To produce aftermarket parts

[Babo7H]

Hi 


I bought VFC G45(Umarex, Eliteforce whichever it is called) and gathered most of aftermarket parts available in the market.
I have notied that no company has manufactured a "Barrel Base" (Parts # 03-7) this piece tends to break on the heavy use
yet, there is no aftermarket parts.

I would like to make one for myself and possibly for few other people in the community (where i am from)
I had no idea how these things work, but I have learrned that we need 3D modeling to begin with,
to do so, we need to 3D scan the actual part or reverse design the part, in which way it would cost fortune and time.

So I have asked VFC to provide me with the one which they have declined - understandably, but I have asked different company once
and they just gave it to me no question asked, which was a surprise. 

Anyway I was wondering all these aftermarket parts manufacturers for example Cowcow, they have made many parts in steel, 
does anyone know if they would have been provided with 3D Modeling from VFC with certain contract? or those aftermarket manufacturer also
gone thru all those reverse designing and 3d scanning thingy?

or do you think anyone or any organization would have that 3D modeling I am looking for?

By the way, the part I am trying to build is this part. (the one in the blue circle)

View attachment 99448

Any idea or suggestion for me to accomplish this project would be highly appreciated.



 

 

[EDcase]

Hi and welcome

It would surprise me if they gave you technical drawings.

That's a complex shape to scan for sure but it might be possible at least to get a starting shape and then measure more accurate dimensions after.

You would have to take it out, spray it matte grey then use a toothbrush to flick white and black dots on it to give the surfaces some detail.

Then use one of the 3d scanning apps or an iphone

(There is a part for the WE Hi-Power I wish could be made in steel too)

 

[Terry_Rist]

Looks like a part you should be able to copy relatively easily with some standard measuring equipment that most machine shops would have, a pair of callipers, a micrometre some radius gauges and the like. 3D scanning is an option, but with the small size and required precision of the object it isn't feasible at the consumer level from my experience. 3D scanning tends to work well on larger parts and especially organic parts with a lot of complex curves and surfaces, on a small part like this you won't get the accuracy that you need from anything consumer grade. Some machine shops and specialist companies do have much higher precision machines designed for copying small parts like this that would work.

Actually making the thing is the next problem, even though it has fairly simple geometry, the amount of operations required to machine something like this from billet would be huge. Either you would require a very high end 4+ axis machine or a lot of set ups and tool changes on a standard 3axis machine. Either one of these is incredibly expensive in small quantities as the set up and programming time involved will be very expensive. If this cost is spread out over hundreds or thousands or parts then it becomes more economical, but for <100 parts it makes the individual part cost very high. For small quantities other things can drive up the price a lot, any tooling cost is spread over a small amount of parts, you pay a lot for a small batch of whatever material you are using compared to doing a bigger run and buying material in bulk there is also usually a set up cost per order which is to cover the cost of setting up the tooling on the machine and switch it over to do your job form whatever it was on before. Again for a big batch a set up fee of a few hundred £/$ adds pennies onto the cost of each part, for only a small number this can easily double or triple the part cost once this is factored in. 

You may find a business that really needs the work or doesn't have these types of added cost, but I am just warning you about what is standard in the industry for small batch manufacturing. When you get into more volume manufacturing, some of these costs like he set up costs may be waived entirely because they know that the job will be running long enough that it isn't a big deal to spend an hour or two setting it up and they know you are a good customer. Also if you move enough volume through them then they are more willing to help out with small projects on the side, this is how I get stuff made as one offs, people don't mind helping on a few one offs here and there when you order thousands of other parts from them a month. It is great that the companies my business uses for all our machining, laser cutting and tube bending are all within 200m of our factory and I am friends with all the owners, it gives me a lot of benefits for small hobby projects that wouldn't be possible to someone who didn't have the connections and steady business orders to back it up.

 

[Babo7H]

@Terry_Rist Thank you so much for detailed explanation, I've heard about it will be needing 5-axis machine and all the stuff that I don't fully understand, I just come to wonder, 
View attachment 99467

they made this around $50 a piece on a retail price, which means it would have cost less to produce,

How many of these do you think they have produced or promised to produced to the machine shop to acheive that kind of low cost

if I can make this price happen I maybe able to pull 300 pieces.

I think these steel aftermarket parts tends to be less elastic to the price, because airsoft isn't something we need but we want, and people like high-ends stuff like I do...

I am willing to pay as high as $200 even $300 why not, but to make this project to live on, maybe something under $100 or $80.


I am all over the places here but to summarize

1. How many do you think cowcow had to produce to keep the price that low
2. Reverse designing that part is relatively easy considering the size and simple geometry, but not with 3D scanning but with manual measurement?

Thanks again

@EDcase I was surprised when Mapleleaf just sent me downloadable file on FB messenger lol, I was being hopeful.
 I mean it is company asset of course but there isn't a big mystery to it, so I was like why not

 

[EDcase]

Once you have a digital model it could be sent to a company like Shapeways to be printed in metal.  Would probably need surface finishing and I duno what the price would be compared to CNC.

 

[Babo7H]

@EDcase 3D Printing is an option, I want it CNCed tho..