On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 12:57:20 -0500, Courtney Thomas wrote:

Many mechanical parts cost a small fortune to replace.

I'm wondering if any members of this group have power equipment such as
lathes, milling machines, cutters, formers, molders, etc., [other than
welding], that they are successfully using to modify, repair, and
duplicate... pieces of varying materials.

If yes, what are you using and to do what ?

I recently ran into the problem of replacing/repairing a windlass rope
drum and it's unreasonably expensive and I'm motivated to unhitch from
vendors and suppliers to that extent possible and reasonable, which I
know varies from person to person.

Appreciatively,
Courtney

Courtney, you may also want to investigate emachineshop.com.

They distribute free CAD software intended to be used by non-engineers,
although it helps if you have used some kind of CAD software before. The
software directly interfaces with their ordering system so that you can
order machined parts from them.

The way it works is that once you have designed the part, you can view it
in 3D, get instant quotes, and order the part using a credit card.

Sometimes the prices seem pretty reasonable (to me), and sometimes they
don't. According the the website, they aren't very price-competitive on
parts that are large and require very little machining. They have a lot of
different materials. Of interest for boat people are teak, and various
alloys of aluminum, stainless steel, and bronze.

I believe they can anodize aluminum as a post-machining step.

I am not affiliated in any way with emachineshop. I have used them once,
so far, and haven't received the parts yet, so I can't comment on quality.

--Mac