I could watch you do this all day long. I'm a retired CNC Machinist living in the Space Coast of Florida. Many of my parts went up in space for satellites and such. I do miss working on them. Ran quite a few Haas and others. I so loved setting them up and getting a first piece off to see what the final product looked like. Great work on those blocks.

Good Lord. That engine is at least as desirable as the car. Machined from a single billet! Holy hell man. That must be the sweetest FE on the planet.

@billg69gmc Thanks for the kind words. I sincerely appreciate them. 30 hours of CNC 30 hours of CAD 50 hours of programming. We spend a lot of time programming because we program in all the deburring passes and champhers to make a nice part.

I spent the majority of my career as a CNC set up man. That's really a great job you've done.

A work of art! I look forward to seeing more form you guys...

It really is a ton of fun. There is a huge need in US industry for guys who can design, program, and run these types of machines. Keep working hard :)

As an ex machinist and tool crib/tool ordering person I can appreciate the work you are doing! You were hanging some of those endmills way out there which tend to snap (Goodbye $3-400 each). Great design and programming!

I want to work at your place.. Love to see someone actully maximazing the machine capabilities. Brilliant!

what a time to be alive. awesome engine work

Great question. Cast iron sleeves have been used for decades in engines. Cast iron holds oil well and wears for a long, long time. There are some exotic sleeves today that are used as well-- such as Nikisil.

We sent the block out to be line bored at an engine shop. The cam bearings are all the same size. We took out material to save weight (it is easier than going on a diet :) We are using 6061. It is the best all around alloy for this application (corrosion resistance, strength at temperature, availability, etc).

I have always wanted to own a Kirkham SC 427 - your cars are freaking beautiful. And then when i heard that you were going to start machining your own 427 aluminum blocks and just thought these guys are serious motor heads. I may not own one, but i appreciate your interpretation of Shelby era of cars!

This why I love working in machining watching a billet turn into something useful. Amazes me every time

Wow you really pushed that machine to its limits. I would have never imagined an engine block being made in a machine of that size

A masterpiece! We used to joke about this.....it's incredible to see these. Keep up the good work.

We have always wanted a horizontal. It certainly would be better for a block. That is a great idea to use the lathe for relieving end mills. We will get an insert and try it. We used the mill this time because we had it handy and were back up and running again in about 15 minutes. Great suggestion :) Thanks!

CNC milling machines are amazing!

The finished block is an engineering work of art! I'd have that as a centerpiece in my foyer. But I'm sure it would be vetoed in a flash. Oh well, centerpiece in my mancave it is, then! Beautifully done!

I have always wanted to work in a shop like this. I don't know anything about machining, but I would love to do assembly work in a place like this. I have been a mechanic for several years, and I used to build engines from kits, and rebuild engines for lots of customers. Now I work on motorcycles and ATV's, along with small engines. LOVE being a mechanic.

Nice work , and you are a gentleman David, you answered all those questions , even the smart ass ones with complete aplomb, well done all around sir !

Beautiful piece of work. Have never heard of a whole block being carved out of a single billet.

Thank you so much for this video! It was amazing to watch!

That truly is a work of art, the stuff of dreams, and job well done! I can only imagine what it took to get to this stage of manufacturing and the time and start up costs must have been steep, but as the old saying goes, fortune favors the bold. Simply amazing and great video!

Great video on how to close splash doors on a cnc machine

Thanks for the kind words. I sincerely appreciate them. 30 hours of CNC 30 hours of CAD 50 hours of programming. We spend a lot of time programming because we program in all the deburring passes and champhers to make a nice part.

Thank You so nice to see the work it takes to make art !

I would LOVE to do this one day. I'm studying to become an engineer and I love this stuff haha I can even get emotional about it

Awesome! Working on engines like that must be exciting! plus nerve recking for both programmer and set-up guy! LOL!! You definitely have some talent in your shop! Good luck on all your projects! Thank you for sharing this video!

Great answer. There are other exotic steels that have been used over the years. Cast iron is the best combination of wear, cost, function, ease of manufacture, lots of experience, etc.

Thanks! There are lots of smart people out there. We are fortunate to know many of them who have helped with a lot of great ideas!

Yep, sometimes you have to use things on hand to get the job done. I've relieved endmills now and again using a harig on a surface grinder. This looks like a cool shop to work at.

Very Nice, Having been a CNC machinist almost 30 years, I have many questions, But, I rather just give Props for job well done, Thanks for the Vid!

