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Author: Subject: Laser/water jetting
flak monkey

posted on 15/4/20 at 11:11 AM Reply With Quote
Laser/water jetting

Hi all,

Is anyone on here doing water jetting/laser cutting?

I need a few bits cutting from mild steel, already have the DXF's etc

Thanks





Sera

http://www.motosera.com

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TimC

posted on 15/4/20 at 11:31 AM Reply With Quote
Hi Sera,

I’m planning to use Rob @ https://www.octagonprecision.com/about in the next week or so - customer service seems great.

Hope you are well.






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russbost

posted on 15/4/20 at 01:47 PM Reply With Quote
Tim, why do you use waterjet rather than laser? Just wondering about the pros & cons of each?

How does it compare pricewise?





I no longer run Furore Products or Furore Cars Ltd, but would still highly recommend them for Acewell dashes, projector headlights, dominator headlights, indicators, mirrors etc, best prices in the UK! Take a look at http://www.furoreproducts.co.uk/ or find more parts on Ebay, user names furoreltd & furoreproducts, discounts available for LCB users.
Don't forget Stainless Steel Braided brake hoses, made to your exact requirements in any of around 16 colours. http://shop.ebay.co.uk/furoreproducts/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1

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Ugg10

posted on 15/4/20 at 02:05 PM Reply With Quote
https://www.lasermaster.co.uk/

I had good service from these guys in the past, send them a dwg/dxf file, they will quote, you agree, parts arrive. I had inlet manifold plate and smaller bits done in aluminium and exhaust manifold plate in steel. Worth and email for a quote.





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flak monkey

posted on 16/4/20 at 09:07 AM Reply With Quote
Thanks all, some food for thought!





Sera

http://www.motosera.com

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TimC

posted on 16/4/20 at 10:04 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by russbost
Tim, why do you use waterjet rather than laser? Just wondering about the pros & cons of each?

How does it compare pricewise?


I’ve used both over the years. For my purposes (one off kit car stuff) I don’t think it makes much difference. I tend to go where the customer service is Good providing that its not prohibitively expensive.

In theory, laser is more accurate and cheaper but water can do thicker materials and also leaves surfaces without tarnishing. However, when you are talking one-offs, the business model and overheads of the firm will have as much to do with the price as any underlying efficiencies of the process.

We also use a wire-eroding contractor in work which is laser++ - another-level of accuracy and cost but comes with proper 3D versatility.






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russbost

posted on 16/4/20 at 10:55 AM Reply With Quote
What's minimum order for the water jet guy you recommended





I no longer run Furore Products or Furore Cars Ltd, but would still highly recommend them for Acewell dashes, projector headlights, dominator headlights, indicators, mirrors etc, best prices in the UK! Take a look at http://www.furoreproducts.co.uk/ or find more parts on Ebay, user names furoreltd & furoreproducts, discounts available for LCB users.
Don't forget Stainless Steel Braided brake hoses, made to your exact requirements in any of around 16 colours. http://shop.ebay.co.uk/furoreproducts/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1

NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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TimC

posted on 16/4/20 at 10:57 AM Reply With Quote
It seems he does a fair amount of one-off work.






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balidey

posted on 16/4/20 at 06:54 PM Reply With Quote
Do you know of Guttridge in Spalding? They have their own laser place next door, may be worth a try. And looks like they are remaining open.
https://www.laserfab.co.uk/





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peter030371

posted on 16/4/20 at 07:27 PM Reply With Quote
I use several companies for stuff at work but none are that good for smaller quantities like kit car stuff. I recently tried Laser Master (already mentioned) for a few personal bits and the price and service was excellent (some of the bigger companies could learn a thing or two from them!).
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mcerd1

posted on 17/4/20 at 08:56 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by TimC
quote:
Originally posted by russbost
Tim, why do you use waterjet rather than laser? Just wondering about the pros & cons of each?

How does it compare pricewise?


