CNC shop to mill parts - does anyone know of any?

Apologies if this has already been asked (doubtless it has)... I did have a quick search before I posted.

I have a little DIY CNC router which has done me well up until now....

However, I have four parts that would just take eons on my little machine, so I would like professionally milled by a CNC shop. I would only need one of each so they would be one offs. They are various sizes, but to give you an idea the biggest is about 13 x 23 x 2 (cms), and they need to be made out of aluminium (6082 or something similar)

Does anyone know (and has used or had experience of) a milling company that would be willing to do this? I found a few places that looked hopeful claiming that they would do smaller parts and that they do one offs, but I have yet to recive a reply. That being said I only started emailing at the start of the week, so I am still hoping for a reply, so the question still remains. Anyone any ideas?

You may ask why I don't just post the job up on here... well yes I'd be willing for someone to take it on. The only reason I was looking for a company is that I would like the parts by, at the very latest, before new year, and I thought using a company rather than an individual working on their own time would insure that... because lets face it, everyone here has their own projects to work on!

Thanks for any advice,
Dave.

Hi Dave,

I would say post an RFQ here or in the correct forum section as that would get you the parts quicker and i dare say cheaper as well.

Phil

I agree with the above, a professional machine shop will have big money jobs for customers to get out - especially at this time of year. If they are willing to take on the job it won't be any time soon.

Edit: Sorry I just read that back and it sounds very pessimistic!

Firstly, are you supplying materials for it, or do you want the machine shop to supply materials. If they are supplying it, then they'll need a chance to make sure they can get the materials.

What area are you in geographically?

You need to find out a price: with one-off works, much of the time is on set-ups. That said, I wouldn't have emailed the companies, I'd simply have gone round to the front door with a drawing and asked if / when it's possible. Many machine shops will be quiet at the moment.

Have a look through Yellow Pages under "Engineering Machine Shops", or "Precision Engineers".

PS, with your dimensions, express them as mm rather than cm (ie, 130 x 230 x 20, rather than 13 x 23 x 2) - and remember to state your tolerance (ie, maximum allowable deviation from the finished dimensions), that way the machine shop know what they're taking on.

Hope that helps.

I am getting some parts made by a local machining company for my cnc router build. I placed the order at the beginning of last week and I hope to get the parts tomorrow or Monday.( Hopefully I will start a build log soon.)
I think that trying to get them done before the xmas shut down might be pushing things a bit but best of luck. If you are in central scotland area I can recommend someone.

Regards

Ian

Many thanks to everyone who has replied and PM'ed me. Some good suggestions and advice have come through. I finally have one or two replies. One from a company and one from a friend of mine.

Web Goblin: I would absolutely LOVE to walk (drive!) round to my local machinist and show them some drawings, and I have searched the Yellow pages etc for places without any luck (its possible I have been searching with the wrong terms) all I seem to be able to find is blacksmiths or along those lines. I am in Perthshire (north east sandwiched in-between Perth and Dundee). If you could recommend someone that would be good to know for future reference. I don't mind a little drive.

As for tolerances I'm not to sure... does +/- .1mm sound reasonable?

Thanks again everyone!

Edit: Still no pricing yet, but I hope that will change by the end of today!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lateAtNight

As for tolerances I'm not to sure... does +/- .1mm sound reasonable?

Thanks again everyone!

Edit: Still no pricing yet, but I hope that will change by the end of today!

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Well the tighter the tolerances the greater the cost, so it depends on the actual part feature.

+/- .1mm is OK for a cosmetic chamfer, but for a bearing housing it would be pitiful. If you are getting a quote from someone who could only hold a tolerance of +/- .1mm then they may not be the right person for the job.

As you have not furnished a drawing it is difficult to say what tolerance you need.

Phil

0.1mm tolerance is quite easily achieved, even on conventional (non-CNC) machinery, so that should be no problem.

As for set size dimension (bearing recess etc, where you can't really deviate from the size), these would normally be reamed out anyway.

"Engineering Machine Shops" or "Precision Engineers" in a phone directory will give a list of machine shops in your area - its how I go about finding workshops if I'm ever looking for a job.

Hope that helps.