Propelling Forward with 3D Scanning

Renegade Marine Jet Drives originally had their high-thrust impellers hand-made in New Zealand. However, the artisan who made the impellers retired, requiring Renegade Marine Jet Drive to try sourcing new impellers. This problem was two-fold as Jeff Schlagel, the owner, needed both a computer-aided design (CAD) model and a new way of manufacturing the impellers. 

The New Product Development (NPD) Lab at TechHelp, part of the MEP National Network™, was able to solve the first problem through the process of scanning the impeller and using the scan to reverse engineer the model in Solidworks, a 3D CAD software. Several prototypes were printed on resin-based 3D printers to provide the client with impellers to handle and feel for accuracy. After confirmation that the prints and model were correct, the client requested six more CAD model variations of the impeller. 

The second problem was solved through a series of investment casting and supplier scouting. The NPD Lab was able to do initial runs of the impeller by creating silicone molds for wax casting. After wax casting, the NPD Lab found a few foundries to cast the impellers. However, wax casting proved to be inaccurate due to non-uniform shrink rates. Because of this, the NPD Lab began reaching out to other manufacturers using the aforementioned reverse-engineered CAD models and is in the process of vetting those manufacturers.