hi folks :wave:

i'm a total cnc/cad/cam newb but need to get some small machined parts from aluminium for a product idea i have.

i'm looking at maybe learning about setting up my own mill/router to make em at home but at this stage i wanted to find a small friendly machine shop or perhaps a home hobbyist who might be interested in quoting a price to make my first batch.

in first instance i'd really appreciate advice on how to present the details of the parts to a machine shop to make it as easy as possible for them to quote me.

i think the pieces awill be a pretty simple 2d cut from approx 6mm ally sheet/plate. i've designed the parts in sketchup and have exported the drawing as a DXF file. see links to pics below. but i read somewhere that DXF is not ideal?

http://picasaweb.google.com/11822998...70682948550354

http://picasaweb.google.com/11822998...70678214665986

i've read a LOT about how to get from sketchup to CAM and to G-code but i've only succeeded in totally confusing myself. i guess i'll have to work it out at some point if i want to design AND make my own parts.

anyway sorry if post is a bit long but ANY advice/quotes would be really great!

OH, i've used emachineshop and think the site/software is really cool but the price they're quoting for the part seems very high and i have some concerns about quality of finish going that route too.

Many thanks!!!

Rob