Very pro! I like the CNC machining of the endmill. All the shops I have worked at in the past would have made me do it by hand using a Dekel.

amazing work!

We like to keep our guys happy :) Thanks for watching!

@fixerdave, Great question! We rough machine the block and leave lots of material on for a "roughing finish pass." Then we machine the block again and leave about 0.010" for a finish pass. Then we do the final pass. Because the block is free to rotate on the pillow block end of the "A" axis, it twists and stress relieves every time the pillow block brake releases and the block rotates. We connected the pillow block brake to the same air brake that is used on the rotary axis.

@522design We can do a block every couple of days if we wanted to. However, we just got the first block back from the dyno and we are now about to test it in a car. We'll keep you updated.

Very very impressive! I love the fact that you guys' use HAAS's -many people believe that they're just cheap, throw-away machines; when they're easily capable of achieving tolerances within tenths. I can't imagine how long it took to program and plan something like this. Most aerospace parts I've programmed/made don't even touch this. Kudos!

beautiful work of art

That is a real work of art!

Thanks for posting. Enjoyed that. One of the more intersting videos on youtube

Wow, the professional work, shines like a diamond.

Yes, all material moves and stress relieves as you machine it. We roughed everything out and left substantial material all over so it could stress relieve. We then did 2 finishing passes.

I grew up in small town with 65 HEMI Belvadere; 63 & half 427 Med.Riser 2x4barrel & my 69 Z-28.After FIVE motors I could stay up with 427.LOL.Friend has "California Flash" 68 Dart " Race HEMI " in his collection.Butch Leal came to see his old car.Welded at Restoration shop with high school friend ,Painter & meta-man.English Wheel hard to master!! Love all 60s Hot Rods.

It’s just crazy that every single task has to executed absolutely correct and theres so many different variables.

lazy! when is someone going to make a decent flat 8? you'll probably have to use a different config for the suspension, but once you get that ironed out, you will have the best cg you've ever had. SOOOO worth it. please do it. the world needs this.

Thank you for sharing ! Gorgeous !

As a gearhead and amateur CNC home machinist... DAMN! Nice work!

beautiful piece

that was great job man ..... nice work !

This was awesome to watch

Took a shot every time he said the word "Block", now i`m hammered

amazing job, congrats guys

Great work, keep on going :)

Great video, thanks for sharing, learning

Impressive for a HAAS machine. good work

Wow that's a work of art !

Mister David I AM SOLD.. YOU ARE THE MAN.. Thanks

@irainco, Great question. Billet aluminum is very strong and resistant to softening at the temperatures encountered in a running engine. Also, with a block of aluminum, we don't have to make a foundry pattern and wait for a foundry to cast the block--only to have to machine it later anyway. We can test the design and make changes quite easily and we are not locked into a casting pattern. This works very well for short runs of parts.

Good questions! We bored the camshaft 1/2 way from both ends with the same size bores. Many variables are taken into account when making a block--yield, stiffness, etc. The strength of 7075 falls off quickly at the operating temperature of the block. The block dyno'd at 630 hp. It has 4000 miles on it and two track days where it ran for almost 6 hours straight each time. No one was kind to the motor on the track. Thanks for asking. Happy to answer any questions :)

Thanks for the explanation.

Thank you for your kind words. The block indeed DOES distort all over the place as the aluminum stress relieves. We have to rough it with about 0.065" of material all over, then do a pre-finish pass and leave 0.010" before we final finish machine the block. I think the entire process was 25-30 hours.

@xevious2501 Thanks. Yes, all the chips are recycled. It takes much less energy to remelt chips than to make aluminum from oxide. I don't know of anyone who machines at extreme temperatures. I am not sure how you would keep the part at any extreme temperature for any meaningful length of time as the machining process is quite long. We take thermal expansion into consideration when machining tolerances. I am excited to look into any info you might have on Ferrari's process.

With billet you can make what ever you want and you are not stuck with a casting. With a casting you can cast hollow areas with cores. Castings are generally weaker--especially at working temperature. Billet lets you be really creative. We have lots of Haas equipment. We just bought a huge GR-712 and we love it.

Thank you for your kind words :)

@dethmetalderique GREAT question! 7075 is a great alloy for high strength--at certain temperatures. However, 7075 has poor strength at the higher temperatures encountered in an engine. 6061 is actually stronger at engine temperatures. 7075 also exhibits very poor corrosion resistance. 7075 is also very susceptible to stress corrosion cracking. 6061 has far higher resistance to corrosion.

