Request for quote and advice on smallish part

[spcutler]

Hello--
I'm looking to have a part machined out of steel (probably 8620). Starting material will probably be 2" diameter rod, 8" long. Final product will look something like a Christmas tree (a cone on a cylinder), but with a rectangular spiral groove on the conical part.

I have a pretty low budget and I don't quite know where to start. A local place offers design classes, and I'd bet I can design the part myself, but I have nowhere to get it machined. I'm guessing it'll need a 5-axis machine but I don't really know that for certain. If I manage to produce a design in Solidworks, can I expect to hand the file off to someone and get it machined without too much extra effort on my part?

At this point I'm pretty much just exploring options, so if others have alternative suggestions (lost wax casting or something?) I'd like to hear those as well. I don't need super-high dimensional tolerance or surface quality; cost is the main criterion. Thanks for any help!

- Scott

[DareBee]

If I manage to produce a design in Solidworks, can I expect to hand the file off to someone and get it machined without too much extra effort on my part?

Yes

Have you got $1000 for your christmas tree?

[Jim Estes]

How deep is the rectangular spiral groove? I think this could probably be done on a 4-axis machine. Just involves rotating the cone as the groove is cut. You would get a slight radius in the bottom of the groove that would result from the cutter traveling down the angle of the cone.

[mactec54]

Hi spcutler

You can do this part on a manual 2 axes lathe with a taper attachment, we used to make a part like this for wood splitters

[universalfab]

This is definately sound like a turning job. Can you post a picture or your part?

[Dualkit]

This is definately sound like a turning job. Can you post a picture or your part?

The guy said he had a LOW BUDGET, if you continue to interact with these people I suggest you go get your blood pressure checked. It seems you are going out of your way to find ways to stress yourself out.

[Tormachmaster]

Post a picture. This is the only way you can get any type of quote on this part.

[universalfab]

The guy said he had a LOW BUDGET, if you continue to interact with these people I suggest you go get your blood pressure checked. It seems you are going out of your way to find ways to stress yourself out.

Thats a good way to look at things and your probabley right.

[spcutler]

Thanks all for the advice so far. I haven't had time to draft a picture yet (the design is mostly in my head at this point), hopefully in the next day or two I can put something together.

All I have at the moment is this:
http://www.scottcutler.net/images/spiralconefield.png

The left of the image is the center axis (ignore the curvy gray lines; those are magnetic field lines). The part outline is in blue. Note though that the grooves are not circular; they form a spiral.

These proportions aren't final, either, but hopefully it conveys the gist of the design. I'll post a full drawing later. This is for a hobby project (hence the budget constraints) so I have no problem with posting this stuff publicly.

- Scott

[irrational]

Hey Scott, are you doing something with Ferromagnetic Liquid?
Kinda like this "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDnrFgd7yfo&feature=fvw"]YouTube- Amazing Magnetic Art Sculpture!! ?

-IM

[spcutler]

Hey Scott, are you doing something with Ferromagnetic Liquid?

Oh my, you've spoiled my surprise ! You deductive skills are excellent, as that is exactly my intent. The spiral cone shape turns out to be a "perfect" shape for making ferrofluid do neat things due to the way it directs and concentrates the magnetic field.

Well, now that the "secret" is out, to anyone that's interested, your video shows the basic shape that I'm shooting for. Below the surface of the fluid is an additional cylinder that the electromagnet is wound around, but the complicated portion is visible.

Another variable is that I'm not dead-set on a size--if it turns out that the cost is too high for the size I want, I maybe be willing to go with something smaller, such as 1" or 1.5" in diameter.

By the way, here is a vid of my own experiments with the stuff (much less nifty than your vid, but neat in a scientific way):
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaUnubDdouc"]YouTube- Ferrofluid demonstration

-Scott

[universalfab]

That is going to cost you more then a low budget.