I found the following site emachineshop.com apparently you can download the free software and design the part you want and what you want to make it out of. Then it gives you an instant price quote. Hello aluminum PR shrouds????? Mag bases? Spas cages? I am a idiot at auto cad type stuff but hopefully someone here can take a peek.

So or is this a Marines best friend?

Christian

Sorry, fixed the link. www.emachineshop.com

Getting anything milled out of metal isn't cheap. Learning the in's and out's of autocad is only part of the problem.

_________________
"Awww, someone tell me that's a boot!

It's a boot!"

III drops

I get the 'not cheap' part. What got me thinking was the trial and tribulations MAA is/was having doing the aluminum PR shrouds. It would take months to get a correction made and the price quote was well I wont mention it here. At least with this site a person with some sort of auto cad experience could get an instant price and not have to wait weeks for 'the shop to get back to us.' With the talent floating around here at least we could get a rough estimate. Id pay 5-700 for a set of shrouds.

All of the 'trials and tribulations' that Steve is experiencing is nothing new when working a project on a scale such as this. It is almost guaranteed no matter who you deal with, unless of course it's a business partner that you've worked with before -- then you may be likely to have a few less headaches.

I'm all ears for options to producing some of the parts that we have all wanted done up in metal like this, but it's truly a huge undertaking and not one I would be quick to spearhead. The logistics and complexity of all the details necessary in a piece such as aluminum fairings (shrouds) or a steel SPAS cage are overwhelming. Even once they are laid down into a proper CAD drawing, the system by which the part is produced still has to be designed to interpret them properly.

It's by no means a simple task.

I sort of doubt that a replica steel stamped SPAS 12 cage could be produced for less than $100. And since original ones are still available from time to time at $125 to $150, those that truly want them will buy originals. Although I bought mine a couple years back for $85, I wouldn't hesitate buying one now at their current prices if I needed another one.

The aluminum fairings are another deal altogether. Steve (MAA) is going the route of having them milled from two solid chunks of aluminum -- expensive in its own right. Thoughts of doing stampings from aluminum sheet was talked about, but there were far too many complex curves that would not be possible without splitting or thinning of the metal. The other option would be getting a foundry to cast them in aluminum. I know someone here had talked about that but I don't recall if a cost was ever determined.

I'm curious... has anyone asked TE what he would charge to hammer a set of these out?

_________________
Rick "Ripstick"
A03/TQ3.0.12142E1

"I'm curious... has anyone asked TE what he would charge to hammer a set of these out?"

I'll second that guestion.

The original shrouds were made from folded/shaped sheet with some sections welded on too.

I know Terry doesn't weld aluminium so I don't think he'd be the best person to make them if someone were to go the accurate route in terms of constriction method.

Harry

_________________

http://www.facebook.com/TheHHACA - @TheHHACA

Oh yeah... that's right Harry. For whatever reason some outdated knowledge didn't get purged properly and my brain still thinks Terry did the shrouds.

Now if I recall correctly this time, wasn't it reported that Simon's team found someone who fabricated aluminum racecar bodies to do the shrouds? Beyond that, I don't remember anything more.

Once again, more mystery shrouded in ambiguity.

_________________
Rick "Ripstick"
A03/TQ3.0.12142E1

why couldn't you have the shrouds cast?

_________________
Rob Slater
A08/TQ2.0.42136E1

I was thinking the same thing.
All you need for casting is an original set in plastic, or wood or whatever.
Then a plaster mold is made and aluminum is cast into the mold.
A simple process.
I am unsure of the cost though.
I would think a few hundred bucks.
Just a rough guess.
We have a aluminum casting foudry here in Toronto that I culd go to if I had an original to take with me for a quote.
Or at least a drawing with dimensions, including wall thickness.

_________________
---------------------------
Scott
13

A10/TQ2.0.42142E1

The shrouds would be stamped. That's it, in my opinion.

The internal carry handle area would be stamped for registration,

but would have sections welded on because of the limitation

of the draw space. Not that hard.

Making forming dies for both sides in china would cost around 3-4k.

Then you would have to amortize the mold cost with the shrouds.

The actual shroud cost would be low, but limited demand would

be the ultimate problem.


With the cage, just forget making that beast. Too much going on

there. Just an industrial designer's perspective.