Can anyone advise on the typical prices you might need to pay for laser cutting sheet steel?
I have made telephone enquiries, but I'm getting conflicting advice and problems with pricing. Notably, a couple of firms have quoted really high prices for something that I would have thought ought to be cheaper.
What I'm looking for is, effectively, a piece of sheet steel 1240mm x 620mm x 3mm with the entire centre cut out leaving just an 18mm border. There will be some shaping and contouring. And if I had a bandsaw or similar, I could eventually do it myself. But I don't have the equipment (and I like my fingers right where they are, anyway).
So can anyone with experience of laser cutting give me some pointers? Or suggest a good firm anywhere in the UK? Or does anyone out there have the equipment to do such a job? And does anyone have even the slightest idea of what such a job ought to cost?
Any advice welcomes. Apologies for being off topic, but with all you engineering types out there, it seems a pity not to take advantage of it.
Re: Laser cutting - advice needed, please - off topic
I had 44 base gasket spacers cut near me, they wanted £82 for doing them including materials, they said it would cost the same to have 2 made or a full sheets worth of them cut out, this was last year so the price may have gone up slightly since then. This included doing the CNC programme. They were made of a sheet of 2mm steel, so I guess the cost of the material has to be taken into account
Re: Laser cutting - advice needed, please - off topic
Danny might be a cheaper option to butt weld 18mm x 3mm flat steel bar to size / shape you require .. you could dress the welds shouldn't cost more than £25-£30 for materials /labour. Dave
Re: Laser cutting - advice needed, please - off topic
I use a local firm to me for all laser cutting, they offer an excellent service at very realistic and competitive rates.
Contact Andy Pie @ Grail Engineering.
tel; 01594 820840.
Mention my name from Linley Engineering, it may help.
Re: Laser cutting - advice needed, please - off topic
Thanks, Julian. I'll call them and will mention your name.
Note to Dave: I did consider welding 18mm strips. But it's a little more complicated than that. The design would actually require six strips. The shape I need is kind of lozenge. Also, I would need fillets on the inside corners. That's what I meant by contours.
That adds up to a lot of welding. I've got MIG equipment. But it's very basic stuff, and I'm more used to arc welding than MIG welding. Also, It really does need to be flat. I'd end up distorting it.
Once you factor in the dressing of the welds, and even drilling a few holes, I was thinking that laser cutting would sort it out - hence my enquiry. Thanks anyway for the thought.
Re: Laser cutting - advice needed, please - off topic
Danny, I have done something like your planning, a few years ago, and the lasers are now better, because of the narrow border may I suggest the laser cuts two wide strips in a cross say 50mm wide, could be wider to the keep the strength in and stop it creasing up during transport then reducing to say 25mm at contact point to the outside shape, then during transport it is less likely to buckle, the cross shape can the be removed on site and the shape can then be fettled in place just my 2p worth , Andrew.h.
Re: Laser cutting - advice needed, please - off topic
Hi Andrew, thanks for that. Much appreciated. I'll certainly look into it if I have to have the section transported by courier or sent by mail.
If I collect it myself, the cross braces might not be necessary. I can clamp the frame between a couple of sheets of ply. But your point is well made. In my head, I keep thinking that 18mm is a wide border for the frame. But that's because I'm a "feet and inches" man and all that stuff.
But you're right. The frame will be liable to buckling. Thanks again for that.
I've since got some prices ranging from £35 to around £100-£150. Not sure if these include any necessary computer time/set up costs. But £35 sounds a little unrealistic.
Re: Laser cutting - advice needed, please - off topic
Laser cutting is a wonderful thing. It's pretty easy too.
The first step is to have a machine readable file. I use Autocad 2012 at home. All they have to do is post it to the processor then.
The formula for cutting is a bit of a jumble. It should be based on metal thickness (20 gage cuts a lot faster than 3/8 inch. There is set up time involved too.
Quantities are always a factor. The more you make, the bigger a spread to amortize the set up time. Say it takes 15 minutes to set up, and ten to cut. That's close enough to 1/2 hour of machine time. But.... If you do 20 pieces at a time, and use a full or half sheet you save a lot of time and material as the machine can nest the parts for you.
Most machines cut the "drops" first so the "slug" falls to the scrap pan. However, if the part is small like the "Slug" the those have to be fished out of the scrap.
I'd be happy to do an autocad file for anyone who needs it.
One caveat: The laser will leave a "Heat Affeced Zone" of hardened metal. I had some 1/4 inch pieces made that I had to tap later.......
Re: Laser cutting - advice needed, please - off topic
Hi Danny...I'd get it laser cut..Far less hassle, more accurate, no finishing operations and no welding distortion (which you will get)..
Also they can put in any holes you require...One thing which may be a factor between different companies is 'minimum order' prices..Ian
Re: Laser cutting - advice needed, please - off topic
Thanks Rob and Ian. I've spoken to three more companies. One quoted me £35 (which sounds unrealistic). One quoted £100. And one quoted £200.
Granted that they were all quoting "blind", but it helps highlight my doubts.
It seems that my biggest problem is getting the dimensions to them in a way they can understand. It looks like I'm going to be using my plywood template and putting that onto graph paper for the outline, and then sketching in the inner edge. They'll accept that and will scan it or take referencing points or something and add a dash of salt and pepper and stick it in the machine.
Apparently they do this all the time. I'll let you know how I get on. It might help anyone else thinking of having parts made in this way.
Rob's comment about the heat affected zone is worth considering. I'm not sure if it affects my project, but I'll certainly keep it in mind.
Re: Laser cutting - advice needed, please - off topic
Hi Danny...I have used a few laser cutter companies..Most will convert a simple dimensioned sketch into a suitable CAD programme for the laser cutter to work from, but prices for this service vary quite a bit.
Others can scan an existing component if you have one or they can scan an accurate template...Once scanned they can 'tweak' the final dimensions if required.
I have found variations in the size of components that can be dealt with by these methods...it's dependent on how much any company has invested in scanning facilities....Some don't have that ability at all...
As a general rule I have found laser cutting to be a very cost effective way to produce parts...especially in batches, when any programming/scanning costs are spread over a number of components...
As always though there seem to be remarkable price differences, so it is a case of giving them a detailed description/drawing of the component you require (from this you will get a more accurate estimate or quote) and then shopping around...Ian
Re: Laser cutting - advice needed, please - off topic
Nearly all laser cutting & waterjet cutting companies would prefer a DXF drawing to work from, if you have the ability to create this file format then your life will be made allot easier, the best DXF format to send is AutoCAD R2000 as this is compatible with vertually all machines regardless of their age.
Re: Laser cutting - advice needed, please - off topic
Hi Danny,
If you like you can send me a drawing or even a hand sketch and I will do a DXF file for you that can be given to the laser cutter. I will also send you a PDF file so you can see what the DXF file is. Over the course of a month I wound send about 10-15 files to the laser cutter I use.