How many end mills do you go through in one block? This is pretty impressive and it is good to see this type of manufacturing right here in the US. I am a mold toolmaker for a company and it kills me to see foreign tools come in. More people need to be aware of what we can do as machinist. It is also good to see you using an American Made machine! its so easy to get others in this world. GREAT VIDEO!

Thanks for some great comments. The block dyno'd at something like 630 horse power. It has run several track days going all out--all day--with no problems. Many blocks have water between the sleeves (F1 blocks are made like this). Like most things, there are advantages and disadvantages to blocks with siamesed bores and blocks with water around the bores. We chose to have wet sleeves to improve the cooling (a problem in FE motors). Thanks!

Beautiful!!!

As a machinist who has done large complex parts, I can tell you, this stuff ain't easy. The opportunity for mistake, or error is extremely vast. And 1 simple thing, at the end of the entire ordeal can totally screw up everything.

Yes, I posted we could make a car in Stainless--but for some reason I can't find it right now. There are problems with posting comments now that youtube and google and google+ are connected. They just started. Hopefully they will have it solved quickly. And...thank you very much for the kind words :)

“Fear is the thief of dreams” that is so true...

Nice engine block. I like these Haas machines. I would recommend using diamond wheels for relieving endmills instead of CBN. The diamond wheels last a lot longer and cut faster and easier.

Very very nice!! Do you line bore the cam shaft and crank bores after wards? Do you sleeve the lifter bores or is that unnecessary?

@KirkhamMotorsports1 Very cool! I'm a metal fabricator myself, so I know what a job that must have been. Even if you had them stamped they would have required massive amounts of metal finishing to get it that smooth!

@apostate101, Great question! Yes, the chips are recycled. Aluminum is easily recycled for much less energy than it takes to make it from ore.

awesomeness man love it

Thankyou, very very interesting!

saw the name and had to watch.im also a machinist although i no longer work in the field.wild! great vid btw!

Nice awesome concept motor

@PixMan107, Indeed those drill bits are very fast...but extremely expensive. We have "through the tool coolant" on the mill (you can see it when we do the deep milling on the mains side). That said, "speed" isn't always paramount in a machining operation. When a part runs all night long on a mill it really doesn't matter if it finishes at 3:00 am or 4:00 am.

That block came out so nice it's almost a shame to use it. Lol. Very nice work!! 👌

@48packards8 Looking forward to seeing you. Thanks for coming!

@Rylander88 Yes, the block is set up to take all original FE parts. We make many of the other parts for the FE. We are thinking about making heads and a billet intake right now, but we have too many other cool projects on the burners right now.

That looks nice

Dave, My uncles worked for Allis Chambers back in the 50s. I think they'd be flat out amazed at how far we've come in technologies. It blows my mind to see how precise machining has come. It's so cool. Did you get my inquiry about building me a Stainless Steel Cobra?

PS, you guys are great !!

There are advantages to castings and advantages to forgings. Forgings are stronger and have much better strength at operating temperature. Castings let you make hollow parts (water jackets, etc). We solved the water jacket problem by using wet sleeves. Castings also have serious porosity, core-shift, and inclusion problems.

@fuertekid The time for each operation varies. Some take many hours and others are just a few minutes. The coolant you see is water based and it is recovered in a tank and reused over and over again.

@calladuz, We are looking into that. The problem is the coolant splashes on the lens and then you can't see anything.

that's amazing, I've alway's been a fan of the 302 ford, and always wanted to mill a forged aluminum block and somehow mill a 4 valve head based off a Honda crf unicam design...but now ford has the coyote... Its amazing that japan and other countries used overhead cam multiple valves per cylinder to boost reliability and performance to different applications over the years and now the us automakers are utilizing it.

Not sure off the top of my head if that machine is capable of running through spindle coolant, but if it is, you could save a lot of time and money when drilling the oil and water journals if you used a through spindle carbide drill. Guhring makes some very nice ones. Pricey, but they drill fast with no pecking, and they last quite awhile.

@gheumann Thanks so much! We'll post more as we get time.

@MrSpeedwin Thanks for the kind words. The block is a prototype for now. We plan to put them into production soon.

I'm glad you liked it :)

@SpecRLegend, We are just in the prototype phase right now. We hope to have the block up an running on a dyno in 30 days or so. The sleeves are made from ductile iron.

Very nice.

@ShadenGheist, Yes, it is an FE. We changed the cross bolts for a girdle with all the mains in a single part.

Excellent

Excellent!!