Digitally archiving NLA parts, For information and reproduction purposes Options

[A&PGirl]

I have a few new NLA parts that would be perfect for digitizing. What's the best way to do this?

[Katmanken]

I've done a bit of digitizing recently and it can leave a lot to be desired.

The thing that stinks is that you can get a digital model that can be imported into CAD, but the model is just a shape with no build history. That means that sectioning of some parts can be impossible, and since no dimensions or build history exist, you can't measure much or do much with it. In most cases, you are stuck rebuilding a part over the shape and changing the dimensions on your part until it matches the scanned shape.

So far I've tried a point cloud (useless), a white light scan (requires a .005 or so thick coat of white paint on top of the part), and an X-ray scan.

The X-ray was best for the really small parts that we were looking at, but the parts looked like a wax model with drips and runs and no flat or straight surfaces.

Best way that I know of is to measure the parts and build a parts model in CAD. In that case, an optical comparitor and a grid work well.

Hope that helps,

Which reminds me, didn't we have some old guy that worked at the Porsche engineering that said he could get 914 part drawings????? This was years ago (around the # 4 prototype time) and maybe on another forum.....
Ken