Greetings fellow listers.
The company I work for is an injection and roto-molding concern based in
Chaska, Minnesota. We have our own tool manufacturing facilities, as well
as modeling and tool design capabilities utilizing Pro E (Rev. 20 now, 2000i
in May) I would be willing to ask the tooling manager to give us a estimate
on what is called a prototype tool. Prototype tooling is significantly
cheaper than "production" tooling, though not as durable. I'm guessing that
it would be capable of 2000-5000 parts during it's life. It will not be
cheap, and I won't speculate on the cost. I also have connections with
another company (a former subsidiary) that has custom mold design and
manufacturing capabilities, plus production facilities. I can run this past
them also. While both companies usually deal in molding plastic, they
probably can mold rubber also. I know the subsidiary has in the past. We
would also need to determine the properties of the rubber, and find a
suitable raw material. Anybody out there have those abilities?
All that being said, the next question is this: assuming we can build a
tool at a reasonable cost, and run parts at a reasonable cost (whatever that
may be) how do we finance this project?
I don't know if this will all come together, but I think it is worth a shot.
Barry - want to send me the IGES files?
Bill Gingerich
'74 Spitfire, which is also in need of new light gaskets.
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