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This is going to be costly. The tool maker used by this company happened to drive up as I was talking to the company president. Tool maker man estimated $12,000.00 to make the two sets of molds and install a cooling system in them to make the polyethylene form consistantly ...

I will make the call to Bushwacker in a few hours. Anybody out there have other ideas concerning this then lets hear them.


Tool-man is being reasonable. Parts are vacuum formed, and $3K for each pattern and alum water cooled 24 x 24 mold is a good estimate. Cheap actually, as the parts were also 5 axis CNC trimmed, which requires another set of largish fixtures.

One suggestion: it is as likely as not that Bushwhacker used a local vacuum former to make the parts on their behalf. You might try asking them if you can contact their former, who likely also still HAS their tooling. When I worked in the industry, it was typical for a marketer of lawn mowers <or whatever> to leave the cover molds in our inventory for years after the product was obsoleted.

If Bushwhacker doesn't have to 'fund the marketing' you are already doing on their behalf, they may be open to a 'one time license fee' for allowing the former to produce a private run of parts on their tools.

Just an idea. Its not an original one, if you have worked in the plastics industry.

--f

'88 SWB 5-speed Megasuirt MS-II V3 Starion TBI N/A 650/950cc Injectors 4Runner Alloys 275-70R16