Need A Quote- RFQ: CNC cutting mild 3/8 plate. long term production

[mike_belben]

AA battery for size reference. 11x17 sheet of paper i believe.



ive gotten fairly competive quotes locally from shops that employ considerable overhead.. i am a one man operation and would rather give the work to another guy slaving to pay the mortgage out of his basement shop. price and turnaround are largest considerations, so living close would help on ship time and cost.


3/8" mild steel plate, +/- .030" except between flats, must be min 5.340" -0 +.030


my timeline is:
protype 1 unit> check/revise> full production.

will be made in pairs. anticipated volume is likely between 6 and 20 pieces per month, distribution chain established.

once this part is worked out, there will be auxillary parts, probably 3-5 pieces, simple rectangular, trapezoidal type cutouts with one start and stop in 1/4" mild steel. approximately sized from a playing card to a slice of bread.
all i need done is the cutting, all slag removal and secondary finishing i will handle. just cut the parts and toss them in the box headed to massachusetts. job will be easy on your machine, only one start and stop, no holes.


I DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO PUT THIS INTO A FILE OF ANY SORT. i will mail a scale template. if things go well, the job will be indefinite. dont ask me what it is please.

best reached at mike_belben@yahoo.com

[DSL PWR]

Originally Posted by mike_belben AA battery for size reference. 11x17 sheet of paper i believe. 3/8" mild steel plate, +/- .030" except between flats, must be min 5.340" -0 +.030

I think you are dreaming on the -0 +.030 on the flats, with plasma. If you are going to be machining this just add a little more to the flats and clean it up in a mill.

Also the +/-.030 off of a paper template is also not realistic. Is the tolerance on the inside or out side of the pencil line? I'm not trying to be a smart ass, but the part is simple enough, but for an accurate price you need to have a few more ducks pushed into a row.

[jimcolt]

.030" is easily achievable with a good plasma riding on good motion control with a good torch height control....in fact this is a relatively plasma friendly part with no real small holes and fine features....it can probably be held in the (+ -) .015" range.

I would scan the paper template...save as a .bmp....then clean up the drawing and dimensions to what they are supposed to be....about 15 miutes time on a simple part such as this.

This part on 3/8" steel plate can be cut (with a 45 Amp air plasma) at about 30-35 inches per minute.....so probably would be completed in about 70 seconds or so...

Jim Colt

[davereagan]

I can cut it beautifully with a coated carbide endmill from the solid with no need for plasma and hold .002"-.003" without fussing. Would you allow a couple of
1/4" holes in the piece to clamp it down with bolts so I could mill it all around in one shot?

Dave

[mike_belben]

thanks for the interest gentlemen.

the part could have been +/- .070 really, the end user will be grinding/welding into place. im not looking to have them milled, thats too much precision. like paying for a ferrarri when a dumptruck will do. this is a plasma job.

i make other parts that get machined however, and im always designing things so it wont hurt to send me an email about your capabilities. im pretty sure ive come to an agreement with someone about this part. just a heads up.

thanks again.

[A1CNC]

Hi Mike,
I too am a one man shop trying to make it. I have a 4x8 plasma table, and other cnc Machines as well.
If you are still looking for a quote I will gladly supply you with one. I also could help with converting your template into a cad file for you. I am in southern NH.

Thank you,
Eric