Quote:
Originally Posted by dirtwheelsfl
Im in for a set. Is aluminum a possibility?? Red/white painted plastic is my other idea... I know this 69 originally had em cuz i just filled the rivet holes  |
My goal is to have them available by/at the May gathering but it is still a work in progress with the production side now being the big issue.
Looks like we can have a couple of options:
Plastic is the easiest and cheapest - I am working on setting up a way that people can order them in their color of choice from a company that will 3D print them for each individual and ship them out with a few bucks going to the CSC site to help cover site expenses. I still have to figure out which plastics will survive best in sunlight and get the logistics dialed. This is the company I used to print the 420SS one shown - their price on aluminum is stupid high but it looks like they have an aluminum/plastic matrix that might work. I am not sure if they do 2-color plastics but will check.
CNC out of 1/4" plate stock (316L or AL) is probably an option but because of the contours that I copied from the original casting (casting draft and multiple thicknesses), it is a more advanced CNC operation with a design effort for tool paths and probably special bits - so not cheap. I have gotten quotes of $500/ea with the price dropping to $90-150/ea on bulk orders (30-50+) but I am still chasing a reasonable option there as I am not excited about shelling out that kind of money.
I really wish the 3D print shop could use 316 instead of 420 because that would be a winner. I have spent hours trying to figure out how passivate the 420 so it wouldn't rust, but it looks like it was annealed in the printing process so that probably wouldn't work.