Technical 3d design Cad and scanning.

I am a Hotrodder that owns a 3d design and scanning business. I have been design one off and productions parts for over 20 years. The cad software that i use most is Solidworks. The 3d scanner is a creaform blue line scanner with vxelements software. After seeing my cad work posted on my model a coupe build thread a fellow hamb member suggested that I make a thread for my scanner and design work. I will be using these scans to design parts for my coupe build. I have started to ruff in a rear roll pan as you can see from the pics. I will also use cad to design the duct work from the 32 cowl vent that feeds and cools the 76mm turbo under the dash. The name of the coupe is the Hidden Agenda. I also have scanned my wifes 1951 chevy. I am using cad to do the body mods(chop, taillight, ect.) Hope you guys find this tread to be interesting and inspirational. I will forever use all the tools at my disposal to try to build cooler and cooler everything...

 

Heres a picture and some older scans of my wifes 1951 chevy. You can see how im using the scan to find the best fitment of the packard tail lights. The cad allows me to see it before I start cutting.

 

Wow, love it. My CAD skills are limited to Cardboard Aided Design

 

Thanks for starting this thread.

Optional questions:

How much time did it take to scan the Model A body? I believe you said you scanned the outside and the inside. I imagine that the scanning data doesn't immediately yield the SolidWorks results you've shown- as in, you probably need to help the software figure some things out.

About how much does scanning service cost? If I got the exterior of a 61 Comet door, and both sides of a front fender scanned, what might it cost? I'm thinking that measuring and drawing these two parts wouldn't be too difficult (to get them reasonably modeled, not as precise as scanning probably does).

 

Heres some of the parts that I did the cad work on years ago. (I sure wish I would have had a scanner back then) This was for the first love a 1936 ford built by Rad rides by Troy.

 

Whoosh....

 

That’s pretty cool! I use CAD fairly often to design hot rod stuff but have not had access to a scanner until recently when we bought one at work for our prototype shop. So, thanks for the motivation to find a reason to go play with it. Looks like some cool stuff.

 

1.I have a few weeks getting the model a coupe to the point you see it here. Its not perfect but will accomplish the jobs I intend to do.
2.The coupe is made up of 5 scans that are put together in cad. The computer clean up work takes 1-3x the time it took to do the scanning itself.
3. scanning services cost vary alot from one job to another depending on the desired end results.
4. I did my design job for years without the ability to scan the parts. Just think of scanning as a way to make thousands of measurements. The scanner that I use is accurate to .001 over an 18" span.
5. the scanner is a tool than helps us take out alot of human error and guesswork.

 

My little brother has scanned and designed a new backing plate for a brake set I want to cast. Based on 41 Lincoln specs, but with our own shapes and contours.

First he scanned the Lincoln plate, then changed up the design, then printed a 100% size model. Then I tested fit, and made design changes. We will take the next printed model to the machinist for his approval, and if good will then print an oversized pattern for casting.

 

Sounds like a cool project. I would like to see pics when you get it done.

 

while not opposed to the concept,
I find some of the examples shown are in direct opposition to the intent of this forum.

I know, just my opinion, I have been wrong before.

 

My CAD usage for projects has increased. It's a great tool for iterating before you try to build something real. On my '33, I pretty much laid out the entire chassis in Fusion360, which helped with a lot of packaging work.

My favorite project to date was the the cast magnesium wheels I made for that car, born from CAD of course:

 

thanks boss,
I'd like to see more imaging of traditional parts,
there have been a few CAD threads here in the past,
with the advance in technology it's time to revisit.

 

I was going to build the same backing plate patterns in the old fashioned method: welded up steel plate, maybe a chunk of wood here or there, and covered with bondo. But I got just a little into the project and shelved it. The scanning and computer design hugely sped up the process, and will also be able to give data to the machinist to surface and drill on his CNC mill. Going hi-tech!

 

That is some Rad Cad. Keep up the cool work.
P.S. - If I had a razor sharp pencil and a ruler, I couldn't draw a straight line !

VR&C.

 

I use a Hexagon Roamer arm scanner at work. I have scanned a cylinder head (side valve) to play with measuring and modifying, but struggled with exporting this point cloud/mesh into cad.

 

following this thread. I do CAD and 3d modeling for work as well, but for curtain wall exterior systems. I mainly work with Inventor for all the parts design. I dabbled in more car part design back in high school.

 

I worked CAD in commercial construction before retiring 7 years ago.
we were a few years into 3d, but I worked primarily 2d.
I still have the computer with a perpetual license but it's AutoCAD 2016 so compared to what's available now it's a bit limited.
I bought a CNC plasma table earlier this year and have designed and cut a bunch of off topic stuff.
one of these days I'll make some car stuff, motor mounts, brackets etc.
nothing as fancy as scanned and machined parts though.

 

Love the wheels. Who cast them for you?

 

Beautiful CAD work and renderings! I use Solidworks /HSMworks all day in the prototype shop I work in. We recently got a Faro 3D scanner I want to get to know my way around.

 

I love CAD design... way different than when I was in school. You can create anything from a laptop now!

 

What’s needed to go from “point cloud” to a some / any program that a CNC can run with?

There’s apps for phones that will 3d scan and generate a “point cloud” file. ( I really don’t know what that is any damn way) but the point cloud file needs re configuration into something else to do anything with it.
There’s also some portable hand held scanners that are under $1000 that create “point cloud” files. Is there some software that does this point cloud to cnc compatible programs.

5 years ago I 3d scanned this crossover and had it 3d printed. I used an arm mounted scanner and created a file ( don’t know what kind) and the people in the printer department made the part. I’ve got no idea what they did or how they did it. Knowing a little bit would help me ask more intelligent questions

 

I found it easier to work in 2D, anything I needed in 3D, I handed off to the whiz kids that were 1/3 my age. I'm up for a new home PC, so it will have to handle a CAD program, leaning towards Auto Cad.

At work I did mainly tool design, I'd like to jump into 3D once I'm set up. I'm also considering a 3D printer to make model car parts. There is little available for stock car parts I need. I have a good library of 2D parts I've made over the years.

I recently caught something Dave Kindig had on a show, he used a Faro digitizer to render a 3D model of an engine bay. My brother has something similar at work, I need to copy a convertible top for an AMT '62 Ford kit.

 

Here is one of my latest projects. 1936 ford highboy roadster by Rad Rides. I did the cad work on the wheels and door handles. All of the work is done on solidworks.

 

That’s some cool stuff! I have never used SolidWorks but have been using SolidEdge for a little over 20 years now. Keep the motivation coming! I rarely model stuff for cars other than simple stuff like suspension parts or maybe like the transmission adapters on my desk that I actually do need to get drawn up for a buddy...

 

Mine are limited to print, cut, tape and copy This from taking Cole Foster's old truck and using about four prints to make my version.

 

how is this "on topic" and not deleted when a post with car with a newer engine that isn't even mentioned and is focused on panel beating gets deleted? I'd love to know....

 

see post #12

 

I've tried some simple cad programs and evidently my hand isn't steady enough or being left handed using the mouse with the right hand is a big disadvantage with this.