The Challenge
The owner of a coachbuilt Rolls-Royce approached Craft3D to reproduce several components missing from one side of the vehicle’s steering linkage.
The required parts were no longer readily available and included a brass ball-joint adjustment screw and a keyed anti-rotation washer fitted over the ball-joint shaft.
Fortunately, matching original components remained on the opposite side of the vehicle, providing suitable references for reverse engineering.
Reverse Engineering
The surviving components were measured and their important functional features reproduced.
The anti-rotation washer incorporated internal flats that located on the ball-joint shaft and external lugs that engaged with the surrounding socket, preventing unwanted rotation within the assembly.
The adjustment screw incorporated a shaped internal seat that acted against the ball joint, allowing the required friction within the joint to be set.
Manufacture
The anti-rotation washers were recreated in CAD and CNC milled from round stock. After machining the profiled geometry, they were transferred to the lathe and parted to their finished width before being deburred on a wire wheel.
The brass adjustment screws were produced manually on the lathe. The internal seat was machined using a ball-end mill, while the original obsolete British Standard Cycle thread was reproduced using the appropriate die. The screwdriver slot was finished by hand filing before the parts were parted off.
The Result
A complete replacement set was produced to match the surviving original components, allowing the missing parts of the steering linkage to be reinstated without relying on unavailable replacement stock.
The project demonstrates how a combination of reverse engineering, CAD, CNC machining and conventional workshop techniques can be used to reproduce unusual or obsolete components for legacy machinery and vehicles.
Capabilities: Reverse Engineering · CAD · CNC Milling · Manual Machining · Obsolete Parts · One-Off Manufacture
