Focus on the water pump first!

I'm down for it. I've been stock piling machining tools. I'm also taking a PRO -E refreshed course.

The only series that allow it are time trials. They can be locked out for other series.

I have 2 3 axis mills and a steel lathe in case anyone wanted to use them :uh:

Carlos, let's chat about this first quarter next calendar year sometime. Do you have CAD skills or ever worked with Solid Works, etc.? I'm in the middle of a fairly giant shit pile presently, but my flexibility to pursue things like this will hopefully change significantly next year.

Guy, are the mills CNC or manual? My uncle's shop is loaded up, including I heard a new 5 axis, all CNC. But they're running full tilt double shifts, so slotting in might be tough, depending on scale of project. So if there is some slack capacity somewhere with cheaply accessible CNC, that could be useful information.

Good ol' 70's manual operated mills and lathe

Good for one-offs in the hands of a skilled operator, not so good for "monkey push button repetition"

Basically what I use it for. Custom brackets, motorcycle parts, gunsmithing etc.

They're awesome, and I wouldn't mind having one of my own someday. But consistent "mass" production is a whole different world and art all its own.

I was a monster with PRO-E and Mechanical. They are CAR programs on crack. Basically PRO-E will allow Youku to draw and generate the part. It will also allow you to assign material properties to parts. Mechanica could take those parts and run almost any test on it via finite element analysis. From there you could import them to the CMC or now a 3d printer. I'm taking some refreshed classes in spring. I'm finally rotating off the boat to shore duty in December. I also got to finish the masters.

One of my students designs the software for 3d printers. He has offered us a few of the new printers that he helped design for around $400