UKH

Hi

I need a profile cutting into 600x100x5mm aluminium.

I've got the CAD and it's a 2D profile (just from flat plate).

It's a hobby part and I can't justify the quotes coming in!

Anyone have or have access to a cnc and willing to do it for cost of materials and a few beers?

Needs reasonable accuracy (woodworking jig) but not a space shuttle part so maybe 0.1mm tolerance (better is better obviously)?

Thanks

Where are you based ?

Does it need to be ali, Not many people with a CNC but plenty with a 3d printer?

Berks/Bucks/London/Nottingham/Brighton

I did think about that, but it's 300ml and the /ml costs didn't look good.  Happy to look at it though!

My brother has a printer but it will only do 300 * 300, if there is any way you could split it up I can ask him. There wont be many hobbyists with bigger machines and I guess for profit companies can still ask mega money...

I know very little about it but I don't think they would print the 300ml. it would be honeycombed or similar inside? I guess it depends what you want for for / how burly it needs to be!?

Water cut / laser cut might be cheaper than CNC options for plate material too?

Have you tried a fablab?

http://www.fabfoundation.org/

If you can stand to install flash, Protolabs’ website gives instant quotes on 3D printing and I believe they do CNC machining as well.

Shame your not in the Preston/ Blackburn area as I'm ait quiet at work next week. Why don't you just mark it out chain drill it out and  file it. Easily done to that tolerance even for an apprentice.

Have you tried a local maker/hacker space? That said +/- 0.1 mm and a 600mm long work area may be a challenge for the average homebrew CNC system. Depending on the complexity of the part I would possibly be tempted to do it manually, with a bit of thought a lot of complex parts can be broken down into much more simple operations. I assume from the description of a 2d cad file you just want a shape cut from the plate rather than any sort of 3d machining? If you want a design engraved (ie. Lettering on a bit of sheet) then there are other options you could potentially use. 

If 3d printing it is an option I can potentially do it in PLA or ABS but it depends on what you want from the part, you can always do 'lost PLA' casting of aluminium but I don't have the expertise to guarantee dimensional accuracy of the finished part.

What would you consider justifiable? I'd imagine this shouldn't cost much with any of the suppliers I use at work. If you pm me a DXF I'll ping it over for a quote when I run my next through. What grade aluminium? Chances are you're just not exceeding the minimum order quantity so you'll need to pay a premium.

This sounds a perfect candidate to be water jet cut. You should be able to get this done for peanuts because it's such a quick autonomous process..

I’m up in Staffordshire , so probably a ball ache for you , laser or water jet will be cheaper as people have said , and might not achieve what your after depending if there is detail not cut all the way through the plate . 

What grade aluminium too ? There is a big difference between having a piece of 5251 lying around compared to 6 or 7 series materials . But as you says it’s a woodworking jig can’t imagine it matters. 

Hi

It's simply a 2d profile to be cut all the way through a plate (same as lettering), I don't mind aluminium or brass or steel or whatever - thought aluminium would be rigid light and cheap!

Acrylic wold probably be ok too.  It's just going to have a router bushing against it.  Inside curves are 11mm diameter+; outside curves are 6mm+.

I was hoping to send someone artwork (DWG/DXF) and money and get a parcel back!

Something to bear in mind, I sent a similar thing to a laser cutting company and they sent back the item exactly the shape I wanted.

Unfortunately, they'd done a 2mm cut exactly on the dimensional lines I sent them. This meant it was exactly 1mm too small all round!

Got the tape measure out and it's too big for my cnc.

I would try http://www.lasershape.com/

Was it miles too long?  600 would be ideal but 500 still ok and I suppose I could reposition on 300 twice...

Thanks I'll take a look

I think it would do 0.5m. But I'm not keen since it is different to my normal use and could take a long time to sort out. I believe it was lasershape I used to cut stainless steel doors for radio-linked mouse traps I created and supplied to Rentokil.

Wowza - the mice round your way are *hard*

Scribe, saw then file, it'll be quicker than sending the stock away for cutting. Tenth of a millimeter is doable with care especially if you have a clean reference edge and calipers.

Jk

Send over a DXF I can cut acrylic. Although you might want to consider acetal for a jig as it is less brittle. 5mm acetal comes on white only although I guess you aren't picky about the colour.

Thanks very much - I have e-mailed you.  Acetal would be fine I think