CNC Machined Aluminum Extrusion Services

I am starting a large 2040 Openbuilds based delta(270-400mm bed, not sure yet) which started me thinking I haven't seen anyone offering precision machined cuts for aluminum extrusion. I know most builds can be done with pretty much any saw but after looking back on my CoreXY C-Bot build and the trouble I experienced getting the frame square s due to the poor cuts I figured there has to be others seeking precision cut square ends, length to within a few thousandths of an inch in length (my machine runs around 0.00015" backlash) and in my new builds case precision cut angles.

I have a 6,500lb bridgeport VMC so if there is enough interest out there I may be able to offer an alternative to hours adjusting gaps. I'm also considering machining some corner brackets in angles from 20 to 60 degree's which would have much tighter tolerances than the cheap molded Chinese brackets the market is flooded with.

How do your prices compare to Misumi's prices?

Maybe you haven't been here for long and haven't noticed that people are extremely resistant to paying any more than $300 (or is it down to $250 now?) for an entire 3D printer. They don't care how well it works, as long as it's cheap. Good luck getting anyone to pay for milling services, let alone shipping stuff to you and back.

If you want to make corner plates, motor mounts, etc., and sell them via ebay you might have half a chance, but you're competing against cheap Chinese stuff that's already there and well, see above... Most people can't appreciate the difference between a 3D printed part and an aluminum part, and besides, it goes against the "rep-rap philosophy" of printers printing printers (even if they suck).

But... you'll never know for sure until you try... good luck!

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

Please forgive DD, he has still not realized that the RepRap community spans a spectrum from those who are pleased with ±1mm to those for whom ±1µ is a bit disappointing and includes those for whom the cost of a single stepper motor from Alibaba is all they can manage this month.
The more important, for those of us who may be interested, is where are you? Having somebody in the same or nearby state, county or canton may just get you more custom than beating Misumi's prices.

Mike

If you are based in the UK it's certainly something I'd be interested in. I buy V slot from oozenest precisely for the reason that they offer Mill cut square ends. It has made a tremendous amount of difference. I have found no other UK service that offers this, although I havnt looked into ordering via a specific CNC or milling services.

EDIT: noticed you work in imperial so you must be American

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2017 10:14AM by Origamib.

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leadinglights
Please forgive DD, he has still not realized that the RepRap community spans a spectrum from those who are pleased with ±1mm to those for whom ±1µ is a bit disappointing and includes those for whom the cost of a single stepper motor from Alibaba is all they can manage this month.
The more important, for those of us who may be interested, is where are you? Having somebody in the same or nearby state, county or canton may just get you more custom than beating Misumi's prices.

Mike

I realize there's a spectrum there, but it isn't an even distribution. Of the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who lurk and post here, there are probably about ten who might have enough interest (and financial means) in milled metal parts to actually pay someone to mill them. A lot of the people who understand the difference between a milled and printed part are people who have access to machine shops and don't need someone else to mill parts for them.

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

... it's all about "ecospeheres" - as in real life, there are "deserts" and "jungles" ... now find the corresponding areas for your interests/capabilities

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

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the_digital_dentist

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leadinglights
Please forgive DD, he has still not realized that the RepRap community spans a spectrum from those who are pleased with ±1mm to those for whom ±1µ is a bit disappointing and includes those for whom the cost of a single stepper motor from Alibaba is all they can manage this month.
The more important, for those of us who may be interested, is where are you? Having somebody in the same or nearby state, county or canton may just get you more custom than beating Misumi's prices.

Mike

I realize there's a spectrum there, but it isn't an even distribution. Of the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who lurk and post here, there are probably about ten who might have enough interest (and financial means) in milled metal parts to actually pay someone to mill them. A lot of the people who understand the difference between a milled and printed part are people who have access to machine shops and don't need someone else to mill parts for them.

Hmm, perhaps it's just a statistical quirk but one factory I worked a few years ago among the 20 or so low level drudges on the factory assembly line were two pensioners with bow-down-and-kowtow skills in maths, one young whippersnapper who was reading an Egyptian epic in the original hieroglyphs and a storeman with several patents for medical instruments. Do you know, none of them wore badges

Mike

p.s., There were a fair few eejits as well, including some in senior management

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the_digital_dentist
I realize there's a spectrum there, but it isn't an even distribution. Of the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who lurk and post here, there are probably about ten who might have enough interest (and financial means) in milled metal parts to actually pay someone to mill them. A lot of the people who understand the difference between a milled and printed part are people who have access to machine shops and don't need someone else to mill parts for them.

