Question: how long would it take to make even the smallest parts of your progect

Phil Allen answered on 8 Mar 2018:

So it depends what you mean by a part. The smallest parts are probably the tubes themselves before they are welded together. Although bending the tube to the right shape only takes minutes, the whole system has to be designed first in order to be sure there won’t be any clashes. After the system is designed each part has to have a technical drawing made so that the tube can be cut to the right size and then bent to the right shape. that process takes months or for very complicated systems it can be over a year!

If you mean the smallest assembled section then you have the same process as before for the tubes, but also you have to weld a number of them together. Welds can’t be undone they have to be cut out so there are a lot of instructions as to how to do it right, this process also takes months.

With space often the making doesn’t take very long at all but planning to make it right and checking that it has been done right takes a very long time.