Any one ever used a CNC aluminum machine? Question about cost.

R

Robertmarcus

Gawd
Joined
Jun 4, 2012
Messages
671
Hi [H]. I'm making plans for a future case project that i will be doing in the summer and i had some questions about cost for a CNC machine since i dont trust myself doing such advanced cuts. The case itself is 100% aluminum, and will look a little like this. (http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=365125) except bigger, i have a 1080 rad and a 1600w psu going into it. I wanted to know about how much this would cost. I plan on using 1-3mm aluminum, depending on which i think looks better. I live near a CNC shop in danbury CT, so shipping should not be a big deal.

To end,
I will be designing in Google Sketchup (do CNC shops use that, or will i have to learn autocad), and using 1-3mm aluminum. For the bars that you see on the examples case, will CNC's cutters cut those or will i have to do that myself?
Thanks
 
A sketch can be used by the CNC shop but they will have to convert that into a solid 3D model. Typical programs, are Pro E & Solidworks. With those, Camworks can be used to set the tools paths to actually cut the part from metal stock. If you dont have it then you will have to pay additional money to the shop for them to make a solid model of your drawing.

I personally use Solidworks and it does speed up the process by leaps and bounds. It also drives the cost down since Im only paying for someone to lay the tool paths and machine time.
 
You can get into a Taig or Sherline setup for about $1700

I built my case on a Taig

188m.jpg
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm not really interested in buying a CNC machine, i would not use it much any way. Also, it cost way to much. I would have to sacrifice $1700 from the project to something i don't even know if i know how to use properly. Good looking case Jojo.

IronHand, about how much did it cost you and what type of project (i am going to buy solidworks this weekend)and was it if you dont mind me asking.
 
A machine shop will generally work off whatever you give them, including a napkin drawing, haha.

Pricing will vary greatly depending on the design and requirements. And IronHand is absolutely correct, if you give the shop CAD files to work off of you'll greatly reduce the final cost. Design/engineering time usually makes up a good part of the total.

Whenever you get a drawing together in Sketchup or Solidworks, shoot me a PM or drop me a line on my website: m3cases.com. I'm doing a lot of custom case work here lately and this looks like a really cool project idea!
 
cmadki4 said:
A machine shop will generally work off whatever you give them, including a napkin drawing, haha.

Pricing will vary greatly depending on the design and requirements. And IronHand is absolutely correct, if you give the shop CAD files to work off of you'll greatly reduce the final cost. Design/engineering time usually makes up a good part of the total.

Whenever you get a drawing together in Sketchup or Solidworks, shoot me a PM or drop me a line on my website: m3cases.com. I'm doing a lot of custom case work here lately and this looks like a really cool project idea!
Click to expand...

Look forward to it. First i have to learn solidworks. Been following some of your cases, do you do powder coating as well? I think i saw one of your builds with a beautiful powder coat on the case.(threezeroproject). Nice job on that by the way.
 
Robertmarcus said:
Look forward to it. First i have to learn solidworks. Been following some of your cases, do you do powder coating as well? I think i saw one of your builds with a beautiful powder coat on the case.(threezeroproject). Nice job on that by the way.
Click to expand...
Solidworks is great. Love it. And yes, I also do powder coating. The ThreeZeroProject is a great project that I fully back. The designer and project lead is a sharp guy.
 
Unless you're a student, yes Solidworks is expensive @ $4k per seat. But a CNC machine varies greatly in price. Many machines have more than $4k in tooling alone. But even the humblest of homebrew machines will run you a couple grand.
 
cmadki4 said:
Unless you're a student, yes Solidworks is expensive @ $4k per seat. But a CNC machine varies greatly in price. Many machines have more than $4k in tooling alone. But even the humblest of homebrew machines will run you a couple grand.
Click to expand...

It also sucks that the student version is time limited, so sooner or later they're going to get that cash from you.
 
deadlift1 said:
Isn't solidworks about twice the price of a cnc machine?
Click to expand...

Well, I'd say a lot of people who have knowledge of solidworks also has access to solidworks, some way or another. Lab computers at your affiliated university should have a few copies. Or work computers.
 
Luckily, my dad is a professor at a college that is eligible to buy it @ student prices, so that is my christmas gift from him. :)
 
Yes most versions of Solidworks run in the 4K range.

I tought myself solidworks, autocad, 3D Studio Max and they are completely different. So take your time learning it or you will end up with mis-machined parts you cant use.

Also, any GOOD, CNC machine is so expensive you'd rather not know the cost of it.
 
Ironhand said:
Yes most versions of Solidworks run in the 4K range.

I tought myself solidworks, autocad, 3D Studio Max and they are completely different. So take your time learning it or you will end up with mis-machined parts you cant use.

Also, any GOOD, CNC machine is so expensive you'd rather not know the cost of it.
Click to expand...

Ya, i was looking on Ebay just for fun for some plasma cutter's. Ridiculous. Several thousands of dollars for just a mill. To expensive for me. And for most people
 
A few thousand dollars gets you a hobbyist mill, or maybe something small for making prototypes in the office. (There is nothing wrong with these, mind you, but they are not intended for production.)

The stuff machine shops use cost tens of thousands of dollars, with the larger and more expensive options costing hundreds of thousands of dollars per mill.

The cheapest option is to DIY a mill, but even then you have hundreds of dollars invested in a very small machine.
 
The main cost is really the tooling. Sketchup does export to files than can be read by SW or CAD. The tooling paths take a bit of work, but it's really the equipment. SW can be free if you know where to look. Even at student pricing, it's out of my price range, plus the license expires and you get a foolish looking 'Student Edition' watermark on everything. Have you tried Front Panel Express or similar services? I'm assuming the case is comprised mainly of panels.
 
Robertmarcus said:
Ya, i was looking on Ebay just for fun for some plasma cutter's. Ridiculous. Several thousands of dollars for just a mill. To expensive for me. And for most people
Click to expand...

If you can get a legal copy of Solidworks then I would use that. It has alot of tools to make your life easier in the long run and it does help keep costs on making the part lower since man power is greatly reduced.

I will say that it is best if you use a sketch plus an physical form to measure off of. This will speed up the process but also ensure accuracy. With a few mics, Solidworks, and a physical form to go against I have been able to get clearances down to 1.5 thousands of an inch either way. Since the tightest thing I've done required 8 thousands of an inch in clearance then Im ok with 1.5. That error includes my measurement and the CNC machines error. The larger the head(more stable) and expensive the CNC machine that error goes down. I typically use machines that are made for production work and can hold less then 1 thousands of an inch.

All of this is overkill for what your doing but if you buy Solidworks and do it right you can find a more expensive shop with better machines to actually do the work. It helps quality by huge measures. Again, it is alot of overkill for your application but if you base all your measurements off of a fixed point and that single point is off then it becomes a huge problem. You also dont want to have to go back and enlarge holes or redrill holes that were already done by the CNC machine.

If you want to do it manually then you can also get some sheet metal and a press brake and do it all by hand. It would also be alot cheaper.
 
I played with a program called Rhino 3D. The "shareware" will only let you save 25 times, but other then that its almost fully functional.
http://www.rhino3d.com/download

Its fairly straight forward, and not nearly as daunting as trying to use something like 3DsMAX for drawing some rectangles and circles.

There are some ways around the limit though.
 
I know with the DIY crowd exploding over the past few years this type of work has been dropping in price significantly and more large scale shops are catering to the hobbiest for extra income
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top