gordon
Joined
Apr 29, 2021
Threads
4
Messages
63
Reaction score
110
Location
Farmers Branch, TX
Vehicles
currently 2000 Chrysler Town & Country minivan
Occupation
retired computer programmer and consultant
Country flag
I can sorta explain this, but Tesla hasn't released enough details to be 100% certain.

Facts:
The the 8000 ton casting press from IDRA will be creating the Cybertruck rear underbody in a single piece. This will not be made from the 30X stainless steel, but from a different alloy that permits casting much better than SS.

Educated guessing:
That being said, that casting will not be exposed to the elements like the SS unibody will be. The unibody is folded and holds the stresses and weight of the vehicle. If I understand correctly, the rear underbody casting will be inside the bed of the truck to distribute loads evenly across the chassis (in this case exoskeleton, that's weird to say). There are a lot more parts than just that shiny exoskeleton, and the super-duper press reduces production time/costs and potential points of failure.

The doors will probably be pretty heavy!! I can do some guestimation math if you'd like, let me know.

Cheers!
The castings are an aluminum alloy, and they ABSOLUTELY are exposed to the elements. You can see that in the current production MY. I've wondered in fact if the bed of the CT isn't part of the aluminum casting! That would certainly help explain why the 8,000 ton Gigapress is needed for that.

One thing that I've wondered about is whether there will be an issue of "electrogalvanic corrosion" where the aluminum and stainless steel are joined... this was an issue at the NY World Trade Center (where the decorative aluminum ribs were going to start falling off, and were going to need some kind of reattaching... part of why the Port of New York Authority had filed THREE separate demolition requests for the twin towers (which requests were all denied!), before the towers came down on 9/11...!)
 

tmeyer3

Well-known member
First Name
Trevor
Joined
Jun 27, 2021
Threads
10
Messages
539
Reaction score
1,066
Location
CA
Vehicles
Model 3, Wrangler, Tractors
Occupation
Computer Scientist
Country flag
The castings are an aluminum alloy, and they ABSOLUTELY are exposed to the elements. You can see that in the current production MY.
In model Y, yes, but it is also a part of the frame. How do you know the production of the Cybertruck will be the same as the model Y? I mean, the CT doesn't even have a frame. If anyone actually knows how the CT production will happen, it'd be all over the place. But you're right, it could be exposed, but then wouldn't that make it a body on frame design like the model Y?

My assumption was based on how aircraft are made, since their design is closer to the CT than the model Y. The pressed parts are used internally for structure and load balancing.

But I have no idea, really lol
Sponsored

 
 




Top