Water Cutting

Hi,

I need to get a few bits watercut. Can anybody recommend any companies that can do this for a good price? Closer to surrey the better as i will have to take the material over to get cut!

Thanks

Suren

Ive used ML fabcuts (in Higham, Kent) for a few things for work and theyve always been way cheaper than anywhere else and often they can supply the material. Cutting+material from them has come out cheaper than just material from other places.
Theyre also fairly quick and reliable.
Mark

is there anywhere in bristol?

close enough?

http://www.jetshape.co.uk/index.htmlhttp://www.jetshape.co.uk/index.html

where is it?

Visit us at: Jetshape Ltd, Blackcomb Works, Mendip Business Park, Rooksbridge, Somerset BS26 2UG


on contact page

so i guess its there

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=BS26+2UG+&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=imagehttp://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&...&oi=geocode_re sult&resnum=1&ct=image

can get plasma cutting at work if your local to Walsall,

Mark, thanks for the advise. i will speak to ML Fabcuts to get a quote.

Tony, Wasall is MILES away!

well its there if you need it

Der Boyz

what does ne1 reccomend the easiest way is to cut
6082t6 13-15mm alluminium plate ??
Im getting problems locally with poeple wanting to machine it,
They must all just be to lazy in east anglia !

I may be able to help Terry i have just had some aluminium water jet cut looks great if you could drop me an e-mail with details???

We have band sawed and jig sawed t6 10-12mm thick
on many occasions just take your time cut slowly and lube with paraffin

Der Boyz

Cheers, I will give the jigsaw and paraffin a try
1st, ive also got e few 60mm holes in the plate to drill but suppose if a jigsaw is ok then maybe a high spec carbide holecutter might go through it ?
As soon as I have auto cad pics I can send some to you alex, what was the average cost per meter of cutting ?

I believe one of the Aussies used a carbide holecutter to drill two holes through 30mm thick Bisalloy; says it took an hour per hole and lots of lube but it got the job done.

Cant guarantee it but it should be fine for the ali as long as the workpiece and tool are kept cool

Use a course blade ,and keep it clean ,go slowly,
plenty of lube, keep blade speed down, Holes I have cut up to 75mm using hole cutters ,same principle
as above,

Der Boyz

Hi Everyone,

Some of you know that im building a new robot. Looking for a cheap place to get a lot of watercutting done. The lifter arm and armour is completely made from hardox 4mm, or that was the plan but so far i have been quoted £770 (thats the cheapest so far) to get the work done. anyone know of somewhere that can do this work cheaply? Or have a watercutting machine in their back yard ;)The armour consists of basic shapes and probably can be cut with a band saw. I want the robot to be ready for rebel robots, have everything but these (kind of vital!) bits. Any suggestions? Look at profile for a basic cad pic, all i have on the work pc.

Suren

JL Steel in Stirling is where a lot of roboteers get their hardox from (either directly or through Gary :P) and they also offer cutting services - not sure if they do watercutting but certainly oxy gas cutting. Perhaps worth a shot?

http://www.jlsteel.co.uk/services.htmlhttp://www.jlsteel.co.uk/services.html

Not sure if the cost of postage would bump up your quote though

Hi jamie,

I have been in contact with them, they have quoted £120 for a 2m x 1m sheet of hardox, but postage is another 120! They also do not watercut to very high tolerences as they usually cut very thick plate.

Thanks for the suggestion, any other suggestions appreciated.

Suren

You might want to try wire spark erosion, thats how we got our jaws and leavers cut a few years back. It was around £500, but was 12mm thick, so yours might be cheaper. The place that did ours was NC Laser Cutting Services Ltd, Rochdale (http://www.andertongroup.comhttp://www.andertongroup.com or direct tel 01706 631277). Though they might have another cheaper way of doing it as they do alot of different stuff, no harm in asking.

Hi Suren, What is the size of the largest part? Kenny has just set-up himself a company and invested in some nice size CNC machines and has been testing hardox cutting on it recently.
If it fits on his machine i am sure he will be able to do it you at a pretty good price. Hes around leeds/huddersfield way.

