CNC Cutting of Complex Shapes

I'm slammed for time now. Check this out.What is "Digitizing a Template?"

If they were produced originally, I see no reason why it still can't be reproduced. The original wasn't CNC made. It was probably made by conventional machine tooling.

Yes it can be done!

It is more than 50 years ago when I had a pair of skates in my hand. I cannot remember complicated shapes. but I was in level F (fall).

Sometimes it is better to digitize sections which is then imported into a cad/cam package and a drawing and tool-path produced from that.

A caliper, railway curves and a cad can also so wonders.

If the metal itself lends itself to plasma cutting, I see no problem with scanning in and copying skate blades using a good Plasma CNC machine......

Ian rob,

What a great question!

There would be no issues with producing them on a CNC machining centre we are more than happy to manufacture for you .......

How many sets of blades are you planning to order?

if the answer is 1 or less than 50 then why wouuld you want to tie up a production machine such as a CNC machine it would be far more cost effective to produce them mannually.

We have an old style 3D Panograph machine that would eat that job for breakfast most likely 50 units before lunch......... That is if you have a sample of course .... or you could go to all the expense of getting a blade scanned

Could have it scanned by lunch time the you would need to create a cnc program do you have Cam software? And by dinner you have not cut metal.

Ian Rob, we more than happy to produce your blades for you just send us a sample or drawing and we can get a quotation the next day

Kind Regards and Happy Machining

Anthony@Alno

www.alnoproductservices.com.au

Mechanical Designers - Component Manufacturing - Toolmaking - Production Engineering

Hi Anthony, Thank you for your interest. I sell and sharpen skate blades for a living and am quite often asked for blades which are no longer made. Blades are attached to sole plates which usually come in 1/4 inch increments and the attached runners vary in length according to the sole plate. You can see some British made blades via the blade page at our web site www.iceskate.co.uk. Quantities would be small. I don't know if someone like myself could acquire the equipment and do myself or what would the cost of templating be? I could certainly send you a sample. I don't know how the various manufacturers would react to the copying even if they are no longer made. This takes me to another similar subject. Is there a 3d scanner which could store the shape of a foot in digital form and recreate from this image. I sell custom skate boots and it would be wonderful to be able to scan in customer's feet and send the image to the manufacturer who could generate a last from the digital image.

Ian,

Best bet is send us a sample - as for scanning we can work of a photograph that would need to taken perpendicular to the base of the foot this would not be an issue - or there was a company associated with SolidWorks that were selling small scanner for about $2500 US a couple of years ago - but I'm not sure if they are still in operation.

Anthony@Alno

www.alnoproductservices.com.au

Many years ago there were some members of my family that had developed a technique for casting moulds of people's feet. The first step was to fill a bucket 2/3 full of concerte. Then insert the rat's customer's feet into the bucket. The next step was to allow the mold to harden, then soak in the river water. I don't remember the final steps, but I will ask my uncle. He might remember.