Laser/Water cut parts near Gatwick

[bonepyro]

I have never had anything laser or water jet cut in the past, so have a few questions about the process.

Can anyone recommend a supplier around Gatwick that would be able to cut parts from mild steel plate given a set of drawings?

Do these firms generally insist on electronic format drawings, or will they work from paper drawings. I have in mind the Gingery slip rolls, and need to make up the end plates. These are roughly 20mm plate, and i don't fancy doing that with a hacksaw and file in the shed.

Do the profilers usually supply the material

And lastly the golden question, what would I expect to pay for a couple of pieces 5 inches square cut with a profile. I would have no idea if I was being bent over given a 'customer service' or being given a genuine price.

Anyone on here have the facility for making up parts like these, I am happy to pay.

 

[weldingscotty803]

I have never had anything laser or water jet cut in the past, so have a few questions about the process.

Can anyone recommend a supplier around Gatwick that would be able to cut parts from mild steel plate given a set of drawings?

Do these firms generally insist on electronic format drawings, or will they work from paper drawings. I have in mind the Gingery slip rolls, and need to make up the end plates. These are roughly 20mm plate, and i don't fancy doing that with a hacksaw and file in the shed.

Do the profilers usually supply the material

And lastly the golden question, what would I expect to pay for a couple of pieces 5 inches square cut with a profile. I would have no idea if I was being bent over given a 'customer service' or being given a genuine price.
Anyone on here have the facility for making up parts like these, I am happy to pay.

you can do both, you supply them with the sttel or they can supply it. some places are fussy though as some cuts may need to be on clean rust free material
depends on what thickness material

i am sure there are a few people on here that would be happy to do all the above bits and post them.
does it need to be laser or water cut. wont plasma do?
the 20mm steel end plate for the rollers i could do for you with my oxy propane

 

[graffian]

My first port of call would be parkers[the old yeowarts depot]
They have a water jet[also plasma, gas and laser], I used to get my parkers steel orders dropped off there-they often[invariably] delivered the wrong stuff-and several times the bloke said email me a drawing and I will water jet your parts from sheet. They like emailed drawings, if you gave him a usb stick, or disk, I think he said it has to be sent off to have it's un-virusness verified! I think they would be oK with paper drawings but would be very suprised if they didn't take the oportunity to charge more, I would redraw them and make it as easy as possible.

There was the profile place by the round-about at the end of the road to BOC
I can't remember if it's still there.

They have loads of steel in there so woudln't have thought supplying was a problem, if you explain any thickness over a certain amount woudl do maybe you woudl get a better deal, they have some usefull stuff in the skip in there.

There are more places around, I had a good quote for cutting some 2" thick ali from a place near maidstone, I looked up water jet on google and got some quotes. ended up doing it on my bandsaw. I think plasma or gas will be fine for you.

 

[bonepyro]

Weldingscotty I may yet take you up on that offer, although I suspect postage would be a bit hefty for these lumps.

As to whether plasma will do, I am embarassed to say have no idea, i do not really know the difference in tolerance between the different methods.

I guess the first step is to get the shapes drawn up in autocad so I can send them out for quotes.

Again I could really use a ballpark price for these, so I know what I should be getting quoted.

 

[weldingscotty803]

deopends how critical , intricate etc they are. i wanted some rabbit, crow pigeon silouettes cutting out of 3mm plate. they designed cut supplied steel etc. 250mm high x 100 ish wide. price for 20 of each was a couple of years ago. 120 in total
got them for 5.85 each. they had holes cut in for kill zones as well. rasnging from 15mm to 40mm . that was with waterjet.

 

[drivewasher]

I,m going to have a do at that bender. I'm going down the angle grinder, hacksaw and file route. Much more interesting and challenging. If it goes wrong I'll just start again.

The only quiery I have is the imperial sized shoulder bolts, going to check if metric equivalent are available and metric is usually cheaper than imp sizes

 

[Chipper]

I've had a shot at the folder, not finished it yet but made a couple of bits with it. Converted it all to metric and what sizes were available locally, which meant a choice, either shoulder bolts cheap and more metal cost, or t'other way round.
I didn't do the over-centre clamp thing, so's the clamp leaf is free to move back/forth. Hopefully additional smaller clamp pieces will allow some box folding too.
Instead of unequal angle I used flat plate for the leafs, with angle as braces.
Next step is to add backstop bolts for the clamp, and more clamping force (using 4 x 10mm bolts and g-clamps at the mo).

 

[bonepyro]

I have the folder plans too (thanks Zardoz), but I would like to stress the parts I needed cut were for the slip roll plans, where the end plates are cut from 20mm plate and are around 5" square.

However if anyone want to put some close up pictures of their completed Gingery machines in their albums, maybe it would be a help to those of us trying to decipher the sketches.

 

[weldingscotty803]

I have the folder plans too (thanks Zardoz), but I would like to stress the parts I needed cut were for the slip roll plans, where the end plates are cut from 20mm plate and are around 5" square.

However if anyone want to put some close up pictures of their completed Gingery machines in their albums, maybe it would be a help to those of us trying to decipher the sketches.

you mean diameter? if you need them cutting out mate give me a shout. will charge you a fiver for material and about 8 quid for post
atb scott

 

[bonepyro]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the offer, but I did not mean diameter.

The three rolls in the slip rolls run in bronze bushes though the end plate.

That end plate is cut out from a 20mm piece of mild steel plate, cut out to a shape to allow slots for adjusters and the removable top roll. The end plates are cut from an blank piece of plate roughly 5" x 5".

The Gingery book description calls for the 20mm plate to be cut out on a bandsaw and filed to final finish size. I don't have a bandsaw and am really a bit stuck for cutting the profile out from 20mm plate (could be done with a hacksaw i guess, maybe i am just too lazy!)

If I had the picture online I am sure it would be immediately apparent what i am trying to describe.

On a diffrent note the plans call for 1.5" black pipe to make the rollers. I was debating whether to replace this with solid bar stock. What would be stronger in relation to resisting bending, I have a suspicion that tube would actually be stronger than solid in this regard?

 

[weldingscotty803]

well i can cut out what you need mate. just send me a drawing or picture and i will see what i can do for you