You are indeed correct. For the near future I am looking for vincent parts to play with in Nylon.
Without saying too much... In the short time which I have been working for my current company. I knew that we manufactured from plastic things like intake manifolds, cylinder heads and small aerodynamic components for wind tunnel / flow bench testing and analysis purposes. Along with printing components such as complete gearboxes to confirm assembly / fits / form / function.
I have been totally shocked at the number of plastic parts which we supply to actual race teams, for use in top level motorsport applications, things such as small aerodynamic wings, headlamp shells, large multi block wiring connectors, small engine ancillary spacers and brackets. One of our touring car teams even print radiator ends in plastic then coated to make them water pressure resistant.
I have also now seen some of the F1 exhaust pipes, oil pumps, brackets and other trick components which the metals team produce.
Without saying too much... In the short time which I have been working for my current company. I knew that we manufactured from plastic things like intake manifolds, cylinder heads and small aerodynamic components for wind tunnel / flow bench testing and analysis purposes. Along with printing components such as complete gearboxes to confirm assembly / fits / form / function.
I have been totally shocked at the number of plastic parts which we supply to actual race teams, for use in top level motorsport applications, things such as small aerodynamic wings, headlamp shells, large multi block wiring connectors, small engine ancillary spacers and brackets. One of our touring car teams even print radiator ends in plastic then coated to make them water pressure resistant.
I have also now seen some of the F1 exhaust pipes, oil pumps, brackets and other trick components which the metals team produce.
Just to be clear, Alex asked for anything Vincent related to use for making something interesting in his spare time at the new job. He included things like cylinder heads, which of course could never be used if made in engineering plastic materials. I think what we are talking about is what is still known as Rapid Prototyping and it would be informative to make something to look at and and possibly even assemble into a bike for fit and function evaluation. I did the headstock model for the same reason he asked for Vincent oriented models, for a bit of fun and to try out a few ideas I had about the fork arrangement and to see if a component that is often found to be twisted or bent could be improved and still look somewhat original. Some may remember that the incentive for me was when I discovered that my early B UFM had been bent enough that the tank lugs were rotated and the fork was out of alignment. I spent a lot of time getting it straight again. I also added a couple of lugs for mounting a fairing. Whether to use something like a headstock made this way from the best plastic materials available as a working part is a matter beyond my engineering background and courage. When he gets into direct metal production later, it could be a different story. I do think there are a few components of a Vincent that could be made this way, especially on a special or a racer, where rules allow, that could save some weight and enable production of very compex parts that would be hard to machine or expensive to cast. This is already being done on modern bikes and Davidd has done some nice things with fiberglas on his racers that could be made by AM.
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