Toggles

[cbrookre]

I am pretty sure they are made of Bubble Gum and Duct Tape... you are all wrong! I was told this by President Obama who has sat in the car many times! :tsk:

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[geokots]

Like you said, most of what you read will tell you it's aluminum. Like others have said there is a debate on here already about what they are made of. Not to be dragged into Spartan and Goe's battle of wits, I sat in the car also and deliberately check the material. Just hear me out. Disagree or agree as you please... But just read the following as my earnest experience unbiased.

While I disagree (and I am open to being wrong) that it's aluminum I appreciate the thought and effort that you put in to your response.

Much more than Spartan saying "I sat in it, therefore I'm right" BTW, did you know he sat in one.

To make it out of aluminum I feel would be too much work and too expensive.
Dash trim, radio nobs etc. are easy to shape, roll, machine. The toggle switch isn't. It's a lot of pieces to shape, etch, hollow (for lighting). I just don't see it.

It would be great if I was wrong but some sort of coated alloy is more likely.

 

[Malikona]

Not sure if you quoted me because I'm giving the aluminum claimers a hard time of if you didn't sense my sarcasm.

What you are saying is what I believe to be true.

I didn't sense the sarcasm, I just caught the tail end of this thread. Glad to know we are both in agreement with the facts. ;)

 

[Rickycardo]

To make it out of aluminum I feel would be too much work and too expensive.
Dash trim, radio nobs etc. are easy to shape, roll, machine. The toggle switch isn't. It's a lot of pieces to shape, etch, hollow (for lighting). I just don't see it.

None of those parts are machined. They are stamped or cast. If I were tasked to develop and produce those switches I would die cast them from a zinc allow and have them plated to match the finish required. The cost is very low and the quality is acceptable for a mass produced item. You can easily design in openings and crevices for electronics and lighting. I would use fiber optics to run the lighting to the switch and a simple LED for the illumination.
This is what I do for a living, I'm a manufacturing engineer in a metal's factory. It's second nature for me to figure out how something is made when I look at it.

 

[souprmage]

If they are polished aluminum, they're likely varnished to keep them from oxidizing. It really would be tough to tell if they were really aluminum just by looking and touching. They don't appear anodized (which would provide protection from oxidation), and certainly not machined.

I've never sat in one, I've never even seen one. But I'm for an argument, what else do I have to do while waiting?

 

[Malikona]

If they are polished aluminum, they're likely varnished to keep them from oxidizing. It really would be tough to tell if they were really aluminum just by looking and touching. They don't appear anodized (which would provide protection from oxidation), and certainly not machined.

I've never sat in one, I've never even seen one. But I'm for an argument, what else do I have to do while waiting?

...they're not aluminum. See video: http://www.tflcar.com/2014/09/2015-ford-mustang-almost-everything-you-wanted-to-know-video/ 5:00 minute mark.

BTW I'm not knocking them I think they are still cool, just...not aluminum.

 

[Rickycardo]

Even the dash of the car is stamped. The aluminum is patterned in a machine. Then the blank is cut by a laser or a blanking die, then stamped to shape in a press. The 3 different finishes are simply the finishes of the raw material. Here's a pic of turning a pattern in the sheet.

 

[Rickycardo]

Truth be told we won't know what they're really made of until one of us breaks one. :doh:

 

[Malikona]

Truth be told we won't know what they're really made of until one of us breaks one. :doh:

I'm willing to bet they are plastic switches underneath the (KNOWN) chrome surface. Just makes more sense to me than anything else...

 

[souprmage]

...they're not aluminum. See video: http://www.tflcar.com/2014/09/2015-ford-mustang-almost-everything-you-wanted-to-know-video/ 5:00 minute mark.

BTW I'm not knocking them I think they are still cool, just...not aluminum.

But they don't look like chrome plated plastic like the other parts. It looks more satin finished than that. We know what he said, but he began with 'I don't know...', perhaps it just took him a bit to recall exactly, or perhaps he recalled some other surface being chromed, like around the cup holders.

Kinda hard to say at this point.

Hoping they're aluminum, but I'm afeard you're right.

 

[Malikona]

But they don't look like chrome plated plastic like the other parts. It looks more satin finished than that. We know what he said, but he began with 'I don't know...', perhaps it just took him a bit to recall exactly, or perhaps he recalled some other surface being chromed, like around the cup holders.

Kinda hard to say at this point.

Hoping they're aluminum, but I'm afeard you're right.

Honestly I think he was just kind of hoping to dodge the question and didn't want to say that they weren't aluminum and then realized he had no choice. ;) Nothing to be ashamed of on their part IMHO, but just their whole "honest premium materials" thing, "if it looks like aluminum, it is aluminum," ... well clearly these look enough like aluminum to spark this discussion, so maybe it's a bit of a sticking point for them internally, a concession to the manufacturing process/cost, etc., that they didn't want to have to make.

 

[souprmage]

For sure he wasn't prepared to answer that question.

I just hope the finish doesn't wear off and expose the black plastic underneath, like most painted plastic does, if it happens to be plastic base.

 

[geokots]

Truth be told we won't know what they're really made of until one of us breaks one. :doh:

I vote for Spartan to do that and put this to its logical conclusion.

 

[Firepath]

Sounds like (from the evidence some are giving) that they are Aluminium. I guess if they just have the symbols embossed into them and don't light up I can definitely see them being cast aluminium, which makes them even more believable, and matches the easiest finish you would get with them (vibratory-tumbled / polished).

The big give-away would be the temperature of them and how slowly they warm up whilst holding them. That will tell you if they are plastic or metal. Can anyone confirm them feeling colder as metal would versus plastic?

 

[Firepath]

Honestly I think he was just kind of hoping to dodge the question and didn't want to say that they weren't aluminum and then realized he had no choice. ;)

This also seems plausible.

To me it still fits with the "if it looks like aluminium, it is" quote, because to me, they don't look aluminium. Too shiny. All the other bits of Al are more satin. Of course small, complex parts can't be polished the same way as quickly / easily / cheaply, and vibratory polishing would / could give a shinier look.

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