average rates for mold components

[championp]

Wayne,
I agree with you on all counts. I have had a few (two) deadbeat customers who pay the full price before I will start machining now. I am still a newbie to owning a business and I am working like hell to get that 6 months of working capital.

chris

[tmt_92021]

I'm a moldmaker myself but recently doing more and more machining only the prototype plastic pieces, before having the mold made in Taiwan. What do you guys see in rates for prototyping plastics? Some are pretty complex with thin walls. It's very close to machining the cavities itself.

[championp]

I would price it the same as other machining jobs, based on time spent programming, run time, benchwork time, materials etc. even if it is plastic and is easier to cut, you still have to spend a good deal of time programming, and you still have to run with small stepovers on surfacing which creates long programs. So if you spend a whole day on a part, don't charge less just because it is plastic.

[SeaSchell]

AMen to what championp said....

I can't count the number of times I've heard.....Sheesh it's only plastic, alum, brass, whatever. People don't get the fact it takes just as long to figure method, program, fixture etc. So 1 piece time is the same.

My new favorite statement...."It takes what it takes, take or leave it."