[cygnus x-1]

You say this part is a piston seal? Does it look something like this?


Attachment 369252


If so I don't think scanning is needed or even appropriate. Anyone that's good with a caliper should be able to reverse engineer that into a 3D model in about 10 minutes. If you really want to be super accurate about it you could use an optical comparator instead of calipers, but even that's probably overkill.


As far as making a mold for it, there are a few ways to do it in Solidworks. Probably the most typical way is to model the seal first, model the mold block around it, then use the "combine" command to subtract the seal from the mold block. This would be the Solidworks equivalent to the boolean command in AutoCAD. But if this part is similar to the picture above, you could most likely cut the negative shape from the mold with a single revolved sketch.


C|

[MetalShavings]

You say this part is a piston seal? Does it look something like this?


Attachment 369252


If so I don't think scanning is needed or even appropriate. Anyone that's good with a caliper should be able to reverse engineer that into a 3D model in about 10 minutes. If you really want to be super accurate about it you could use an optical comparator instead of calipers, but even that's probably overkill.


As far as making a mold for it, there are a few ways to do it in Solidworks. Probably the most typical way is to model the seal first, model the mold block around it, then use the "combine" command to subtract the seal from the mold block. This would be the Solidworks equivalent to the boolean command in AutoCAD. But if this part is similar to the picture above, you could most likely cut the negative shape from the mold with a single revolved sketch.


C|

Hi Cygnus:

Yes: the piston seal in question is very similar to the one pictured here but the actual factory piston seal has a geometry with slightly different features. It's these different subtle features that I was hoping to nail down with a 3D scan.

It's true that a guy with accurate measuring tools can come close to the factory dimension. I've done this myself but, I'm trying to do better than just come close. I'm hoping to achieve a "Dead-Nuts" match if possible.

I've come across a couple of youtube videos that have helped me out a lot in turning my hand-measured model into an injection mold. Before I go any further with it I want to be sure I've exhausted all my efforts at getting it 3D scanned.

Thanks for your reply. It was helpful.

MetalShavings