David writes in to share his directions on how he built a car out of aluminum billet. Milling a car out of solid aluminum is no mean feat, and the site has some pretty nice photos depicting the process. Now, if we can get an aluminum extruder for the Makerbot, can we take the next step and just print our own vehicles?
12 thoughts on “Car made from billet aluminum”
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Sorry, but you are mistaken. The car is not milled from a solid piece of aluminum. Although many parts are machined from aluminum billets, there are lots of pictures showing the body being constructed using aluminum sheet metal that is formed, trimmed and welded together.
The car and its construction is still impressive though.
Ah, I stand corrected. For some reason I thought that they had made their own aluminum sheet by flattening out billets as well.
It’s a bit of an engineer’s wet dream: build for performance and aesthetics, with little consideration for cost or time. Maybe what engineering needs most is one of those patrons of the days of old, like the Medici family.
Instead, we get bean counters and MBAs in marketing. Some of the lucky ones get government largess, but spend all their time writing grant proposals or filling out other paperwork/reports.
Hehe, yeah, just remember me when you find a suitable benefactor :-D
amazing
I like how they used kevlar backed gold foil, polished stainless steel, AND aerogel as insulation. Clearly just one of these materials would not be enough :).
Beautiful car. By tilting one way and then the other, I get visions of the Cobra, Corvette, MG, and the Mach One
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