o/t machinist advice needed

[gears-n-grease]

I currently have a product machined for work by an outside source. After checking out how they make the part, I am pretty sure we can make it in house. Cost, ect is the reason. We figure if we can buy the machinery for under $7k we will also be able to use it for other stuff.

My question is what is the easiest way to make this part. it is made out of 1.124 aluminum bar stock. it is put on a lathe? machined and cut then sanded for finishing. Attached is a sketch of the part. I am looking for easy. I will be making 1000 or more each time. thanks

[JamesG]

I would say do it on a lathe, yes.

[Kool Kat]

CNC Lathe with a spindle thru hole big enough for your pipe. Prolly a 6" chuck will work. For your quantity it's the best way to go.

$7000, good luck! you can check here www.machinetool.com (http://www.machinetool.com)

Plus what kinda mtl?

[mr.midnite]

you may want to rethink this through. On such a short run how much are you going to save? If you figure what you pay now per piece compared to time and materials, a machine, operator and floor space amoritized in, how long until you realize a savings? I would think on that simple part the biggest part of the bill is the set-up. I would seek out some new bids at this point and see if you can bring your cost down.

[C9]

Seems like the man-hours factor could eat up any savings.

Does the part have to be one piece?
If not, cutting and stacking two different OD pieces could be a cheap way out.
Provided you could find or prepare the bar stock to your exact OD specs.

[36-3window]

just curious...what are you paying for them now?

[gears-n-grease]

we are currently using 6061 t6 aluminum

I have already checked into the break even point and it would probably take a year. But convience pays for itself and so does having a machine for protypes ect. I am not currently getting a bad price, so there is really no need to shop around. The powers that be are pushing for this. I think it will be more useful for things we will start building. I have a couple for people to buy used lathes, bridgeports ect from for good prices. I just dont know what to buy. My uncle (machinist guru) will probably set it up but he is in China setting up the company that shut his plant down. (actually consumers and greedy corporations did that but that is a diffrent subject)

[mr.midnite]

if your all ready in the mindset to do this then yes a lathe is one way to go, but a screw machine would spit those out faster than a lathe. It comes down to what else you manufacture or want to do with the machine. You really have only provided enough info to make an assumption, not an educated opinion

[Deuce Rails]

That would be a piece of cake on a lathe.
Although 1,000 is a lot (to me).

If you can, try to find some other way to make the lathe pay for itself. Could you do some machine work for someone else? Make some phone calls, and find out if you could put that thing to use more than just for your own 1,000 piece run. The less time the lathe spends idle, the better.

--Matt

[28pontiac]

CNC is kind of expensive.... Have you considered an old manual turret lathe? They can be bought for nothing compared to CNC. Turret lathes will be much quicker than a manual lathe, but their precision and output won't even come close to CNC. Besides, turret lathes will give you a workout, which will save you money because you won't have to go to the gym....

[gears-n-grease]

we are paying $3 each right now. I will probably be making roughly 5000 to 8000 a year.

In regards to the lathe type, any suggestions? I have seen a couple of screw trype with a bar feed and that sounds EASIER. Manual turrets sounds like work. but I am open to suggestions.

[Rocket Scientist Chris]

What sort of precision do you need? Have you thought about having the part cast? There are companies that can produce accurate castings. At the number of pieces you need and may need in the future, seems like a cast item would be more economical.

[enjenjo]

Sounds like a job for an automatic screw machine, they are low tech, but are great for making thousands of the same part, with little operator input.

[28pontiac]

Check dovebid.com They auction excess equipment at large indusrial facilities that are going out of business (Such as this place i call work). They have been recently auctioning screw machines, lathes etc. from the Delphi plants in Ohio... I bought my Bridgport for $600. I believe Dovebid is nation wide, so there may be equipment closer to you....

Andy