Car made from billet aluminum

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By Matt Mets
Posted 2009/10/07 @ 11:11 am
Category General

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?

In the Maker Shed

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Telegraph Decoder Kit by Spikenzie Labs

Brooklyn Aerodrome Flying Wing Kit

6 Responses to Car made from billet aluminum

Rob on October 8th, 2009 at 7:34 pm said:

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.

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- Matt Mets on October 13th, 2009 at 10:31 am said:
  
  Ah, I stand corrected. For some reason I thought that they had made their own aluminum sheet by flattening out billets as well.
  
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Anonymous on October 8th, 2009 at 9:38 pm said:

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.

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- Matt Mets on October 13th, 2009 at 10:38 am said:
  
  Hehe, yeah, just remember me when you find a suitable benefactor
  
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japroach on October 9th, 2009 at 1:00 am said:

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 .

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Andy Three on October 11th, 2009 at 5:13 pm said:

Beautiful car. By tilting one way and then the other, I get visions of the Cobra, Corvette, MG, and the Mach One

3.

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