Hi I am a new member, my name is Andy

Hi I am a new member, my name is Andy.

I have little CNC experience but have had item made by CNC for projects in the past.

I am a researcher at UCL Mechanical Engineering and I'm looking mainly for advice on where to go to have some parts made. They are small and as result cannot be accurately made by facilities within the department.

I have attached a couple of pictures which illustrate what I am after, there are two piece, which make up a point bearing system, where the point sits in the dimple and rotates.

I would really appreciate any advice on where I can go to have these parts produced, many thanks.

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Hi Andy & welcome

Seems surprising that UCL can't produce something like that. Do you have proper drawings showing dimensions, especially the radii of the contact points as that will be a critical dimension.

This type of bearing would be easy for a watch maker

Funnily enough I was thinking exactly the same thing. There are a few watchmaker forums out there, Google is your friend. Here's one but not specifically UK:
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f6/

Any decent lathe operator should be able to make those.

For the point, I'd look at using either HSS or a sharp carbide insert to ensure a good finish.
For the dimpled part, going by the picture, a suitably sized ball end mill would work.

There is the issue that you need to be working near the chuck due to the small size of stock, but that shouldn't be an issue.

You might be able to get these made by someone with a metal lathe. You could approach a medel train club where they made their complete steam trains themselves