Online Parts Manufacturer

In Australia we used to have defence factories which trained apprentices. None of those kids got jobs in the factories, most of them became machinery salesmen. There is one guy in our town who was a foreman in a defence factory in New South Wales. He builds hot-rod cars, and his machining is excellent.
It is probably a matter of knowing where to look for help.
 
speirmoor said:
What program are you using/recommend to design parts for Sendcutsend ?
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Solidworks, but anything that ends up with an exportable .DXF should be fine. There's a cheapo version of Solidworks, if you don't already have access to it, that seems to have most of the functions of the pro version. Otherwise, there's plenty of free drawing software programs out there that should easily do a 2d or 3d part with some bumping around. Some people have good luck converting an .AI file, but I never have. The nodes go all wonky, and the clean up is generally more work than just redrawing a .DXF. Could be me, my (lack of) talent level, or my hardware though.

For context, I'm self employed and do both metal fabrication, and graphic design/paint, so I'm only quasi-competent in a lot of things. There's a lot of staring off into the middle distance, wondering how I got myself into any number of then-current pickles.
 
I can turn my own rotor... I was only interested in how much was taken off... sorry for the hijack.

To get back on the Track! My metric lathe only had 1 of the 3 thread dial gears when I got it. The manufacturer no longer stocked those missing gears so they were not available and obsolete. I knew the number of teeth that each missing gear needed to have, and I had the diameter/tooth count of the one existing gear. I did the math to design the 2 missing gears.

I used an online gear calculator to generate the spec's of the 2 missing geats. Then, I used an online CAD program to make a 3D model so I could submit it for manufacture. I submitted the gear CAD files to "Shapeways", and I had them 3D print me 2 sets of (all 3) gears in nylon (since they were so cheap) I could have had the missing thread dial gears made in metal but since they are only dial indicator gears which only run a thread dial pointer, they don't need to resist any sort of force load on them and the nylon would do the job fine. As I recall, the nylon gears were $6. each. The same gears made out of metal were somewhere under $100 a piece (I don't recall the exact price) but the gear designs I submitted were offered at different prices in different materials. (I think Shapeways recently went bankrupt and is currently being reorganized and reborn)
 
o0norton0o said:
I can turn my own rotor... I was only interested in how much was taken off... sorry for the hijack.

To get back on the Track! My metric lathe only had 1 of the 3 thread dial gears when I got it. The manufacturer no longer stocked those missing gears so they were not available and obsolete. I knew the number of teeth that each missing gear needed to have, and I had the diameter/tooth count of the one existing gear. I did the math to design the 2 missing gears.

I used an online gear calculator to generate the spec's of the 2 missing geats. Then, I used an online CAD program to make a 3D model so I could submit it for manufacture. I submitted the gear CAD files to "Shapeways", and I had them 3D print me 2 sets of (all 3) gears in nylon (since they were so cheap) I could have had the missing thread dial gears made in metal but since they are only dial indicator gears which only run a thread dial pointer, they don't need to resist any sort of force load on them and the nylon would do the job fine. As I recall, the nylon gears were $6. each. The same gears made out of metal were somewhere under $100 a piece (I don't recall the exact price) but the gear designs I submitted were offered at different prices in different materials. (I think Shapeways recently went bankrupt and is currently being reorganized and reborn)
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Sounds like a similar scenario as xometry.com. They offer a breadth of manufacturing, from sheet metal, to cutting, to additive and subtractive.
 
Tornado said:
Im gathering up all the Commando drawings to send them. Expect to start new bike sales sometime next year.... 🤣
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To be clear,... all of these places can make generic parts pretty easily. They aren't going to cast anything like barrels, crankcases, or a head and then do any finishing on a machine...

That kind of work is for more sophisticated manufacturers 😏

Needless to say, this guy don't need no stinking CAD file... OH, and don't burn your foot...

 
t ingermanson said:
I've had many parts made by Sendcutsend.com and Xometry.com. Again, send them a vector file drawing, they cut/make the parts, and you choose the finishing services you require. You can end up with a fully finished part. I would recommend getting things at least de-burred and tumbled. I generally use them for laser/water jet cutting. I was considering buying a water jet machine a couple years ago, but these services are so cheap, there's no way it would be worth owning my own machine. The last order I placed was 6 separate parts in a dozen quantity each, and the order was in the mail in 3 days. Incredible.

Any local machine shop should be able to turn a rotor, but if you can't find someone, I certainly can. I've done it several times with good results. DM me if you need it.
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I'm about to dip my toes into this world. All the companies I've seen so far just work to standard ISO tolerances, what's your experience, will any do toleranced fits from drawings or do they just work from a solid model nominal?
 
Rich_j said:
I'm about to dip my toes into this world. All the companies I've seen so far just work to standard ISO tolerances, what's your experience, will any do toleranced fits from drawings or do they just work from a solid model nominal?
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GOOD QUESTION! One I don't know the answer to. Thus far, I've only gotten stuff laser/waterjet cut, and some 3d printed nylon prototypes, before my buddy CNC machines them out of steel or aluminum. Probably doesn't help much, but the cut stuff I've received is very good and square. The lasered edge on aluminum is a bit rougher than expected, but I end up finish machining anything I require a tolerance on. I'm used to that, and probably will continue to handle my own expectations rather than rolling those dice.

Another friend, who turned me onto these folks (and is now selling his waterjet), has had some sheet metal parts cut and folded, and he said the xometry parts came out great.

I would guess based on the pricing structure, they're turning down high tolerance machining. I think the real value is in the low quantity 2d parts and 3d printing. Somehow they seem to have skirted minimums on those processes with volume, which seems to be the big hurdle with "makers".
 
There used to be a good crankshaft grinding service in Melbourne. When we went there we always had to go to the pub next door to find the guys. Whatever dimension was asked for, the journals always came out dead on size - the error was extremely difficult to measure. I was once in a design group, ans asked an old Quality Manager about dimensioning and tolerancing. He told me a group had come from Britain during WW2, and an Australian Standard on dimensioning and tolerancing was created. I do not think Australian engineers know about it. ISO9000 requires measuring equipment to be calibrated, but did not state how precision requirements should be determined. Usually measuring equip should be able to measure one-third of the drawing tolerance on the measurand.
When the Westgate Bridge fell down, there was a mismatch in the decking of about half a metre which they were trying to correct by breaking bolts.
In Australia we tend to start small and get bigger. We seem to be about to go nuclear.
 
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