Online machine shop

[jim_wilson]

Found out about this from a car racing email list I am on - haven't tried to use it yet but it looks like a pretty slick idea for anybody trying to get parts made:
www.emachineshop.com

 

[MicroPilot]

That is cool!!

 

[1savoy]

Jim,

That is definately a great idea. The car racing scene has always seemed to have some great stuff. Hopefully someone will use this service in the near future and let us know if they are happy with the service.

Thanks,
Russ

 

[v8dave]

I sure could have used something like this a bunch of years ago--before the internet really kicked in. Who would have guessed that the computer/internet revolution would have spawned something like this?

 

[MadReferee]

A friend used these people to make a one of prototype part a few years ago. He said work was OK but very expensive. He didn't say how much but indicated that he could have had it done locally much cheaper.

It's probably not worth it for any home shop projects that TBN'ers might do but for a machine shop with limited CNC equipment to get quick turn around on a custom part it makes sense.

 

[froggy]

Neat website, thanks.

 

[aardvark]

Eh, I went and looked at that site. The prices actually look sort of high to me. I'm going on the sample prices here:
http://www.emachineshop.com/faq/prices.htm

Also, they don't do email quotes? LOL. Why not? They don't want the business? Basically, the customer is doing all the work using that homemade CAD system they offer, and not getting any service, and not really getting that good or a price either. Granted, it's probably OK for people who have no idea how to find or deal with a local machine shop, because those people really aren't going to be ordering alot of machined parts anyway. However, with some effort and time talking to a local shop owner, you could get the same parts cheaper, and also get free advice on what you could do to reduce costs regarding the manufacture of your part.

They also give a bunch of reasons why they are better than local on this page:
http://www.emachineshop.com/company/about.htm

I read it and thought, what a bunch of bunk. Forst off, they have so much padding on that list it's ridiculous. Also, why can thier service eliminate any of what's actually required on the list? It's can't, they have just found a good way to eliminate interaction between the customer and the machinist, by not offering email assistance, and saying the software does it all.

I'm not trying to flame anyone here, please don't take it that way. I'm a mech engineer and I'm always ordering prototype parts, or machined parts, or some kind of tooling, etc. I think it's funny because they are marketing themselves as "better" because you don't have to (or get to?) talk to them.

A good online proto vendor that I actually do use alot is www.quickparts.com. But you better have your own CAD station that can export STL or IGES or STEP files. Really, they only seem to be cheap for SLA's, thier sheetmetal parts were priced 10x what I can get locally.

 

[Prefect]

Last year I bought a new knee mill. I converted it to CNC. I'm thinking that for the prices that those guys are charging, you could just about go out and get yourself a small press type mill and do the work yourself. I didn't have much experience in the machining dept. beyond metal shop in highschool, but if you know what you want, are good at math, bone up on materials, and work with your machines, you can learn really quickly. That being said, I converted my mill into a 4 axis CNC mostly so I could do more than one off projects more accurately. I was using it primarily to make custom motorcycle parts. I'm a little sad that I currently have the mill packed up in storage /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif because I'm in the process of double moving.

 

[jim_wilson]

Actually if I had my preference I would just have a mill and a lathe and do the work myself. You can pick up used stuff or you can get new Chinese made stuff from places like Enco for decent prices. I worked in a small company where we made a lot of our own parts a few years back and grew familiar with mills and lathes so using one would not bother me. I though the online machine shop thing was a cool idea and figured it might help out people who dont have a shop near them.

 

[Prefect]

Here is the Grizzly Mill I bought. I took an old 486 laptop, made a control module, and bought some stepper motors, and turned it into a CNC mill. Granted it's not Bridgeport, but it works just fine for what I do.

I also got a used lathe from them. I was thinking about converting it to CNC also, but haven't had the time or the need for it yet.

These are some pretty heavy duty machines for the small home shop. If I remember correctly the mill weighs nearly half a ton.