Less than 1 wk with bot and taking bids already

[logical@gmi.net]

I went to the local plastics supplier to get the 1/2 inch clear plastic to make my own dust skirt. The lady at the counter had a piece that was pre-cut but just a little larger than what I needed. I told her that was ok since I had a cnc router and would cut it with that to suit me. Just as I was saying that, a man was walking by and stopped dead in his tracks and asked if I would like to try to cut a few parts for him. I said sure and he gave me some drawings. It turns out that they need 540 pieces!

They are basically a 9 inch ring cut into plastic with three holes drilled into them equidistant around the circle.

How much would you charge per piece for labor only? I have no idea since I have less than a week with my machine.

Thanks
Wes

[rookie432]

$75 per hour is my basic starting rate Wes. This doesn't work for everything but seems to be pretty accurate for most part projects. This is actual cutting time so that is about $1.25 per minute.

Here's how it works. 100 inches of cutting at say 1 inch per second=100 seconds
100 divided by 60= 1.6 min
1.6min x $1.25= $2.075
If it takes 2 passes then that is 200 inches. etc.

I add a one time set up fee for what I think I'll have in it say $25-$75

any extras are extra/ sanding, clean up, special cutters are purchased by the customer. If I have to have a $60 compression spiral for their project then they are buying me one


This should give you a good starting point and remember if you can get more ... Get it.No sense in leaving money on the table


Bill

[logical@gmi.net]

Thanks Bill.

My brother is a machinist and he said he would charge somewhere around 20.00 per part! I find that to be amazing if that would be a fair price. Off of the top of my head I was thinking somewhere in the 3 to 5 dollar range +-. The tolerances on this part are pretty tight and I don't know if I can do what they want, but I will try.

I am going to make them a few parts and if they pass muster, I will give them a price. If not, c'est la vie.

If it takes 3 minutes per part, I will be at it for about 27 hours. At your rate, I should charge 3.75 each. That's not a bad price I guess.

Thanks again
Wes

[Pete Meacham]

Wes

Let us know what bit, speed & feed you use to make the dustskirt please. I will be doing the same thing shortly. Will you use the same to make the other plastic cuts?

thanks, Pete

[logical@gmi.net]

Pete,

I don't know. I will probably use a couple of bits because some are made for hard plastic and some aren't. Onsrud has a couple and I am debating getting one of each.

I tried to cut some rather brittle acrylic yesterday and it came out pretty crappy. I have to lay it off on the bit because I used the slowest router speed possible and still got lousy results. I did get frustrated and moved the speed all the way to max and the edge was pretty nice, but it melted into the cut behind the bit. I will keep you guys informed about this since I am really going to push all out for this contract. If I am able to do this one, I will get more from them.

Wes

[sndwestlv@yahoo.com]

I don't have a shopbot yet, but am working at getting one. I do however have a laser that will do that job I would be glad to wholesale it to you.