looking for sheetmetal Plasma/laser cut and bending service

I sent an RFQ to sendcutsend for this but it dawned on me that there's probably some fellas around here with a cnc plasma/laser and a finger brake that might want some work. I can do the welding, just need it cut and bent. Thinking 18gauge steel for this.  The unfolded measurements are about 34" x 32" and after bending it's about 22" x 18". There's also 1/8" aluminum front panels that need to be cut for it but I'm more worried about the steel enclosure.


 
 

What's your location?

I've got a plasma that can handle it no sweat, but no finger-break.  I've found that if you're going to be welding, intermittent slots along the bend lines makes it easy to bend and then run over it with the tig.
 

I would reccommend you get your panels cut at the same time out of the same material to save cost.
Folding is expensive vs laser cutting. Look for a sheet metal shop near you.
A press brake is a better option to a pan brake for that

spumco wrote:

What's your location?

I've got a plasma that can handle it no sweat, but no finger-break.  I've found that if you're going to be welding, intermittent slots along the bend lines makes it easy to bend and then run over it with the tig.
 

 
I'm in PA.

I suppose that's a possibility. I can machine a 1/2" aluminum chill bars that sit inside the cavities that make that go a bit easier. I suppose it comes down to the cost difference of having to do alot more welding and grinding vs getting it all properly bent. Any guidance on the slot dimensions for a minimal gap on 18gauge?

Can you plasma 1/8" aluminum clean?

blazini36 wrote:

  
I'm in PA.

I suppose that's a possibility. I can machine a 1/2" aluminum chill bars that sit inside the cavities that make that go a bit easier. I suppose it comes down to the cost difference of having to do alot more welding and grinding vs getting it all properly bent. Any guidance on the slot dimensions for a minimal gap on 18gauge?

Can you plasma 1/8" aluminum clean?

I'm in NE OH (Ashtabula).  I'd prefer not to deal with shipping, so if you're close enough to Erie for a drive I could meet you there.

Regarding the slot, it'd just be a kerf width - say 0.040" wide using the fine-cut tip.  I just clamp some stiff bars on both sides of the section to be bent and go to town with channies.  A 2" slot by 2" uncut segment makes for easy bending and not a miserable amount of welding.

Yes, I can plasma 1/8" aluminum clean.  My enclosure is made from 0.040" alu panels (circle track body panel drops) and they came out nice.  Small holes are not super-clean, but I just pierced those and drilled them out.

I have a bender, but it's a light-weight thing for circle track car panels with no fingers.  If you change your design to have a frame with a skin (rather than a self-supporting steel weldment) we can do most of the bending here with no slot welding.

If you're up for it, labor and machine time are free.

If you're close enough to drive here you can show up with material and walk out with parts.  And if you want to use the 040" aluminum, I've got all the material on hand you could want.

 

I'm about as far east in PA you can get so it looks like you're about 6hrs out, That's a bit much to drive. The cost of shipping does seem to be getting out of hand these days. I have a couple of local shops, I've never used them but I'll see what they say. Might not be too expensive considering I can just pick them up.

If that doesn't work out I'll see if we can work something out, I appreciate the offer.

Shipping isn't a hard no... just a PITA to ship boxes or large flat-packs.  For some reason I have a visceral aversion to the UPS or USPS facilities - we don't have anything convenient locally.

Good luck, and let me know if you can't sort out anything at a reasonable price.

BTW, Automation Direct has 4" deep 16x12 enclosures pretty cheap. Get free shipping if you buy a few.

Add a keyboard tray below and it wouldn't look total hacky.

www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/ca...nction_boxes/cs16124

 

Good price for that enclosure, bit too small though. I already have an industrial keyboard and monitor in mind so the size kind of revolves around those (about 22x18x4).

If it were like a one off thing I'd just cut up a sheet of 1/8" aluminum....I can tig 1/8" aluminum like nobodies business lol. I wanna make a few of these as like a standard controller for any machine I might do in the future. I'm going through the effort of making specific PCBs for key matrix's and stuff so it's not a huge wiring project to get one going.

Still working on it but the end goal is something like this:
 

Yea, I totally get it.  You've got something in mind and don't want an approximation.

Offer is still open if you run out of patience with the commercial options.

Hey spumco, might wind up taking ya up on that offer. Still waiting for 1 quote from another local shop but the first one was fairly ridiculous. What's your email?