suspension link

[xclr82xtc]

was hoping someone can cut this out of 7075 t6 (i can supply if necessary). I got a couple quotes, but they sound a little high to me. (compared to final cost of similar parts) lmk

[Absolute cnc]

Quantity?

[Dualkit]

Originally Posted by xclr82xtc was hoping someone can cut this out of 7075 t6 (i can supply if necessary). I got a couple quotes, but they sound a little high to me. (compared to final cost of similar parts) lmk

Are the similar parts you are comparing them to one offs? Or did you find something that was manufactured a few hundred, thousand or more at a time?
Programming, fixturing and set-up time are the same, whether someone needs
one or 10,000. If you found something in a store or car parts catalog it has been mass produced. This one time cost needs to be ammortized over the length of the run, $300 divided by 1 is pretty ugly, divide it by 100 and it's only $3. On something like this it is probably best to post a target price
so your time is not wasted, and neither is the person who is making a living machining parts. You may think prices are too expensive because you do not
realize the time involved to make "just one". On many parts it takes 4 hours to make one, 4 hours and 5 minutes, to make 2, 4 hours and 10 minutes
to make 3, etc,etc. Just at a quick glance one of your parts probably would
take 4-6 hours.

[xclr82xtc]

understood, i hadnt thought of it like that lol. and yes for now, i need just one. this is the prototype, and once done, if it works, i would market it and make a order of probably around 20.

[mcphill]

Does it need to be fully functional/strong or is this part for testing fit? If fit is good enough, I can make one on my rapid prototyping machine for around $150-200. It would be made in ABS plastic (can be either solid fill or "honeycomb" on the inside). E-mail me at mike@mcpii.com if you are intersted in more info.

Also, for machined prototype purposes, lose the radii/chamfers if you can. That will add to the cost for only cosmetic benefit.

[Dualkit]

Originally Posted by xclr82xtc understood, i hadnt thought of it like that lol. and yes for now, i need just one. this is the prototype, and once done, if it works, i would market it and make a order of probably around 20.

Glad you understand, guess I will make an effort to educate the masses. Unfortunately your situation seems to leave hard feelings on both sides. You, the prospective customer think these machinists are trying to charge you brain surgeon rates for parts, not understanding the time it takes to spit out the first one. On the other hand the machinist thinks even with his skills and overhead
you want him to work for less an hour than someone working at Walmart who
gets a paycheck with out investing a dime other than laundering his smock.
Another option to consider, if this is just for fit testing have it made out of
2 pieces and pressed or welded together, this would save on machining time
and material costs.

[Donkey Hotey]

Well, I don't know who quoted you initially, or what latitude you gave them, but:

The radii that you show are not even realistically possible to machine (at least in 3 axes). Consider the 0.1" radius running down the length of the beam. How will a cutter create that rounded feature, then terminate at the sharp intersection on the narrow end of the link? The only two ways to machine that rounded edge are to trace it back & forth with a round endmill, eating a tiny bit on each pass (long process / expensive), or with a radius cutter. The radius cutter can't terminate the way you've shown it, so that rules it out. The ball mill can't terminate in a sharp corner either, so you've eliminated it too. The ball mill could leave a rounded termination (which would be stronger anyway), but that's not what you've shown.

Then there is the question of the bore sizes. I'm pretty sure that you want either a needle bearing to press into those bores, or some other kind of bearing / bushing will go there. In any case, you need some pretty precise control over those hole sizes. You don't have that called out on the drawing to a tight enough degree that the bearings either wouldn't fit at all, or would just fall out. Precision adds to the cost, but you need to call out exactly what you want or you'll just get drilled holes.

Finally: at 20 pieces, I don't think you could afford to sell them to a retail public. I'd guess that something kinda' similar to what you've designed (with some different radius terminations) would probably cost you in the neighborhood of $500 for the first one (lots of setup) and $100 each for 20 of them after that. That'd be a bargain and it doesn't include the cost of the material.

While I'm on the subject of material: have you priced a block of 7000 series aluminum that is big enough to make that? In 6061, out of the scrap bin at my local metal place, I'd guess that billet to be around $15-30. 7075 is probably double that. I don't even know where I could get a remnant of 7075 that small.

There are also design issues with such a large beam terminating into such thin walled bearing tubes. That's beyond the machining thing and I'm not going to do the engineering for you too.

Yes, linkages sell for less than $500. They are also made of much smaller raw billets (less material cost and less machine time) and are manufactured in greater quantities. I hope that helps you to refine your design a bit and maybe get the costs down to where you can afford them.

[Pyrokuda]

Originally Posted by xclr82xtc was hoping someone can cut this out of 7075 t6 (i can supply if necessary). I got a couple quotes, but they sound a little high to me. (compared to final cost of similar parts) lmk

Hello,
We are a small shop in Columbus Ohio and would love your business.
Here is our quote.
---------------
Qty 1 7075 Aluminum Part
Lead time: 1 week from acceptance of order.
TOTAL: $665.00
This price includes: Materials, tooling, runtime, and shipping.

Price goes done with qty
---------------

Thank you for your consideration!



Brad

757-615-6216
briscoe_machining@hotmail.com