Hypothetical Question

[Mad Machinist]

I'm contemplating the purchase of a CNC plasma cutter or laser......If I did would any of you want case panels cut if the price was under say $25.00 ? These machines would allow cutting logos in shillouette......most any custom design you could draw.....let me know. It would be nice to fill up machine time with something creative.

EDIT just got back from the computer show this weekend and someone was there displaying cases cut with waterjet....looked awsome...one in particular had the dodge ram cut in stencil form with a red cold cathode inside. Looked FANTASTIC.
Now.....can I justify a waterjet machine...?????

[Nigmafyre]

hell yes!!! this is something that I am particularly interested in, also, having that machine opens up other avenues for you, ie, custom cases. you should look into that, I have several CAD drawings of my dream case, and i am jsut looking for a way to build it. I do have the technical skills,, but i am kind of balking at putting that much time into it. now a CNC machine, that would be the ticket. message me or email me if you go any farther with this idea. I happen to know a lot of people that would be interested if you could ship to canada at a reasonable price

[Gameguru]

My dad has a machine called an "EDM" machine and it cuts through any metal, any thickness by "burning" with high current electricity carried by a brass wire. He can take a CAD drawing and convert it into G code and have the machine cut it perfectly with no sharp edges or finish work required. If you guys can design it, he can cut it. I'm sure pricing would be extremely reasonable and I do have some cad experience so if you have an idea, mail me and maybe we can work something out.

[email protected]

The downfall of a plasma cutter is the rough outline left by the slag and the acuracy of the hand doing the cutting. Since this EDM machine is completely computer controlled, the outline is perfect every time.

Nigma...mail me that CAD and I,ll see what my dad can do. He has a machine shop with cnc machines as well and we just maybe able to get this thing made for you.
By the way.....I'm not some 15 year old kid. My dad is almost 50 and I'm 30 and in the USAF in South Carolina. Didn't want you to think that I was just some punk kid spoutin' off.

[Mad Machinist]

Not meant as a flame but EDM is way to expensive to operate for this purpose......not fast enough and requires a huge machine to do a panel size drawing.

Also there are CNC plasma and laser machines out there and at the speeds sheet metal is cut slag is not really an issue....you dont even burn the paint.

However in my original post I discussed the option of waterjet.....abrasive laden water at over 50,000 psi that will cut steel from .020 inch to 6 or 8 inches thick with NO distortion
or damage to the original paint for that matter.

Love to see some quotes from your Dad on EDM...might save me a ton-o-money on future projects.

[Outcoded]

Traditional miller or CNC miller would probably be cheaper to buy.

[Gameguru]

Yeah...an EDM machine is tgis big huge noisy machine but the things it can do are just as good as the water jet and far less messy. Before my dad got this machine, he looked into a high power laser as well as the water jet. For the price, the EDM can't be beat. There is only one downfall....you have to have a hole drilled to start. The other two are capable of making ther own starter holes.

He normally charges about $150 an hour to run the thing but since he owes me and it actually only costs about $3-5 an hour, he would do it for me relatively cheap. I expect that if he had a finalized CAD drawing he could cut a very intricate design in probably 30 minutes.

As for that cnc plasma cutter, for the things he does, it just wasn't acurate enough whn cutting the thickneses that he was cutting.

[Mad Machinist]

Love to know what he would burn for me on an hourly basis rate wise......3 to 5 an hour dosen't even cover the electric bill plus an operator getting 10 to 12 an hour.....if you can do it for that more power to you ....I'll forget it cause I can't compete.......for something fun like this you at least have to cover operating costs....and by the time you factor power, consumables, skilled labor and actual cost of the machine you dad is just about breaking even at 150.00 an hour. I still haven't made a decision about buying the machine but if I do it will be open to those of you here to fill in time ....LOL a machine that isn't working isn't paying for itself. Probably will come up with pre engineered designs that you can select. Later all.

P.S. where is your dad's shop....love to send him some work if I can...we do mainly prototype and one off type work and I'm always looking for production shops I can recomend or sub contract work to. Can't stay tied up in the general machine world too much...my first love and best line is building engines.....we do both...general machine and engine rebuilding.

[Outcoded]

[quote]Originally posted by Gameguru:
<strong>Yeah...an EDM machine is tgis big huge noisy machine ....
you have to have a hole drilled to start. The other two are capable of making ther own starter holes.
</strong><hr></blockquote>

Big noisy? That's the fun! As for the starting hole, it depends on the sort of mills you use in it.

[Daemon]

Mad Machinist

your the pimp daddy, id pay, also how much are them machines?

[±Octavian]

[quote]Originally posted by Daemon:
<strong>Mad Machinist

your the pimp daddy, id pay, also how much are them machines? </strong><hr></blockquote>

Ditto on that.........I could use something like that for my case mod planned for this summer.