NickJ Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 Any one here run a cnc mill? just wondering how costs are calculated, I understand there are many factors but haven't been able to find anyone that lists approx costs to machine parts, is it on type/ number of tools used, number of operations, moving & re index etc or just straight machine time and operator charge?Looking if its worthwhile as an option for ideas or just absurdly expensive? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 For 2D stuff it's just a case of holding a big sheet in place with no amazing accuracy and zapping around the inside with water/laser/whatever.So it's easy in terms of cad and machine setup, the end user can likely supply a cad file and it doesnt require as much of a skilled operator and there's much less chance of fucking it up. So there's low labour cost/materials cost/skill required/etc.Which is why it's popular for people making flanges etc that way, as it can be done cheaply and it saves you a heap of time, However with 3D stuff the operator needs to find/use an appropriate block of material, set up cutting routines, etc etc which it's impossible for the end user to know how to do. So there's always going to be that additional labour cost, which IMO is why it's always going to be a prohibitively expensive option for one off car stuff. Especially if it doesnt fit first time! So regardless of how they work the costs it's going to be spendy and difficult to quantify that cost before doing the actual work. If you were making one of something prior to smashing out 1000 then it's cheap(er) for each part. But all of the setup costs get soaked up in the first piece if it's a one off. It will be cool when the 3D printers gain momentum though as most of those overheads will likely dissapear as theres 'free' complexity to shapes rather than becoming increasingly costly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKtrips Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 I look forward to the day where a 600 x 600 x 200 3D printer is sitting next to the compressor in the average handy persons shed and we can print out metal flanges or urethane/PTFE bushes with a simple entry of a few parameters for a cost that is as negligible as running a mig welder costs these days. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoKer Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 from $80 to $200 per hour is what I have been told I should charge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKtrips Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 from $80 to $200 per hour is what I have been told I should charge Plus any materials used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h4nd Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 http://www.fablabxchc.org.nz/equipment/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickJ Posted November 20, 2014 Author Share Posted November 20, 2014 Cheers guys, might have to go in the when i'm rich pile, unless anyone knows a hot girl who's dad runs a machine shop? Had my eyes opened this year by laser/water jet cutting and had autobend make up the manifold flanges for my lada project, all seemed reasonable to me, $50-60 per flange, way better than I have patience to cut them out myself, this moved my thoughts to 3d operations, I can do the solidworks stuff easy, but will still have to pay for it to be converted for the machines, bugger!3d printers are rad, a mate brought one this year and has been messing with it, had him make a few bits for me, can't wait to get my hands on them to see if the idea will work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eke_zetec_RWD Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 cost depends alot on what material is being machined. I charge alot more for stainless than alloy. Stainless wears tooling out, alloy doesn't. Steel is pretty easy too. But yea all depends. feel free to email me solidworks models if you want a quote. jason@mjcustom.co.nz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sentra Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 the biggest ticket on 99.99% of work we quote is that the majority of items havent been designed with a machining process and realistic cost cap in mind. An example off the top of my head is csk releifs, do you want a cnc mill to do them or as a secondary operation. this may even have a dramatic knockon effect lowering fixturing costs. deep pockets/tight slot aspects/internal corners and so-on this sort of thing is what i was harping on about in the other thread, generally by the time you go through miltiple correspondence & model update iterations, you can easily quadruple the above machine hour rate numbers for a machining company to recover their time costs. if you want to be able to sub out work and have things done at the good rates and fast turnarounds like you hear people on the internet talking about - you need to be a seasoned machinist firstly, and if you are not, expect to be charged suchly. It is a bit of a bastard as 3d printing doesnt have this requirement so is dirt cheap to quote, profile cutting much the same - easy to define without correspondence. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testament Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 CNC machining..... rookies need not apply 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rookie Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 I'm all about the laser cutting... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteretep Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 the guy didnt even say what kind of cnc he wants to get done/do. there are so many types with different requirements Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickJ Posted November 21, 2014 Author Share Posted November 21, 2014 the guy didnt even say what kind of cnc he wants to get done/do. there are so many types with different requirements The problem with messing with cars and getting handy with solidworks is all the ideas I get in my head, I'm trying to get a feel for what is possible without getting a costing that is way over my head or wasting too much of a companies time working it out. I recently had an oil filter mount that needed replacing and figured I could personally machine it out of a block of alloy but cnc would do a better job, thankfully I tracked down a factory replacement but when these idea pop up its good to know if I should pursue or not. Jason, Might have to flick you a few questions for an idea we've had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajg193 Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 I had to model some brake caliper spacers the other day at work in solidworks. Chucked them over to the cnc computer and it came up with all the tool paths and tools by itself, was quite amazed. Was pretty effortless as we found some aluminium that was the correct thickness initially. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 the guy didnt even say what kind of cnc he wants to get done/do. there are so many types with different requirements Better off posting exactly what is needed/drawings and then asking how it could most cost effectively be made. He did say CNC mill but I guess that could mean 3 axis up to...6? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ta63-1uzze Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 yup, about 200 bucks a hour, we have a couple cnc machines , lots of surface grinders, a couple lathes and a bunch of edm machines... and you would have to have something very simple to make and preferable made from aluminum to get something made for "cheap" . I say from aluminum because its so kind to the tools, the speeds and feeds are always super fast and the machine loves it ,whilst its not the cheapest material its not that expensive and it can be readily bought it many different extrusion sizes . anyways what have you got in mind? throw up some models let the people give you some costing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 So. I took an educational drawing of a foots skeletal system Traced it with a free vector program. Exported drawing as a dxf. Opened in free cad program to check things (have a few alterations to make as dxf conversion was not perfect) This image was color filled on my phone for this thread. Largest dimension is 250mm I'd like it to be made from 6mm aluminum with all black areas milled down 3mm. I can adjust all gaps to (guessing)3mm minimum so ur not doing stuff with a 1 or 2mm cutter lol Is that enough info for a quote? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threeonthetree Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Accelerator pedal for the ute? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Yeah. Thought it would be a cool project to make the whole floor mount assembly There's a 3 axis machine at work BUT they have such a backlog of work needing completion PLUS the fact I can't use it means I have a very limited chance of putting work through it even if I do pay Might trace onto aluminum and mill out on manual machine but doing curves etc by hand is so slow and not fun/will look shit Oh and its kinda symbolic of the whole SPEED KILLS thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Laser cut out of 2 3mm plates and glue together = way cheaper? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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