A Kirkham, only smaller...

Da Man · #1 (**permalink**) 02-09-2010, 09:51 AM

By all means, we are watching. Please do not stop posting updates. Dare I say, this is fascinating.

bmwmech1 · #2 (**permalink**) 02-09-2010, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Da Man

By all means, we are watching. Please do not stop posting updates. Dare I say, this is fascinating.

Oh, I won't... thanks for watching! We are due for 18+ inches of snow tonight into tomorrow and I rescheduled all of my appointments tomorrow, so I'm taking a snow day! I should get some more done and pics posted by tomorrow night, so stay tuned...

Garey

bmwmech1 · #3 (**permalink**) 02-10-2010, 09:20 PM

Well, I took a snow day today, since we got another 18 inches of snow overnight... I thought I'd spend the day in my workshop, but as it turned out, I spent the day with my 2 year old and the wife, which was just as good! We had the neighbors over for dinner, so my shop time got condensed to a few hours after they left. Oh well... the best laid plans, right? I did get the motor mounts done, the trans mount done and the front shock mounts, too... enjoy!

Should get some build time tomorrow also, so I'll post some more pics tomorrow night...

Garey

slider701 · #4 (**permalink**) 02-11-2010, 06:40 AM

You need to talk the Kirkham boys into milling you a tiny body out of billet

Trueoo7 · #5 (**permalink**) 02-11-2010, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slider701

You need to talk the Kirkham boys into milling you a tiny body out of billet

Those craftsmen.... they could probably hammer one out, like they do with the full size cars !!

bmwmech1 · #6 (**permalink**) 02-11-2010, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slider701

You need to talk the Kirkham boys into milling you a tiny body out of billet

You may have hit on an avenue worth pursuing... although milling a body would not be my first choice, I might contact them about CNC milling me a scale wood buck... then I could use that to hammer out a metal body(s). I don't know that aluminum would be my first choice, since TIG'ing that thin of aluminum might be dicey, but a copper body could be done with relative ease and soldered together, then filed and finished as per usual. This is something worth looking into... I must say thanks for the idea! I'll keep everybody posted...

Garey

slider701 · #7 (**permalink**) 02-11-2010, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmwmech1

You may have hit on an avenue worth pursuing... although milling a body would not be my first choice, I might contact them about CNC milling me a scale wood buck... then I could use that to hammer out a metal body(s). I don't know that aluminum would be my first choice, since TIG'ing that thin of aluminum might be dicey, but a copper body could be done with relative ease and soldered together, then filed and finished as per usual. This is something worth looking into... I must say thanks for the idea! I'll keep everybody posted...

Garey

The other thing you could do, if you have a plastic model that is the correct size, is make a plastic or silicone mold/splash of that body. This will then serve as a mold for you to pour an epoxy or similar hard plastic to make a hard buck to use.

Take a look at the "Plastic Casting > Urethane" video in the following link:

http://www.acucast.com/multimedia/

I have never used these guys in the link above but they have a good video of how a rapid prototype part is made, from the SLA process of taking a CAD file and making an initial part through how they can make functional plastic parts for prototypes at a fraction of the cost of an injection mold tool.

I have used these guys in the link below and the cost is extremely reasonable, just no fancy videos on their web site.

http://theprototyper.com/

bmwmech1 · #8 (**permalink**) 02-11-2010, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slider701

The other thing you could do, if you have a plastic model that is the correct size, is make a plastic or silicone mold/splash of that body. This will then serve as a mold for you to pour an epoxy or similar hard plastic to make a hard buck to use.

Take a look at the "Plastic Casting > Urethane" video in the following link:

http://www.acucast.com/multimedia/

I have never used these guys in the link above but they have a good video of how a rapid prototype part is made, from the SLA process of taking a CAD file and making an initial part through how they can make functional plastic parts for prototypes at a fraction of the cost of an injection mold tool.

I have used these guys in the link below and the cost is extremely reasonable, just no fancy videos on their web site.

http://theprototyper.com/

I have and will have to do some mold making/casting for this project, but I don't know if it will work for the body buck, although it's a great suggestion... when you're doing any type of hand/hammer forming in this size/scale, most of your shaping is accomplished through annealing the metal, to soften it and then hammering it to shape. Having the wood buck serves both purposes, since it is hard enough to stand up to the repeated hammering and also it won't melt during the annealing, if you have to do it on the form. That's why I thought a wooden buck would be so functional. I have a backup plan of laying up the body in fiberglass, but that's just not as true to the 1:1 as I'd like to go, given the option of both... thanks for the 2 links, I may end up using the second one for some stuff on this build even!

Garey