CNC milling, where can I get it done?

[Björn Benckert]

Anyone know where I can find a factory that can help me manufacture these handles in wood. I got the .step file and everything is ready to go but seams hard to find a factory that can do it for me. They don't even leave a price, say it's to time consuming etc. I don't really get what's so difficult as a 5 axis mill should be able to do it no problem.

Any lead to a selected factory will definitely get one of these super handles free of charge.

image003 by Björn Benckert, on Flickr

 

[Mark A. Jaeger]

Bjorn, On your behalf I inquired of a machine shop I have used near my studio. As they don't work regular hours on Saturday I left a message but I will probably have to wait until Monday for a response. Do you have an idea of how many parts you would desire in the first run? The wood looks like walnut - Is this your choice?
Best regards, Mark

 

[Björn Benckert]

Bjorn, On your behalf I inquired of a machine shop I have used near my studio. As they don't work regular hours on Saturday I left a message but I will probably have to wait until Monday for a response. Do you have an idea of how many parts you would desire in the first run? The wood looks like walnut - Is this your choice?
Best regards, Mark

Thank you Mark.

I think 50 units would be a good number for a first run.
And regarding the type of wood, I'm not sure, something hard and not to heavy, so yes walnut sound good.

 

[Mark A. Jaeger]

Sending PM with good news (in a couple minutes)

 

[Robert Hart]

Australian desert oak might beat the maple. The tree like some Australian hardwoods cunningly adds silica to itself to make termite and woodgrub teeth go blunt. Trouble is it will break pieces out of axes, make a chainsaw go dull and a router bit lose edge, smoke and glow red. CNC millling is not an easy option with it.

 

[GrahamClark]

Bjorn,

I run a 5-axis CNC facility, we do rapid turnaround for 1-50 and production runs start at 5,000+, we only machine things for filmmakers and photographers.

https://www.newideasco.com/pages/cnc-machining

For custom glass and metalwork, give me a call and we can go from there.

 

[Björn Benckert]

Bjorn,

I run a 5-axis CNC facility, we do rapid turnaround for 1-50 and production runs start at 5,000+, we only machine things for filmmakers and photographers.

https://www.newideasco.com/pages/cnc-machining

For custom glass and metalwork, give me a call and we can go from there.

Thanks for the offer, but don't you have enough orders to fullfill allready?

 

[GrahamClark]

Thanks for the offer, but don't you have enough orders to fullfill allready?

I would never delay customer production orders for side projects

Something else I was going to suggest is there is a new 5-axis CNC machine made in USA, which is smaller than one of my 3d printers.

I have 2 of these, they work great. Everything from wood, plastic, titanium, you name it.

https://pocketnc.com/collections/pocket-nc-v2-10/products/pocket-nc-v2?variant=11607895998511

Check it out:

 

[Björn Benckert]

Yes, I been following the pocket NC forums for a while. Looks tempting. But I thought wooden handles from a ready to cnc step file would be a no brainer to have made. But most shops want way more to cnc wood then aluminium and the prices I been offered have been so high that I see no economical way of justifying having a batch made sadly.

 

[Christopher A. Bell]

Yes, I been following the pocket NC forums for a while. Looks tempting. But I thought wooden handles from a ready to cnc step file would be a no brainer to have made. But most shops want way more to cnc wood then aluminium and the prices I been offered have been so high that I see no economical way of justifying having a batch made sadly.

Several years ago, I went to a local machine shop(they're actually a pretty good sized operation) to have some custom, ultra low profile tripod tie-downs made for my Vinten heads(weird 'non-standard' threading on the tie-down stud) for use with really low hi-hats/baby legs. I tried to keep the design super simple so they wouldn't have to put a lot into the design on their end: flat round knurled disc tapped in the dead center for the tie-down stud. The cost was ridiculous, because there was no "economy of scale". If I was having 1,000 made, the per unit cost would have been fine, but the cost for a single unit was stupid. I ended up having them make 10, with the idea that I could sale them to others, because it only cost about $50 more than just one.

 

[Björn Benckert]

Several years ago, I went to a local machine shop(they're actually a pretty good sized operation) to have some custom, ultra low profile tripod tie-downs made for my Vinten heads(weird 'non-standard' threading on the tie-down stud) for use with really low hi-hats/baby legs. I tried to keep the design super simple so they wouldn't have to put a lot into the design on their end: flat round knurled disc tapped in the dead center for the tie-down stud. The cost was ridiculous, because there was no "economy of scale". If I was having 1,000 made, the per unit cost would have been fine, but the cost for a single unit was stupid. I ended up having them make 10, with the idea that I could sale them to others, because it only cost about $50 more than just one.

Yes, its easy to see on all the web tooling shops that they rather do many than a few. Price for the first unit is usually more than for the 10 next units and 50 units does not cost much more then 10 etc.

But still seams strange that having 50 wooden handles cost about the same as buying a Pocket NC and make them myself. Shaped wood, not a difficult shape, not a big shape, made with low tolerance... I can´t help to think, how hard could it be? But most shops I contacted rejected the project without even giving me a price. And the rest has been more costly than I think I could make back from selling them with shipping etc. And yes people are not really cost sensitive when it comes to camera gear. But a wooden handle should not need to cost much in my mind.