Having trouble sourcing materials

[DBG Woody]

Greetings from Richmond, VA! I am attempting to find a HDU type material that I can CNC, along with other tools, that won't cost a lot (remember just starting), as well as sourcing small quantities. I was trying to find something local, however most of the suppliers in the area that I can find, only deal with larger quantities and charge an astronomical amount for shipping. Any suggestions would be great! Jeez, this is frustrating...

 

[Steenland]

Harbor Sales in Baltimore delivers to Richmond every day, no shipping charge.
Harborsales.net

 

[DBG Woody]

Awesome! Thank you.

 

[Z SIGNS]

Yup sign materials cost money. 4x8 sign foam $350.
If your just starting out you could stretch your design and cnc execution legs on some home depot rigid foam insulation.
It routes pretty clean and could be used for certain signs.

 

[DBG Woody]

I was looking at testing designs on that first. I figured it would help to identify bad inputs to the CNC. Great suggestion, it is much appreciated!

 

[jfiscus]

We mainly route plastics on our CNC. Look around at your local plastics suppliers on google, we have a lot to choose from here but it took us a while to find them all.
Once you find them, stop in and talk to the sales guy. Get catalogs and or chip samples if you can. Ask if they have any blemished/scratched/etc materials you can buy at a discount.

 

[brdesign]

Have you tried Grimco, looks like they have a location in your area https://www.grimco.com/info/Locations/richmond

also if you contact the HDU manufacturers you can sometimes get a couple 12"x12" samples for free that you can practice on.

For practice or testing, I use sheets of pink or blue foam insulation boards from Lowes or Home Depot

 

[DBG Woody]

I attempted to contacted Grimco with no luck, will try again Monday, and I have checked with some local suppliers, going to hit up a couple more today.