Laser cutting services

pizzaguy · Post by **pizzaguy** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:07 pm

Is there any board members out there that would have contacts to laser cutting services? I have contacted several services, but the cost is too high. I would like to keep the costs down to keep them affordable.
I just finished cutting 15 F14 stands by hand and I have to say it was a time consuming.
Thanks
The material I would need cut is clear acrylic.

pickelhaube · Post by **pickelhaube** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 2:43 pm

Not sure if a laser would work. What about a water jet ?
At least it will not melt the plastic.

pizzaguy · Post by **pizzaguy** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 2:54 pm

Had a place that used a water jet. The final product left groves where the jet started and left a very rough edge. The time it took to clean it up was more labor entensive than just doing it myself. The laser samples I received look great, but the cost to produce one F14 stand was $13ea after shipping.

pickelhaube · Post by **pickelhaube** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 3:33 pm

How about a hand held router ?

You could make a template use a router cutting bit with one of those sleave bushings that follow the template. You could cut one out in about 45 seconds.

Or maybe one of those spiral cutters with the same set up. You just need to make a couple of pilot holes and cut slow. It should take seconds to cut one out.

Jay · Post by **Jay** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:07 pm

Pizzaguy, what quantity is the $13 based on? It may be cheaper to use pickelhaube's method to boost initial sales, then switch to laser cutting when you feel you could order hundreds of stands and sell them all off to cover the order cost.