Know a laser cutting service?

[jwyatt]

I'd like to have a bracket cut in 4130 steel from a CAD file, but the quotes from local shops for a simple piece of 5x9 overall size are silly high; I think they prefer volume work so they've priced the one-off jobs out of the shop. Fine; have any other builders found a shop or service somewhere that will do a quick job for a reasonable fee?

[bret]

might call Upnorthaviation. He did my panel, very precise work, fair price!

[ty1295]

I have used superior cutting many times in the past.

We now have a local place near Cincinnati that is doing my work for that.

[Dvalcik]

Originally Posted by bret

might call Upnorthaviation. He did my panel, very precise work, fair price!

+1 call Bill at Upnorthaviation
http://www.upnorthaviation.com/

[AlexPeterson]

Originally Posted by jwyatt

I'd like to have a bracket cut in 4130 steel from a CAD file, but the quotes from local shops for a simple piece of 5x9 overall size are silly high; I think they prefer volume work so they've priced the one-off jobs out of the shop. Fine; have any other builders found a shop or service somewhere that will do a quick job for a reasonable fee?

what sort of silly fee are they quoting? There is one in Hugo which just cut my panel last year, I thought they were reasonable.

http://www.micramanufacturing.com/

[Lynnv]

Jay, another option, you might also look around the DFW area for someone that does water jet cutting.

[jwyatt]

Originally Posted by AlexPeterson

what sort of silly fee are they quoting? There is one in Hugo which just cut my panel last year, I thought they were reasonable.

http://www.micramanufacturing.com/

Thanks, I'll give them a shout. So far I've been quoted between $190 and $280 for one piece. It's a custom throttle cable bracket. If I want 5 or 10, they'll come down by 80%... but I can spend lots of quality time with the drill press and hacksaw for $200.

[G-force]

Originally Posted by jwyatt

Thanks, I'll give them a shout. So far I've been quoted between $190 and $280 for one piece. It's a custom throttle cable bracket. If I want 5 or 10, they'll come down by 80%... but I can spend lots of quality time with the drill press and hacksaw for $200.

Cutting the pieces out is the last 20% of a job. Your paying for the programming, machine setup (and possibly the tear down and reset of the bigger job they have on the machine) , material handling, consumables, etc. Unless it can't be done with hand tools, it rarely makes $$$ sense to laser 1-2 small parts. That said, as mentioned, small water jet machines are much cheaper and simpler, many shops have small ones. Thats the shop that will probably be the cheapest for you, but I doubt anyone will even turn on the machine for under $100.

[larosta]

I have used BK Customs in Riverside, CA several times for making parts for my business. They have always given me good pricing and great turnaround. Try finding someone to cut slots in 0.5 inch thick tungsten plates sometime. One of the guys there is building an RV at KRIV and understands our requirements. Send them a .dxf of your part.

BK Customs
http://bkcustoms.com/

(951) 530-1527

3082 Franklin Ave, Riverside, CA 92507

- Larosta

[dtw_rv6]

I used EmachineShop for my panel and several other odd jobs I've done. Super fast turnaround and I have no complaints. Figure anything in aluminum will be a minimum of $100 and I don't think my panel was much more. If you are looking for multiple ops like drilling, surfacing, or forming, the charges go up quickly.