Grant,

I cant remember exactly, but its a bit shorter then 1m by 14cm wide. I didnt think you could mill hardox easily. I will contact Kenny, thanks!

Mark,

I have sent them the dxf files, and will see what quote he can come up with. Thanks for the suggestion.

Suren

control water jet

01246 284000

i had all the pieces for my fw frame done by them about 15 pieces total 6mm aliuminium but i had it sponsored through another company apparantly the company is small so may offer better prices

alex

Hi Alex, I have tried them, they are more expencive :sad:.

I have found someone in Devon that can do the work, but cant get hold of the material, i have suggested J&L, but is there anywhere in the south that stocks hardox? Shipment is expencive!

Suren

Suren,

Have you tried looking at these guys?

http://www.mtlgrp.com/http://www.mtlgrp.com/

One of the other few companies in the UK to deal with Hardox.

Hi Gary, not tried them. Have send them an email, will see what they can come up with. Thanks

Suren

If you have any queries about Hardox material then please let me know. I must also tell you that of the companies you have all mentioned only MTL in Sheffield and JL Steel in Scotland are qualified Hardox suppliers. I have never heard of the others.

Johnny your attitude/phrasing on the forum is certianly not helpful. The FanFic sections are mainly non-technical and most are still at school, so please think about your wording before posting there.

As for Advise that is always welcome, more so from an expert. I think most of us here would like to know the answer on the best / cheapests way of cutting it. Wire spark erosion is not rubbish it does work with close tolerances and my boss at work knows the company so had it cut and picked up the cost for me, hence why it was done that way. Should also point out that it was not Hardox that I had cut but Titainium.

Also we have a large milling machine in the garage and oftern wondered if it was possible to mill it. Do you know what grades and cutters if any could do this as this would save us alot of money.

mark ive been milling hardox 450 easily with a tegutec cutter with some tips normally used for tool steel, and also have some cobalt slot drills what cut it fine, just remeber to flood it with coolant

Kenny is right. The more coolant the better. Mark, I take your point regarding the phrasing of my posts. I work with engineers all day and the quicker and more concise my answers are the better. I dont thionk this translates well to the forum. I apologise for any offence I may have caused, and I will try to change the way I write these messages. The main point about cutting Hardox is to minimize the heat that is used in cutting it. Waterjet is the best but is very expensive, laser cutting produces a soft zone on the cut edge of around 0.25mm, and plasma is around 0.4mm.

Out of interest what do you use as a coolant?

Never used coolant which is probably why I end up sharpening my drills every five minutes.

Andy

On engineering machines (lathes, radial drills, mills) you use a coolant what is a mix of soluble oil and water (nick name milky), you can get a 25L drum for around 50 pounds and mixes with water at 10 parts water to 1 part oil.

this is good for automated machines has it doesnt stick to tubing, where as if you used neat oil it would stick to the tubing from the coolant pump and start to block the pipes after a while

when using a cordless drill or pillar drill use a bit of 3 in 1 oil (WD40 etc) keeps the tip of the drill cool and acts has a lubicant

I have now got my aliminium plate, a lump of 6082T6 15mm thick, It will bandsaw.jigsaw and cut with a hole cutter but the edge is far from smooth and straight, I have got some details on local watercutters etc and cad pics drawn up and will let u all know cost and what happens.

Terry.

Just got the weapon and armour plasma cut out of Hardox 400 3.2mm plate. paid 250 inc material and delivery ;) Company called ABBA Commercials. See profile pic ;) Tolerence not amazing but perfect for what i need! (that was 33kg of hardox)

(Message edited by supernova on September 12, 2008)

That looks like a flipper arm, looks good as well

Thats what I thought, Im hoping... well have been thinking to make my flipper arm similar but maybe in 6082t6 ally.

If the CAD that was on Surens profile before that picture was anything to go by, it looked like it was gonna be a 4-bar-lifter pneumatic style :)
High speed coolness

Yup, Full pressure 4 bar lifter, 600mm vertical lift using two hydraulic rams, with i think 60mm dia pistons each. 1 T port ball to actuate rams. Designed with the help of woody, if it goes wrong I blame him ;)
Body and arms 3.2mm hardox 450. Should be good if i ever finish it!

Suren