Small cnc work (showing off)

[julianf]

The camera does not even show it off that well, but im about to pack this job off to the states.

I mean its not the Koran on the head of a pin or anything, but its way way better than your multinationals produce.

All on a self built cnc machine in a rural devon... : )

As with any work, sometimes a job catches your interest. This one was kind of novel. Single colour, but the blue works well with the brushed then anodised finish.

For some reason, unknown to me, the owner wants to DIY drill it - rather him than me!

To give scale, those are scaffold planks its on. Not vast, but not keyring either.


Whilst im here, i may as well post up these too -

You may be able to tell the photos directly above were not taken by me! I only did the metal work, the customer (a chap in Finland) did the woodwork and the electronics. I know he is pretty pleased - doesnt exactly look like a DIY build!

 

[Kayos]

Stunning work

Only reason I can think for self drilling is that he hasn’t decided on the pots and switches yet

 

[julianf]

I think he thought it would be cheaper (it is, but id get a machine to do that any day!) and also, i guess, some people like doing as much DIY as they can?

 

[Hood]

Very nice

Did they supply the DXF for you?
Is it paint infill or is the sheet double layer?

 

[julianf]

Yeah, they email the dxf (in most cases - sometimes i get a mobile phone photo of a sketch on a bit of paper!)
Its in filled. I think they do make aluminium plys, but there's no way you could get that kind of resolution with them. The tool radius would not support the cut depth.

 

[Hood]

What tool are you using? I use the nine9 carbide cutters for engraving, not that I do much.

 

[Hood]

This type

 

[julianf]

I just buy blanks and grind them here to suite the job. They look like square ended solid tungsten carbide rods. I can pm you a supplier, but you need to be able to profile them yourself.

They last for years and years, as i just skim a fraction of a mm off the end to get the edge back. Somtimes ill chip the tip, and then i have to grind them back further, but, either way, we're talking a long time.

IIRC theyre about £15 each, but the grinder is more like £2k or somthing, and then probably a bit of tooling for it on top.

I have a couple of cutter microscopes. One specialst engravers one. Theyve not been made for years, and are about 6 or 700 from dealers, but i also have a cheap-from-china one (probably £20) that i made a jig for, and is just as good. The only thing you cant do on it is measure angle, but i never need to anyway, as i know what angle ive ground to - it would only be if you were trying to match an existing cutter.

The main thing though is what youre wanting to do. If youre doing big stuff (i mean anything larger than tiny!) then you may do just as well with the inserts.

The cutter that did that blue and silver job was a 30 degree grind, with a 0.1mm truncation. Its the type of thing that, if you sneeze at it, the end chips off. The cut has to be shallow, otherwise it will chip. But thats to get the resolution - if you dont need the resolution, then just cut deeper and evreything becomes easier.

 

[julianf]

This is an old one, that i think ive posted before -

You can get the scale from the grass topped stool that its resting on. I dont know what the measurement is, but its small, and clean. I find that more interesting than just to ongoing "white single stroke infill on black anodised" which is what everyone seems to want - i guess because its safe?

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Great work you're turning out. As a matter of interest is that sort of stuff expensive? (I'll understand if you prefer not to say in an open forum )

 

[Hood]

I don't do much engraving really and the cutters I use are great for the stuff I do. Any engraving I do is usually in stainless, used to use the flat sided Vee cutters that you can buy but they never lasted at all so that is why I got the nine9 one and it works great for me. No use for you though with the tiny stuff you are doing.

 

[julianf]

Great work you're turning out. As a matter of interest is that sort of stuff expensive? (I'll understand if you prefer not to say in an open forum )

Ive no issue at all with telling you the numbers, but, before i do, it would be interesting for me to ask you what you think they might be?

If you say £15, its not a problem - its not like im going to be offended, so dont worry - im just curious.

The two jobs above were both expensive. For the end product, the chap who purchased the black parts got a much better deal, but he sent me a CAD file that i didnt even really need to look at, whilst the silver and blue one probably took me 40 mins writing emails for discussion, and 2 or 3 hrs editing files.

As a guide, theyre cheaper than that tyre "sculpture" on etse... : )

(assuming i recall the price of that correctly!)

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Ive no issue at all with telling you the numbers, but, before i do, it would be interesting for me to ask you what you think they might be?

If you say £15, its not a problem - its not like im going to be offended, so dont worry - im just curious.

The two jobs above were both expensive. For the end product, the chap who purchased the black parts got a much better deal, but he sent me a CAD file that i didnt even really need to look at, whilst the silver and blue one probably took me 40 mins writing emails for discussion, and 2 or 3 hrs editing files.

As a guide, theyre cheaper than that tyre "sculpture" on etse... : )

(assuming i recall the price of that correctly!)

Here's where I make myself look silly, but I'm going to guess £230 for the silver & blue one and £170 for the black. That's based on you paying yourself £40 per hour for time plus allowing extra for materials & carriage?

 

[julianf]

280 for the black, 170 for the silver

Black is in 3mm, with milling, and was two parts (top and back), whilst the silver is just a 1.5mm sheet, allbeit, with a nice finish.

Black is about half a long again as the silver too


- but then the part in my avatar photo was probably £20ish.

The set below probably sells one per month at £80 (for the set), so its not all big money. I mean £20 or £80 are not pocket change, but theyre small numbers compared to the other parts. The panels below fit in an abs case thats probably run off in tens of thousands in china, and sells for £35 from RS/mouser etc (for the plastic) so, in context, its not crazy.

 

[julianf]

The keyboard chap had got another quote on the table at 400 euros or something (for just the top, not the back) so guess i could have charged more, but i price according to the job, not according to the customer (if you see what i mean)

Maybe thats not the best idea, but its simpler for me to work out!

 

[Kayos]

The keyboard chap had got another quote on the table at 400 euros or something (for just the top, not the back) so guess i could have charged more, but i price according to the job, not according to the customer (if you see what i mean)

Maybe thats not the best idea, but its simpler for me to work out!

When you start adjusting based on perceptions of the customer you start losing out.

I see things on Facebook groups about adding Range Rover tax, the thought horrifies me

 

[julianf]

I find that if you work for your usual rate, and someone thinks theyve got a bargain, that good feeling generally results in word-of-mouth advertising anyhow, so it all comes around in the end.

But, again, i know not everyone works like this. And im not wealthy, so i would not say im certain im doing anything right!

 

[Robotstar5]

Are they all for the sound/music industry?

 

[julianf]

Are they all for the sound/music industry?

Yeah, but that's only because that's the field i know / am known in. Id like to work in other areas also as i have spare machine time, but ive never really cracked into any of them.

I think that, with the internet, you need to have a constant presence, as, otherwise, people forget you exist (like i implied above, most of my work is export).

Im sure (and i think ive talked here previously?) that there must be work in everything from camper van conversions to yacht dash boards, but im just not "there" in any of those.

Im not interested in just knocking out 1000s of the same part either - china will always be able to do that for less than you can buy lunch for here, so there's just no point. I like working at the higher end of things where the emphasis is on quality.

That said, im currently kitting up for printing, but, even then, we're only taking runs of 25 or 50 or so.


One of the first print jobs will be the one that i was talking about in the paint and coatings section, where the chap wants a specific finish - the conclusion on that part is that the metal will be milled here, then sent to germany for coating, then sent back here for printing, then back to germany. Its madness, of course, but that gives him the exact finish he is after.

That kind of work is much more interesting for me. Closer to the boundary between art and engineering, much like, i suspect, the more artistic welders here also.