I keep running into this thought for various projects. I'd love to have a solid reference for various things, anyone pursued it? From what I've seen it depends on the part, the size, etc, but I'd probably be looking at $300-400 starting price minimum?
How detailed are you planning on getting and what's the tolerance that's acceptable? I would expect that your range will get you the bore locations, deck heights, dowels and maybe the bell housing bolt pattern. Probably stuff you could get from a manual, to be honest.
If you're looking to actually laser scan a block to get casting features, etc, I would expect to look at a minimum of $2-5000, depending on how much work you expect them to do and how exact you want the measurements to be, how much internal cavity detail you want, etc. It's a lot of time both on the collecting side and on the cleanup side.
Why do you want to scan a block?
Honestly, I could be happy with bolt hole locations, and any machined flat or circular surfaces. Wouldn't even need to be a full model, but just those planes, holes, and surfaces. Beyond that is gravy.
Edit: oil passages are machined, don't think I'd need those.
It wouldn't be all that difficult to create a 3D model in solidworks
What engine? Some are already available through SEMA.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Ford 300, of course. Got a link for the library?
We have a scanning system at work for everything from small parts to entire vehicles.
As noted above the post-scanning work is the hard part, if you are trying to recreate the original. Just making the reference locations is fairly straightforward. The scan arrives as a point cloud and requires a surface to be fitted to the point cloud. Edges are fairly easy to detect and duplicate. The scan of a block would be about take about 4 hours, including setup. The post process is days, depending on the level of completeness needed.
A good set of measuring tools and a flat surface will get you enough info to make a CAD model in less time, and provide you a way to add features if you find out you missed something important. On the 2D aero analysis discussions we mentioned the ability of java foil to convert a picture to a wing section. I am sure the same could be accomplished with photos of the main block faces. That would get you a good start on CAD without measuring anything except for overall lengths to scale everything.
Mr_Asa said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
Ford 300, of course. Got a link for the library?
Doesn't work like that. You need to be a SEMA member and request the models. I don't know if there's a 300. GM is a big contributor, we haven't gone looking for Ford parts.
Would it help if you flat scanned a head gasket , exhaust gasket , oil pan gasket and timing cover ?
Didn't Scott try scanning using the Xbox thingy?
It's been a while since I've had one done for work, but it can be hellaciously expensive for what you're after. IIRC, last time I had to have one done it was more like 10-20x your estimated cost for a much simpler part (although granted it was a multi-part study.)
For what you're after, I think you'd do better with a CMM or something like a Romer or Faro arm. I'd bet our best QC guy at work could get most of the critical external features in a few hours.
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