Not-a-number

Yeah exactly. Theres always a stupid overhang detail like this that makes it harder than it should be!

Outer camtree patterns 1 of 2

Inner core patterns for the cam tree complete.

1st half of the inner core pattern printed. Printer is running like a champ at the moment. Nice quality.

Cam tree coming along quickly. A real one Patterns

Yeah that would be handy. I looked seriously at it for a while but they just arnt reliable enough yet. Not on a large scale anyway. The risk of clogging a print goes way up which just gives you more material to recycle! PLA is good cos its made from corn starch and it composts in a couple of months in an industrial compost. 10-20years in a normal compost! But thats still better than 10000years for APS.

Printed

The final 2 small sump core patterns.

Another big bit done.

Inner patterns for the sump complete. Just got a couple of small cores left to do for the sump. Then move on to some cam boxes!

I had a lot of issues with the printer. Clogging, warping, delaminating, poor quality 10kg of material wasted and 3 weeks changing parameters but learnt a lot and got it sorted. Now I need to figure out if I can recycle this stuff!

Outer pattern prints complete.

Outer mould patterns finished and ready for printing. 3D printing is good but it also means to have to design the under side! Twice as much work!

Completed the 57sc Sump Model. Moving onto the pattern making designs now. These should be a lot easier than the crankcase! Casting version with machine allowance and shrinkage compensation First cut of roughly what the sand cores would look like.

Runner system prints completed.

Generally I put a feeder/riser where I think there might be a lot of shrinking. Either a lot more mass than whats next to it or lots of thin sections going in opposite directions (which is whats happening in this case) Youre right, in the middle would be more logical but there is a small detail there that I dont want to lose. To be honest the whole system might be terrible. Those feeders may or may not even be needed. The runner system and gates are probably the wrong size too! But I follow the guidelines and after the first pore I will learn a lot and go from there. I have very little experience in designing runner systems so its more good luck than good management. This is what I have followed from the start. Its been good, it got the cylinder block first crack! https://www.amazon.com/Castings-Practice-Ten-Rules-ebook/dp/B001OQBLZ2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1548464690&sr=8-1&keywords=casting+practice+10+rules Yeah for sure. Long term the plan is to build the car and a long the way engine building can fund it.

This gives you an idea of how the moulds/cores from these patterns will go together.

Yeah I have one in my shed in NZ. Its a good machine, takes a bit of manual G coding but gets the job done. Here in 'Murica though I only have a printer to keep me sane!

All patterns completed for the crankcase! Just finishing the runner system now. Then onto the sump

Havnt updated for a while. Been in the US living up the Freedoms. Ive been working on a lot of CAD over the last 1-2years and have just recently bought a massive 3D printer to make casting patterns. The plan is to stock pile patterns and then hit it hard when Im back in NZ Currently doing patterns for the crankcase. I'll update more on Instagram. @Barlow.Jobs

This is the 'space stuff'. Great day for NZ

So 2 weeks before moving to the US this happens! Guy in OZ is rebuilding a T57 and needed a new block. So got to and cast one up! Didnt go 100% but still really well. On a plane to LA in 3days!

Ok I lied. A few more photos. Rear T57 spring mounts. You can see them in this photo

Haha. I work here www.rocketlabusa.com and will be doing bigger better stuff in the US. Bigger better space stuff.

This will probably be my last interesting post for a while. Will be moving to California in a month to build space stuff. Visa came through today after months of paperwork!So good! So making parts will slow down, but hopefully CAD work will speed up! Anyway, these are spring hangers and a trunion hanger CNCd from 4140. Having a mill in your shed is key to building shiny stuff!