Did Karman save the tooling for the 914, Like the Brits did? Options

[worn]

I have a Triumph TR6 and my son has an MGB. British Heritage makes all of the body panels (I had to replace about half the sheet metal on my car) and reportedly obtained the dies by tracking them down after the collapse of British Leyland. What happened to the corresponding 914 dies after production ceased?

[wysri9]

Anyone who has watched the Porsche 3 d printed piston video won’t doubt the capability of 3D printed metal. Size might be an issue for body panels...... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Superhawk996]

Anyone who has watched the Porsche 3 d printed piston video won’t doubt the capability of 3D printed metal. Size might be an issue for body panels...... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I will.

Big difference between producing a piston and a stamping die set that withstands 100 or more tons of stamping force. BTW - 100 ton is a baby press. Modern Schuler presses are the size of a small house and can produce 3,000 ton force or more.

Dies are CNC milled on machines with 12-20 foot beds. It will be a long long time before you see 3D printing on that scale and with materials able to withstand those sorts of press forces.

https://www.schulergroup.com/major/download...rmsysteme_e.pdf


The idea that 3D printers are a new idea or particularly high tech is bunk . Stereolithography dates back to 1980s. Printing 3D parts from metal is newer (late 90's - early 2000) but still omits how much work is required after the "printing" is done.

I'll add another intersting one. Bugatti titanium brake caliper.

https://www.bugatti.com/media/news/2018/wor...om-3-d-printer/

It is very impressive but . . . .

Buried from deep within the Bugatti Press Release:

"It takes a total of 45 hours to print a brake caliper. . . . . Heat treatment is carried out in a furnace where the brake caliper is exposed to an initial temperature of 700°C, falling to 100°C in the course of the process, in order to eliminate residual stress and to ensure dimensional stability. Finally, the supporting structures are removed and the component is separated from the tray. In the next production stage, the surface is smoothed in a combined mechanical, physical and chemical process which drastically improves its fatigue strength, i.e. the long-term durability of the component in later vehicle operation. Finally, the contours of functional surfaces, such as the piston contact surfaces or threads, are machined in a five-axis milling machine which takes another 11 hours to complete its work. "

So although the 3D printed parts are very cool, it's not like this process (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stromberg.gif) out finished parts or that it will be used for affordable, high volume prodution parts any time soon.