Turtlerock Forum

got a friend looking to machine/mill some parts with some material he has (metal of some description)...having difficulty finding a place he can "hire" a machine...CNC, whatever they'z called.

Anyone know somewhere he could look?

Generally you don't 'hire' a CNC mill / CNC laser cutter etc.. often you give them a CAD drawing etc of the object you wish to get made.

I can recomend a good laser cutter I've used for my own projects.. he was rather cheap too.. but only did mild steel and stainless (not Aluminium as it messes up the optics)

I drew the stuff I wanted up in CAD, and emailed him the .DXF file and he mailed me the cut and folded panel back. easy.

Laser cutting is only good for sheet metal, not larger '3D' objects..

Best of luck.

^ yea, i finally got a reply from a friend of mine who's an engineer, said the same thing....serves me right for trying to help someone when i know nothing about the field...DERR!

thx guys

I read a while ago about a project in Sydney that involved being able to join a group which had a shed full of tools and machinery. The members all have access to the gear and to other members who can teach them to use said machinery.

I think it was called "The Shed" but I don't remember any details...

Possibly one of the "Mens' Sheds" that are springing up around the country..........don't know that they'd take kindly to someone joining just to make use of their facilities without intending to put something back in

The cheapest way may be to go to a small fitting and turning shop - they often will do small one-off jobs for cash.

shedonline.org...

ye already looked at that, i think tho the mill might be a little hard to come by in those sheds, all good.