I want to make the engine covers I made but have all the holes CNC cut. What is involved in cutting it and what kinda company can do it? A normal machine shop?
i dint really know much about cnc milling tbh but my cousin has a machine he uses at the farm (not a new one though) the drilling/cutting the holes is the easy part the new machines mostly have the data entered into them and it does it automaticaly so all you have to worry is the part being the same size so the hole is in the right place.
The expensive part will be the entering/ setup of the data i think but any cnc machine should be able to do it just try to find a place that is very clean as the machines get covered in oil etc if not looked after.
Try metal fabricators, finishings etc milling or you could ask at the local college they would know for sure from wokplacements etc (may even be able to do it for you)
see if yo can find someone to laser cut then for you, very precise and clean. you have to pay a hefty set up charge if you are doing onsey twoseys. you may need to find someone capable of 3D if all the holes are not tin the same plane.
Or water jet cutting…since you didn’t post where you are located, we can’t help to make suggestions… :evil:
I have cnc capabilities in house.
I also do work with a laser trimmer right next door to me.
We have a good working relationship and give work to each other. I build all his trim fixtures for him too.
What would you need to do. often times mathdata isn’t availble.
Is ther mathdata available for these parts.
I would be interested in doing this if we can establish exactly what is needed.
I am currently running a baffle guard for the production lines on one of the automotive mfg. the baffle sits in the engine as it goes down the line. it keeps retards from dropping items into the openings of the cylinder heads. We are vacuum forming up to 300 parts per day and trimming 200 plus parts per day. we have one order for 100 right now and it will be expanding to 3-4000 next month.
We do lots of onsey twosey parts all the time.
Laser trimming will leave a somewhat fuzzy edge or a fine line depending on what the carbon fiber part was processed in. Infusion leaves a niceer cleaner line than a handlaid up or vac bagged part.
We also found that waterjet cutting is limited economically to 2 d parts since 3 d often times requires very elaborate trim fixtures to deflect the stream of water so it doesn’t cut the part or the fixture itself.
what is involoved in getting into it yourself? Money wise I mean, I have a customer that could possibly order 500 parts but they need to be precisly cut. There is a profit of over $100 per part and they are going to pay up front and when they recieve the first 500 they will order 750 more. With the profit from the first order or at least a majority of it I want to see if I can purchase the machinery to have them CNC cut. Once payment I have 2 months of R&D time before I have to start manufacturing the product. This gives me trial and error and learning curve time -hopefully-
Try Googling CNC mills for like Haas, etc…
Look in your local business to business phone directory or what we have out west is Thomas Guide for all of so. Calif, Nevada and some of AZ. areas. www.ThomasNet.com
You might find a good used one that was a trade in but buyer beware…
JM
i found some online but don’t know what I am looking for. Going to look for any publications on the subject to even get an idea what kinda machine I need.
One thing i will tell you is that I was told to get a guy that knows how to run the machine. If not and you want to learn how to run it yourself, you can figure on 3 -6 months of learning time. Training can be very difficult especially if you plan on getting trained yourself. if you’re like me there isn’t enough hours in the day.
Like GGROP said, buyer beware on a cnc machnie. I bought from a good freind that repairs these machines. I didn’t have to worry. I am glad I went this way, cause a freind warned me before I bought and said he bought a used machine and later found out it wasn’t good enough to do much of anything. The ways were wll worn and the screw and ball needed to be replaced. He bought it for $7500 and put $15000 into repairs before he was finished.
Look for a local job training class on CAD / CNC and take it at night.
I looked for a CNC class and the closest is in Utah. There are several good machine shops and I have a customer that works for one of them and might pick his brain on the subject
CNC classes at night?
It’s no wonder there werent any…You’re in Idaho! You’d probably be able to find Potatoe picking classes quicker…
just kidding.
I know there are more problems than just the CNC classes. you have the software and the controller of the software to hardware interface. There are lots of things to understand. I would try several software companies and find out if anyone is giving classes nearby, and then also how much telephone support you get. This is critical as well as how much they know about the hardware that you will be using it on. I would start at aoftware and go backwards to the machine. if enough support is available for the machine through the software, I would lookt to the software that gives you best support first and also look into a good cnc repair service to help provide good customer support.
software mfgr’s
http://www.delcam.co.uk/
http://www.mastercam.com/
http://www.bobcad.com/
I got my bobcadcam pkg for the cheapest price by buying a version that was ready to get replaced. it cost me less than a grand. But they offered very good telephone support. it took a while to get back to us, but we always got a call back the same day.
If i was looking for a cnc machine, I would check fadal
there is one in your area.
Distributor: Mach 3 CNC
Address: 3909 N. Schreiber Way
Coeur d’ Alene, ID 83815
USA
Phone: 866 608-1865
Fax: 208 667-1301
E-mail: jwalton@mach3cnc.com
Web: http://www.mach3cnc.com
Contact Name: John Walton
composite fabricator to potato picker :lol:
well I guess I can walk across the street and get all the potatoes I want 
The company that makes all the frys for mcdonalds is a couple blocks from me. It was great when we were in school because we got let out for 2 weeks in the fall for harvest