I’ve used both over the years. For my purposes (one off kit car stuff) I don’t think it makes much difference. I tend to go where the customer service is Good providing that its not prohibitively expensive.

In theory, laser is more accurate and cheaper but water can do thicker materials and also leaves surfaces without tarnishing. However, when you are talking one-offs, the business model and overheads of the firm will have as much to do with the price as any underlying efficiencies of the process.

We also use a wire-eroding contractor in work which is laser++ - another-level of accuracy and cost but comes with proper 3D versatility.

^^ what he said but waterjet has another major advantage - its not a thermal process, so doesn't suffer from local hardening on the material around the cut which could give you fatigue issues or just make it harder to do any secondary machining operations (like countersinking etc..)
obviously laser should be better than plasma in this respect, but its just not an issue for waterjet




at my work we use a lot of CNC plasma cut steel profiles (high yield structural steel, but similar behaviour to mild) and we've also had a fair bit of laser and waterjet too

bare in mind that we only need accuracy to ±0.5 at best normally and generally use the lowest bidder (which no doubt can make a huge difference to quality) but I've found that laser can leave a surprising amount of spatter/dross as well as leaving quite a rough edge - in fact there wasn't much in it between the better plasma cuts and the worst/cheapest laser ones
On the other hand I've yet to see a really bad finish on any of the waterjet stuff and it wasn't really all that much more expensive for very small volumes (we do a lot of 1off work)




[Edited on 17/4/2020 by mcerd1]





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pigeondave

posted on 17/4/20 at 11:51 AM Reply With Quote
Another vote for LaserMaster. co.uk

Got them to cut me a back plate for the ITG filter. The holes had to be offset, so couldn't buy an off the shelf item. Ended up costing less than a blank from a motorsport seller and was accurate to 0.5mm and I drew in the hole for the air temp sender too.

Only problem was that I asked for 3mm thick, should have gone for 1.5mm.

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phelpsa

posted on 17/4/20 at 07:20 PM Reply With Quote
My experience is that both technologies can achieve similar results as long as you specify what you want on the drawing. Laser tends to be cheaper on thinner materials, waterjet cheaper on thicker stuff for a given surface tolerance.
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lsdweb

posted on 17/4/20 at 08:12 PM Reply With Quote
For info, I've just had a quote from Fractory.com to produce 2 (same price for 16!) of these in 5mm steel for £75. Drawing needs tweaking first!

Description
Description

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lsdweb

posted on 17/4/20 at 08:34 PM Reply With Quote
I've just had a quote from a local supplier for the same job for £16!
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russbost

posted on 18/4/20 at 09:13 AM Reply With Quote
That's a £75 min order price, hence same for 2 or 16. When I tried Fractory didn't get any responses at all





I no longer run Furore Products or Furore Cars Ltd, but would still highly recommend them for Acewell dashes, projector headlights, dominator headlights, indicators, mirrors etc, best prices in the UK! Take a look at http://www.furoreproducts.co.uk/ or find more parts on Ebay, user names furoreltd & furoreproducts, discounts available for LCB users.
Don't forget Stainless Steel Braided brake hoses, made to your exact requirements in any of around 16 colours. http://shop.ebay.co.uk/furoreproducts/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1

NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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Rich J

posted on 18/4/20 at 10:42 AM Reply With Quote
quote:

I've just had a quote from a local supplier for the same job for £16



Cross Waterjet Wyn??

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TimC

posted on 20/4/20 at 11:28 AM Reply With Quote
I thought I’d update on my experience with Rob at https://www.octagonprecision.com

I drew a profile with pencils and ruler yesterday, took a photo with my phone and e-mailed it to Rob.

He’s drawn it in Solidworks this morning and the parts should be with me Wednesday at the latest.

We had a good 15min chat on the phone too. Most of his usual customer base are on shut-down so he’s reinventing his offer to meet the needs of the likes of us. I’m really very impressed - he mentioned some of his blue-chip customers and if it’s good enough for them...

I’ve never used the guy before, have no affiliation but think he’s well-worth the recommendation.

TC






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