Cost of CNC services?

esscher · Post by **esscher** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 2:23 pm

Can anyone tell me what they pay for a CNC cut of a board outline? I have never had anything cut that way so I would like to know if I am about to pay too much. Thanks

Esscher

camhard · Post by **camhard** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:28 pm

well it depends on a few things. you will probably have to find out what they use to programme the machine. If you can give them the files in the right format (.dxf and .dwg work with a lot of programmes) it will be significantly cheaper. that said, one place I went would take them in just about any format, even pdf. I dont know how accurate they would be, but they should have been pretty close. anyways, if you do it by the piece, I would say somewhere in the $30 range. By the hour (ie. if they had to program it, but if you were getting many cuts this would probably be cheaper) around $100. That's my experience, but I haven't done a lot of price searching. Im sure if you talk to someone at a cabinet shop or a place that does retail installations or something you could get it done for some beer or something, maybe cash, but you should be able to get a decent price.

esscher · Post by **esscher** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:29 am

I just wanted to update people on what I've found as I searched for cnc services. I had about 3 places tell me its going to be between $120-145 to cut a single base outline. These are all cnc router services...

Then, I found a place that said they don't do single quantity, but one of their employees does cnc cutting in his spare time with his own machine. I contacted him and he said he could do it for $20!

Moral of this story is that if you keep searching you may get a little lucky and find an individual (not a large business) who can help you out...

Good luck..

Esscher

tonyt · Post by **tonyt** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:48 pm

Moral of this story is that if you keep searching you may get a little lucky and find an individual (not a large business) who can help you out...

I have had good luck with signmakers who are used to one off small orders and have all the equipment (numerically controlled routers) I supplied the dxf files for 3 ski outlines and several sections of my mould pattern and enough mdf plywood for them to cut out all the above for a fee of 100.00 It was perfectly accurate and it was done one day after I dropped off the material.
Tony[/quote]

criticul · Post by **criticul** » Tue May 13, 2008 9:26 am

i was able to get 4 cores profiled and my entire mold cut with a CNC router for a pair of red sox tickets:) it's all about finding the cabinet makers

cambillaskis.co.uk · Post by **cambillaskis.co.uk** » Fri May 23, 2008 2:24 am

Seeing as everyone here is into making things, i am building a CNC router for my business. Plans can be easily bought on ebay for making a home one and all you need is a decent PC and snow cad to export a dxf file.

Made from MDF it can be made with all the tools one would have for making skis, MDF and a little electrical knowledge. Not a piece of cake but a good project for DIY inclined.

knightsofnii · Post by **knightsofnii** » Fri May 23, 2008 5:24 am

if you're gonna use a lot of mdf i would check with g-man on how he did his.

mdf is great stuff for shaping but it does warp very easily. however, i'm sure if you build it and brace it correctly you can keep that from happening beyond a negligible amount.

G-man · Post by **G-man** » Fri May 23, 2008 9:38 am

Plans can be easily bought on ebay for making a home one and all you need is a decent PC and snow cad to export a dxf file.

It's actually not quite that simple. You'll also need software to convert the dxf file to g-code (CAM), and driver software that converts the g-code to pulses that the driver board converts to proper voltage and amperage signals that drive the motors. You'll need a power supply to power the driver board, and you'll need the actual driver board itself. Many driver software programs will not run well from laptop computers, and desktop models should have nothing on the hard drive except for the operating system and driver software.

As Doug indicated, MDF has some great attributes, but building a cnc with it requires some very detailed engineering/planning in order to compensate for it's deficiencies. I chose to use MDF because I wanted to challenge myself with building a very rigid machine from wood, and I wanted to end up with a design that that was different and aesthetically pleasing, at least to my eye. There are many metal alternatives to building a cnc machine that are superior to MDF in every way (see Happy Monkey snowboards).

But, if you like to build stuff, there is nothing I can imagine that is quite as satisfying as building you own cnc from scratch.

G-man

alloyguitar · Post by **alloyguitar** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 8:35 am

what plans are you using?

I was considered going ahead and building one, but I need it to be with a 6ft. workable area for it to be of any use to me, and was wondering how you guys modified whatever plans you had to do such a thing.

-Devon Goodspeed

skidesmond · Post by **skidesmond** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 1:48 pm

I realize this is an old post but didn't see the need to start a new one...

For anyone in Western Mass (USA) and surrounding area I found a local cabinet maker who will CNC templates. I emailed him a DXF file exported from sno-CADX. He had to re-size it, his program must assume inches and not cm/mm. Once I sent him the dimensions of the ski template in cm/mm he re-sized it and it came out perfect, $50.

Marshall Johnson
East Mountain Woodworking
413-374-6002

http://www.eastmountainwoodworking.com/

ggardner90 · Post by **ggardner90** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 4:28 am

look for sign making shops. the guy i get all my stuff cut by charges $10 setup fee and $1 a min for cutting time. it ends up being like 17 buck total

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