Re: Now if this could be used to make Packard parts

Posted by Mike O'Handley On 2011/8/6 12:24:00

Quote:That's true to a point, but one can also apply it to machine work.

The point I tried to make above is that it will be a great time saver for replication of some parts by speeding up the process wherein one must make a pattern to work from in order to produce a final product.

When I worked for that foundry they put me in charge of about 50 pieces of heavy equipment that had never had a real heavy equipment mechanic touch them in more than a quarter of a century. The foundry maintenance shop would cobble together repairs but they never really had an in-house heavy equipment mechanic who'd been trained to work on vehicles as opposed to foundry equipment.

I found the equipment in terrible condition and set about overhauling just about every piece. One of my major obstacles was age - some of the manufacturers had gone out of business or were no longer producing spares. That's a problem I'm sure is familiar to all here. Consequently, I was forced to fabricate replacement parts in-house. That's how I got to know the guys in the pattern shop.

For cast parts, I'd take an obsolete impossible-to-find part to the pattern shop foreman and he'd have one of his guys spend a few days making a pattern from wood and they'd determine the specific density and type of pour formula needed to produce a casting with the same density and strength as the original part. Then I'd take that pattern down to the casting floor foreman, give him the pattern and the specs, and they'd take over.

A few hours, or maybe even a few days later, someone would call down to the shop for me to come get my "piece of crap." I'd then take the rough casting over to the machine shop where, using the old part and the parts to be mated to it, they'd determine how it needed to be milled and then they'd bore and/or mill the casting to final tolerances. If necessary they'd turn or shape or cast new bushings, bearings or babbits from brass or bronze. Finally, I'd get my very expensive replacement part and would be able to finish repairing the mover and get the shop foreman off my back by getting that mover moving again.

It was labor intensive, time consuming, and, as I've said, extremely expensive when you consider the fact that most of those parts were one-offs. If I'd had this printer device, I could have greatly shortened the pattern making process and literally shaved off days of labor.

This would work for forged parts too, because one can produce the pattern needed to create the forging dies in a fraction of the time normally needed.

To a certain extent it does work for machined parts. When one is producing large quantities of machined parts the equipment that makes the parts uses pattern followers and spins or shapes dozens of parts simultaneously. A small machine shop owner can replicate such parts using various steels, brass, bronze or aluminum but only one at a time; and, before doing so, must first construct a pattern for his follower.

Eliminating the extra time it takes to create that pattern is where this device should be able to shine. If one can quickly and cheaply produce a pattern for the follower with one of these devices and do it for substantially less than it will cost for that machinist to produce the pattern, one is ahead of the game.

I agree, this device can't do the internal machining, but I think it has great potential to save gobs of time and money up the point the casting shop, dye maker or machine shop needs to take over.

Mike O'Handley
Kenmore, Washington