Hi Everyone,
I'm having some trouble finding out what mill I will need. Basically, I want to buy 2x2 6061 aluminum and cut it to 2.5" long pieces. Then, I need a 1" dia. cut all the way through one end to a depth of 3/8" (along the 2.5" length). I'm trying to make a mount that will clamp around a 1" bar. Other than that cut, the rest will be drilled holes/tapped holes so I should be Ok. Please help. Also, if you know anywhere to get parts machined for reasonable then please let me know. That may be a better alternative.

Has anyone ever used emachineshop.com? I designed one part of my mounts and they're quite expensive. Is their pricing what I can expect from other machine shops? I only need small quantities now until I hopefully get my project off the ground.

Thanks!

Emachineshop is expensive compared to the average job shop. Post your request and if possible, a drawing in the RFQ forum. There are a number of folks there that will quote you a price.

As for the micro mill, I doubt it would do the job for you. For the $300 it costs, pluss tooling, you could have alot of your parts made.

Thanks, I'll start there.

it would not be worth buying the micro mill for just this one job.
But for the record, its a very nice mill. I got a Y axis extend kit yesterday, amazing.

Well, i just got a quote for my brackets and it was about $200 for one set. At that rate, even if I only make a few, buying the mill would still be worth it. I may end up making quite a few if my project takes off.

Can you make high-quality products or do they look rough and unfinished? Also, my main questions was could I mill a 2x2x2.5" piece of aluminum on the micro mill? I have to make a 1" dia cut on one end all the way through but only 3/8" in towards the centerline of the 1" part, if that makes sense. Can that be done on the micro mill? I'm guessing I'll need a rotary table to handle that size diameter. The rest of the mounts should be possible. Can you attach a 1" end mill and plunge it 2" through the whole piece? thanks

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the dots are just to keep the spacing right

You would actually do that with a boring head or a face mill....of course if you had a CNC mill you could just use a end mill.

Check the micro-mill specification as to the largest face mill it will handle...with the boring head you shouldn't have any problems...of course the cheapest boring head is about $80 with tooling.

well from little machine shop, the boring head is 50 dollars and can bore up to a 2 inch hole i think. Then you would need an adapter for the mt2, another 20, then you need 1/2" shank boring bars, another 16 or 17 from LMS. I know this because i wanted some, but its expensive so i figured its more economical to convert