Case Study: Big Dog Garage achieves faster, cost-saving in-house one-off part production and vintage restorations with 3D Systems

Jay Leno's Big Dog Garage team takes on the complex machining tasks with GibbsCAM CNC machining software

Big Dog Garage, Jay Leno’s 77,000 sq ft private restoration shop in Burbank, CA, maintains a vast collection of vintage and modern vehicles and two stationary steam engines. Restoring century-old equipment often requires one-off parts that were previously outsourced with high cost and long lead times — notably a worn lower sleeve from an 1831 steam engine governor that had been repaired repeatedly and risked catastrophic failure.

The shop brought machining in-house with a Fadal 4020 CNC mill and GibbsCAM (solid modeling, advanced coordinate systems and cut-part rendering). General manager Bernard Juchli measured and modeled the sleeve, turned most of it on a lathe, then programmed and 4‑axis machined the final part with GibbsCAM verification. The new brass sleeve works beautifully, the engine runs again, and the in-house CAM/CNC capability has reduced cost and lead time while keeping restorations, including future laser-scanned parts, under the team’s control.