Sop that can Cast/"CAD'/CNC aluminum uprights for vintage F2

[Jerry Poole]

Are there any non production ships known to members of the forum the could Sand Cast/ use "CAD" or CNC from an original part to reproduce a pair or up to 4 uprights for a vintage Chevron F2/ATL? Would think something along the lies of a "prototype" shop rather than a production shop. thanks for any input or information. Jerry

[Chris Livengood]

I had some parts cast a few years ago. They wanted a working prototype and a drawing indicating critical dimensions and faces. So I machined the working prototype in house using my existing model, then I provided the drawings and the prototype. They did their thing with the sand casting, then sent the cast items to a local machine shop for the critical dimensions to be finished. They arranged for the final machining as a sub contractor and that work was included in my initial pricing from the casting company. Results were good, but the part wasn't as critical as an upright. I believe they also made like 20% more of the parts than I needed (my order was in the 1000's) as to be able to pick out the parts with porosity and other issues. It was an expensive process to get rolling.

I would assume that you have at least one working upright, so there's some chance you will just need to model that and create drawings.

Link below to the place that did the casting, they don't do any engineering, and they don't have an in house machine shop. They do mostly ornimental type stuff, but they also had a bunch of prototype cylinders for motorcycles and snowmobiles as well as other short run stuff. They seemed capable enough, I toured both their facilities and met basically all of the people that worked there...

https://kcastings.com

[old 59]

pm sent

[lowside67]

Are there any non production ships known to members of the forum the could Sand Cast/ use "CAD" or CNC from an original part to reproduce a pair or up to 4 uprights for a vintage Chevron F2/ATL? Would think something along the lies of a "prototype" shop rather than a production shop. thanks for any input or information. Jerry

I would think if the goal is not to cosmetically reproduce the original part, CNC is going to be a lot more practical for a small run like that. I imagine you will probably want to work with two different shops/people; one to scan the existing upright, convert to a useable CAD file, and then make changes to a design that is more easily machined. Then the second would be the actual CNC shop that makes the parts - and this can range from a local shop to several online services that are well equipped to do small runs.

-Mark

[J Leonard]

Have you checked with Chevron? I'm sure not an inexpensive item but maybe a whole lot easier?

[David Ferguson]

I would check with Lee Stohr. That's right in the wheelhouse of what he's been doing the last few years. They 3D-print sand molds for castings. He makes CAD drawings of obsolete race car parts and has them cast.

https://www.stohrdesign.com/

[Lyngengr]

Are there any non production ships known to members of the forum the could Sand Cast/ use "CAD" or CNC from an original part to reproduce a pair or up to 4 uprights for a vintage Chevron F2/ATL? Would think something along the lies of a "prototype" shop rather than a production shop. thanks for any input or information. Jerry

If you have an existing upright, maybe not in good condition, but something that can be scanned, then my company could produce a 3D CAD drawing suitable for CNC production. We have a small quantity CNC shop right next door to our office that does this sort of thing all the time. We would make the upright from billet aluminum, much stronger than casting, similar to what Fast Forward does.

[Chris Livengood]

Anybody even decent in CAD can reverse engineer the upright in very little time. The issue for OP may be retaining originality, which requires an approach that likely doesn’t include CNC.

[billtebbutt]

I got a guy re the CNC. He's in Canada, Trenton, Ontario to be exact, and his name is Ron Rogers. Retired aerospace fabricator, builds everything from uprights to new monocoques.

He's as good as gold. They don't come any friendlier.....

Rogers Protofab

https://www.rogersprotofab.com

[john f]

If you have an existing upright, maybe not in good condition, but something that can be scanned, then my company could produce a 3D CAD drawing suitable for CNC production. We have a small quantity CNC shop right next door to our office that does this sort of thing all the time. We would make the upright from billet aluminum, much stronger than casting, similar to what Fast Forward does.

Can you give an idea what you would charge to scan a typical upright and furnish it in a common 3D format?

john f