chunk t

Actually... times be a changin'!. I work in sourcing by profession, and slowly (very slowly) once outsourced work is being pulled back home due to new tax laws, wage rates and global economy. But starting up an engine company would be very cost prohibative. Consider the established contenders you have to go against.

Truly a David & Goliath proposition.

WideOpenThrottle RC

iTrader: (86)

Off topic but I'm curious to know what kind of outsourced work your seeing come back?

JAMMINKRAZY

iTrader: (17)

Alot of engines are made in Italy also. Novarossi, RB, I think axe rossi and sirio.

jpalessi

iTrader: (55)

This is true, but i figured I'd throw that out there considering his engine line is the closest thing you can get to made in the USA.. When i say shipped in pieces, I MEAN PIECES! Unfortunately I don't think we'll ever see an engine company casting & molding parts here in the US... it would just be to damn expensive..
Like i said tho EB MODS works VERY close with factories on production, as far as materials, tolerances, and just overall design.

Owen RaCing

iTrader: (17)

My dad has pondered making motors with his machinist friend that is helping him with the four stroke project. But all they have are machining abilities, no casting for the blocks. A milled block would be interesting I suppose.. No reason not to I imagine.

Just name it AMC-RC. American Motor Corporation Radio Control. That sure be B-A!

Steebo

iTrader: (17)

Yeah, no way would I try to build them to sell and profit off of. I would do it just for the challenge.

SPEEDSKI

What a Dork!!!

jpalessi

iTrader: (55)

am

there is a comany from germany already making cnc crankcase. Do not rember their name but TKO used to import them to usa. Very very high quality crankcase but also quite expansive.

markr04

iTrader: (1)

I know your question was to Chunk T, but I know a little about it. Programming jobs are coming back to the US, for one. There are several reasons for it. One of the reasons is security. Another reason is because the less expensive labor in India, for example, isn't less expensive anymore (they're wanting higher pay).

It's still somewhat cheaper to outsource, but it comes at a high cost in another sense. People want American-made goods, pride, etc. The "Made In USA" label is in high demand.

My father is a dean and professor of Computer Science at a university and he meets with employers to see what the ever-changing needs of IT departments are. There is an increasing demand for American programmers and not enough graduates to fill the jobs. Unfortunately, Americans saw their programming jobs being outsourced a while back and as a result fewer students are pursuing those degrees. The media never came back around with the update to the original story of people losing their jobs, so who knows how long it will take for students to return to programming. The update is that America needs more Computer Science graduates to fill those high-paying jobs.

Zerodefect

A milled from billet block would be awesome. You could aways speed things along by buying piston/sleeve/conrod from Rb/Novarossi and machine the rest.
I think the pistons are cast as well. (thats why I suggest that.) Keep in mind most carbs are plastic now. But you can machine that to.



Amc?? I wouldn't want their bad mojo.

xlgraphicspro

iTrader: (5)

Support America.

That also goes for supporting your local hobby shop. I try to buy everything from my local hobby shop so my money can help support the track I race at. I'd probably have to consider moving if our track folded. That could happen if people keep buying stuff from the internet when their hobby shop can get it just as easily. That's a way of keeping things in the U.S.A and at home going strong.

I try my best to support products made in th U.S.A. Impuse RC clutch shoes is just one of those products. Which I'm gonna need to get some of those from you before the season starts. when are we gonna see a flywheel? You make maybe 3 different spaced flywheels, and then everyone could use your shoes.

Hey justin, I know how to cast aluminum. I did it in sculpture class back in college. It's just a task of finding someone who will let you use their forging facility. Then you'd just have to machine the crank case. I think that would be an awesome undertaking aswell. not for profit, but just to see if we could do it.

Davidka

iTrader: (86)

A milled from billet block wouldn't be anything but more expensive. There's nothing to gain by milling from billet. An important improvement would be extending the life of the piston/sleeve assembly imo.

Marcus Falconie

iTrader: (1)

I can't see how a lost wax or injection mold block would be super expensive if you did them in bulk. I would think the expensive part would be the piston, sleeve, rod, and carb. At $300 a motor I think you could make money even with a billet block. Have you seen Novarossi's new building.

chunk t

QMartin, What I'm seeing come back to USA are machined, stamped & formed metal & non metal components. Castings, primarily die-castings, are still slow to come back home. China in particular has implamented new wage laws & tax laws that make low and moderate volume items (250K pcs and less) more cost prohibitive to make there. also.. Transportaion costs (ocean) have also gone up significantly. Again making made at home more favorable.

Marcus, lost-wax (investment) casting is definately the more expensive of the common casting methods (sand, die, investment), but your right, the per piece cost is cheep 'cause all the money is upfront in the tooling. With the complexity of equipment available today, I bet there is a good chance that someone can make a block on a Tekmar (die cast equipment). Blocks from billet would be excessively expensive compared to casting, that's why no one is doing it in mass.