laser/waterjet cutting

[bigmoose]

I'm guilty of ripping 1/2" 6061 on a table saw. It is amazing how well it actually works.

I actually think that is the best way to cut it outside of a large shop. I use a "special" (had to order it, but it was not excessive in cost) negative rake 10 inch carbide blade for cutting Al on a Rockwell Unisaw. This commercial blade is very close to it's specifications Freud LU77M010.

 

[Thud]

Wait a minute! are you guys telling me you can buy tooling, specificly to work aluminum? (kidding of course)
But I have allways used my routers, saws (i have negitive rake blades for fine miter work & they love aluminum)band saws & my #2 chisles on alum. brass can also be worked but the feed rates need to be accounted for.

a hand drill, a copeing saw, & a decent file or 2 & you can make a lot of really nice stuff.

 

[ZOMGVTEK]

...I can laser cut that out of 1/4" Acrylic.

It might work. Briefly.

 

[Byte]

The edges are not perfectly square. I find they are generally slightly convex.

They also have to start/stop somewhere which leaves some evidence. Best if you tell them where a good spot is to start from so this is not in a critical location that will cause you grief.

Here is a pic of one of my parts so you know what I am talking about.
10mm plate stock, medium finish cut.

How much did that cost you?

 

[Neovin]

...I can laser cut that out of 1/4" Acrylic.

It might work. Briefly.

ha, i have thought about polycarbonate. I may now get them milled or routed, their looking pretty now

 

[adrian_sm]

The edges are not perfectly square. I find they are generally slightly convex.

They also have to start/stop somewhere which leaves some evidence. Best if you tell them where a good spot is to start from so this is not in a critical location that will cause you grief.

Here is a pic of one of my parts so you know what I am talking about.
10mm plate stock, medium finish cut.

How much did that cost you?

http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=38138#p556651

I got ~50 parts cut from 10mm 5083, ~90x55mm with 11 internal holes medium finish for ~AU$8 each, and that was a bit more than I was expecting based on previous parts with a few less internal holes, being around the $5 mark.

 

[TylerDurden]

ES member kfong does one-offs: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=38768&p=566328&#p566328

As close as your post-box, I suppose.

 

[Neovin]

I think the best route should be to invest in a mill of my own.
There are small "desk" mills available and some second hand larger ones that will probably be priced right for me, I'll probably add the computer control part myself as its cheaper but once it is up and running I could help out the community with "cheap" one offs.

Anyone know of the best priced mill with a good amount of precision, I don't know what i am going to spend as of yet, It wold be worth spending though as a high end mill would give me less hassle in the long run.

Cheers, Neo.

 

[ZOMGVTEK]

How strong does it need to be? Laser cut out of something like 1/2" Polycarbonate might be enough, and its relatively cheap, fast, and easy. Plop a sheet into the machine, and hit go. No real setup time, aside from making the vector cut file.

I've been meaning to try and cut something out of the snazzy 1/2" clear Acrylic I have laying around. Send me a high res top view with a solid background, and ill cut one to then smash with a hammer to see how strong it is.

 

[Neovin]

LOL, polycarbonate might be strong enough but acrylic would probably shatter with the power i want to put through it

 

[spinningmagnets]

I will be learning solidworks this summer due to all the wonderful things I can have made for me with water-jet, CNC, 3D-plastic-Printing, and laser-cutting...

Here's an AWESOME gif of a laser-cutter doing what he do, yo.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Iz359nyy6mo/UU0_l2IP9MI/AAAAAAAA0uA/B39y2Pb7Ny0/s1600/1.gif

full link for the post below: http://s113.photobucket.com/user/oadamo/media/IMG_0095.mp4.html

 

[xadmx]

for cutting out shapes you might be best making a cnc plasma instead of buying a miller, i can cut 10mm steel and alloy easy. i made from all cheap parts, with no z axis and it cuts stuff real easy. you can get a really good cut aswell. this is the only vid i have
adam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hiuMXhDQBY

 

[bobc]

I got a few parts water jetted at tech mat in macclesfield
http://www.tmcwaterjet.co.uk/
good quality but quite pricey & slow ;^)

 

[Whiplash]

for cutting out shapes you might be best making a cnc plasma instead of buying a miller, i can cut 10mm steel and alloy easy. i made from all cheap parts, with no z axis and it cuts stuff real easy. you can get a really good cut aswell. this is the only vid i have
adam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hiuMXhDQBY

Do you have plans for this? What about a build tutorial possibly? I would be VERY interested in trying to build this if its not too $$

 

[TylerDurden]

Keep makerspaces like TechShop in mind... you can get access to a lot of equipment without a ton of money. I use a place called MakerWorks.

These spanners were made with Alibre ($200) and SheetCam (free/$200) & LinuxCNC. Machined on a TorMach.


1/35 scale equipment made for an architect with Alibre and ReplicatorG:

 

[Mad Professor]

Neovin: As you are in the UK, have you tried putting up a request up on the mycncuk fourm?

Do you happen to have a cad file or dxf file of the part you are wishing to have made?

I would offer you making the part on my cnc, but I am in the middle of upgrades.

Best Regards.

 

[andyshirley]

I know a company in s-o-t that have waterjet and cnc millers and lathes, I used to do some work for them, it would be expensive to have it done through the books though. I am also reasonably friendly with the guy operating the waterjet, and the guy doing the machining. Very few people will go out of there way for peanuts though. Do you have your own material? drawings?