Laser cutting?

[MajorPayne]

Heya guys & gals,

I've just finished-up marking out all the shapes required in .DXF, .EPS and a few other formats for a laser cutting company down the road(a bit).

They could supply Stainless Steel sheets in 3000x1500mm which is fine by me as I'll require three and maybe four at the max. I'm not sure if their offering 304, (316, 316L or 316Ti) I'd only like to use the last three in brackets if I can. in-fact I'd really like to use 316Ti but it's going to be hard to find!

I have around 96 shapes to be cut, how is it laser cutting services price-up their jobs?

*I'm enjoying my TIG-welding study course! Just would love more practise so still looking for an under 200amp DC tig welder! 160AC/DC would be nice though

So could anyone shed some light on laser cutting services?
and more light on if I can weld 316Ti with a DC setup would be awesome(5%Ti I think)

Kind regards,
MP

 

[JayRS4]

Can`t answer many of the questions, but i recently had a quote for some parts from Cirrus Laser, I was honest with them and they know it, the original price for the CAD work killed it for me, but you already have that sorted. Send and email to Mark (i think it was) there, he was very helpful even though I couldnt (and still can`t) afford to place an order with them. I`ll have a look through my emails and see if he said anything else that may help you.



Oh, and I dont work for them.

 

[steveo3002]

http://www.whengparts.com/

try him...he's ok on one offs etc

 

[deandave]

I had a 1000x500x300mm steel for a folded electronics enclosure laser cut from my .DXF file about a year ago for roughly £100. Maybe 40 holes for clinch nuts and cable grommets and a couple of knock-out slots for fans, large number of cooling slots, and a couple smaller enclosures for power pack and electronics. One-off job, one-off price, dont know what criteria they used to price it but I think they base it on the time the machine is occupied and probably finishing the edges (deburring etc.). They supplied the (2mm?) steel in the price. Had powder coating and folding done elsewhere.

Also had 100's of tiny aluminium strips laser cut 10x5x0.8mm from my .DXF file - about £30 i supplied the Aluminium. Edges a bit rough, but not as bad as the previous water-cutting attempt.

I cant remember what they told me about all the different cutting quality vs. cutting speed tradeoffs for material types and thickness. Again, time on the cutting bed and refinishing affect the price...

 

[whichwire]

profile cutting as far as I know is priced on a combination of materail and length of time but consumables also come into it. For plasma anyway the more holes in the parts (piercings) the higher the consumable usage. However the older machines tend to have poorer consumable usage and poorer control for getting dimensions right etc. For intance the cheapest plasma man near me has a ancient machine taken from a ship yard, it can take a 10m x 5m plate but ask it to cut a 12mm hole and you get something that you could have made with a handheld oxy torch....hope this shine some light. your probably better off to find a company with a good modern machine but depends on quality required.

 

[dopplershift]

Usually these companies charge in two components.

1: Machine setup cost (usually a semi-fixed price).

2: Machine time taken to cut your parts, which depends on material, thickness, edge quality and the complexity/number of cuts that your design requires.

Oh, also material costs... sometimes it can workout a fair bit cheaper if you can supply yourself. Other times its all much of a muchness.