Where to get 1/8" sheet mild steel laser/water jet cut?

[HankMcSpank]

Hi Ross,

I really appreciate your offer of help - but I wouldn't dream of putting anyone to that trouble!

As I explained to John via PM, I'm trying to stay one step ahead (so that when I arrive at a given point I already have the info I need!), so wrt pursuing the blade idea, I realised I'd need a quote to get them made properly. I don't actually need them made immenently, as I'm still very much in the 'proving' phase.

As it goes, after further (heavy) testing over the past 4-5 nights (using a rough 1/8" thick rectangular bit of mild steel) I've found that a 'blade' in a sustainer driver bobbin is sub par vs inividual guitar string 'pole' pieces. This is worrying ...I was just about to place an order for a few hundred blade bobbins from Korea! (presently I cut every bobbin I make on my CNC from acrylic - pain in th @rse!) ...I'm hoping it's just the variant of steel I bought (I wanted black steel ...but couldn't find any in a suitable 'hacksawable' size ....so I bought bright steel, which apparently - and I'm no steel expert - has more carbon in it?). If I place magnets at the bottom of the blade & then touch the other side (top) with a screwdriver, there isn't much magnetic pull - whereas when I do the same using pole pieces (mild steel grub screws) the top of each pole piece has a decent magnetic pull.


Two possible solutions...

1. Try a different grade of steel for the blade.

2. Crank up the strength of the magnets I'm attaching to the bottom of the blade (this would mean putting physically bigger magnet on there...and I don't have much room to do so)

So for now, I'm still, stuck in 'uncertain' land wrt blade type drivers.

I appreciate the offer of help though - many thanks.