Hello I would like your advice as to what tool is best suited for fabricating the following two types of metal parts:
Shims:
Made from 0.01" thick aluminum sheet
~width: 1", length: 3"
Plates:
Made from 1/8" thick aluminum sheet
different shapes all no bigger than ~width: 8" x length: 8"
Of special importance is the precision in the diameter of the holes and the distances between them within a single shim or plate. there are multiple holes per part and they can be as small as 1/4"
Thanks!
Sounds like you want a fiber laser cut for this. None of the online shops will do .010 but they’ll all do .125. Cheap and fast to get the thicker one from SendCutSend or OshCut. You might have to find a local shop to do the thin pieces.
I can cut both. Let me know if you have the materials. I assume you have a dxfs already made?
I recently cut 0.016" 6061-T6 with a 1/4" O flute bit on the CNC lagunas with no issues. Speeds where 80 ipm at 18K RPM which gives chip load of 0.0044. Unfortunately the vacuum table wont hold down the thin material well so you will likely have to glue down any cutout parts less than 1 sqf in size.
Where are you sourcing your 0.01 aluminum from?
Same question about the .01" al.
Have not sourced any of the materials yet…
For this same project, I am also using:
1"x1" aluminum square tubing 1/8" wall thickness: 44’
1"x1" aluminum square tubing 1/16" : 35’
3/4"x3/4" aluminum square tubing 1/8": 35’
I was thinking of using Aluminum 6061 T6 but it seems to be hard to find for those dimensions and thickness.
Anything less than 1/16" (0.063") is going to be special order around town. I actually have a large surplus of 0.016". Let me know if that’s suitable and I can hook you up with a good deal.