I would have to disagree with this. The 'reprap' movement has transformed a lot since it started, hence why linear rail is becoming an increasingly sought after component in printers. People are becoming more aware of what it takes to build a proper printer, not everyone has access to expensive CNC or milling style equipment. Here in the UK it is very hard to buy anything precise at a reasonable cost. The other alternative is joining a local makerspace but not everyone has one, or has the time. I'd be happy to pay someone to mill parts if the price was right.

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the_digital_dentist
Maybe you haven't been here for long and haven't noticed that people are extremely resistant to paying any more than $300 (or is it down to $250 now?) for an entire 3D printer. They don't care how well it works, as long as it's cheap. Good luck getting anyone to pay for milling services, let alone shipping stuff to you and back.

If you want to make corner plates, motor mounts, etc., and sell them via ebay you might have half a chance, but you're competing against cheap Chinese stuff that's already there and well, see above... Most people can't appreciate the difference between a 3D printed part and an aluminum part, and besides, it goes against the "rep-rap philosophy" of printers printing printers (even if they suck).

But... you'll never know for sure until you try... good luck!

I definitely agree that the majority would prefer cheaper/DIY which is great but there has to be guys like me looking to push the technology past whats commercially available at the current price point. For me I already have a cheap printer like you said but now my focus is to achieve a higher level of build accuracy, printing precision and larger print volume at a reasonable price. Contrary to poplar opinion most products can be made in our home countries at a reasonable price without sacrificing quality by using modern machining techniques and ensuring overhead is kept to a minimum.

Most people prefer speed when printing but there are a few of us that look at print quality and consider SLA level quality as the holy grail. I always see people going larger on nozzle size while my goal is always to run the smallest, of course a variable nozzle would be the best of both worlds so there is always something left to do.

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Origamib
If you are based in the UK it's certainly something I'd be interested in. I buy V slot from oozenest precisely for the reason that they offer Mill cut square ends. It has made a tremendous amount of difference. I have found no other UK service that offers this, although I havnt looked into ordering via a specific CNC or milling services.

EDIT: noticed you work in imperial so you must be American

I'm located in the Florida. For those interested I would be willing to acquire extrusion of your choosing at my cost shipped to me + services or send me yours and only services would apply. Pricing really depends on size of project and complexity and should be discussed via email preferably. Anyone interested can message me here for my email.

There are a lot of projects I would like to get to eventually such as a light weight extruder. I have been watching the new Titan sell like hotcakes but the price tag is a bit hard to swallow considering it's mostly plastic although I'm sure the quality is second to none knowing E3D. Hopefully we will see something machined for half the price soon and under the 200 gram mark

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ChrisT88
I'm located in the Florida.

Good luck with the endeavor!
Hiya from a fellow FL guy. (Pensacola here)

Wonderful prints ChrisT88 and its shame I'm in the UK I'd love to have some parts machined well. I have a "precision engineering" company about 100 yards from me who cut some extrusion, with what looked like a hacksaw. Several hours later and 20 sanding discs, they were all the same length (they didn't charge me much which is the only saving grace).

Regarding oozenest in the UK, who I have a lot time for generally, don't order extrusion in stock lengths, they are not always exactly the length you ordered, but order them 1mm shorter then they cut them precisely.

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Simon Khoury

Co-founder of [www.precisionpiezo.co.uk] Accurate, repeatable, versatile Z-Probes
Published:Inventions

To be fair to the E3D titan it is injection moulded, making it much better when compared to other extruders on the market which are generally printed, or much more expensive. The bondtech extruders are more then double the price and printed (printed on an SLS machine but still not a match for injection moulding). I think the price is fair, even if they could lower the price.

However the titan has one major flaw that it uses the motor shaft to hold the idler... You can see the shaft flex slightly on retraction, and heavy idler tension displaces it from the center. A simple fix would be to place a bearing on the cover which I hope they do soon. They have already released several upgrades for the titan.