Ever since I got the mill, I have been trying to think of ways to customize the RV so that it is unique to me.  In actuality, I had thought about coming up with custom RV pedals long before I got the mill.  So while I had my standard one day off a week during the outage (day job), I drew up my idea for custom pedals in CAD.

I wanted pedals that assembled using the stock hardware, but had a customization flair to them.

This is my first attempt and I didn't even fully finish it.  You can see where the end mill cut a loop (circle) where I didn't want one.  I believe that this is coming during the conversion from Corel Draw to Autocad DXF file.  It puts a duplicate line in (usually when it is converting an arc somewhere).  Anyway, I found where the CAD software was inserting extra code for cutting this line and deleted it from my CAD file and the G-Code file running the mill.  The other mistake I made on this piece is that the top right rivet hole is too big.  I forgot to change the end mill cutter to the proper size.

It is always good to make a test piece first.....

Once I thought that I got the bugs worked out of the first cut, I cut another pedal blank out of a piece of .130" 2024 aluminum sheet (The same stuff Van's uses).

I use a mist coolant / lubricant, however, it really isn't necessary for the feed speeds and material I am using.  The mist coolant is probably more helpful for removal of chips during the milling process.

The mill is currently cutting out the rivet holes.  I drew them up so that the mill would cut them 0.005"ish smaller than their final size would be.  The nice thing about the mill is that I used a 0.062" end mill and the mill cuts a circle to the exact dimensions I draw up in CAD.  This is nice if you don't have the exact size drill bit that you need (which I did, but hey, I have a CNC mill).

Just another shot of the rivet holes being cut...

Okay, here is what the final version looks like.  These pedals have the same dimensions as the original Van's supplied pedals.  I weighed the custom pedal against the factory original pedal and my pedal come in at 2 grams less than Van's originals.  I plan on having dual brakes, so I actually have 4 of these brake pedals cut out.

Just a close up o the previous picture.

Anyway, this was my first attempt to customize the RV using the mill.  I am pretty happy with how these brake pedals turned out.  After I assemble and drill them to their final locations, I plan on sending these off to get them chrome or nickel plated.