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Water Jet cutting.. $$$$$$???

houseofgrafix

houseofgrafix

none
I contacted my local waterjet cutting place. Have a 4x8 sheet of lexan that i want to cut about 125 little ornaments for Christmas. It is just the outline of them because i will be putting decals on them later
Gave them the file and would bring the lexan..

they want
.125" $516.64
.25" $638.84

Just to cut it..

Is that the going rate?

Do i have a plan B?
 
TheSnowman

TheSnowman

New Member
Seems high, especially if you are giving them the cut lines...but I don't know much about that industry. The guy around here cut basketballs for us out of 18" X 24" Cor-X Blanks for $2 each. Maybe he was doing me a favor though.
 
houseofgrafix

houseofgrafix

none
Pat White said:
We get our acrylic CNC cut all the time... I'm not sure that 1/4" lexan would be that different...?
Click to expand...

Could you do this?

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SignManiac

SignManiac

New Member
I know that CNC waterjets are incredibly expensive compared to a CNC router table. The quote you got may be based on and hourly rate. I run my table for $100 per hour but your waterjet company might run theirs at a higher rate if they paid $200k compared to the $70k I paid for my router.

So I can't really tell you if that's a high quote or not but I'm sure it would be higher compared to me just based on the price to get in the game.
 
J

Just Another Sign Guy

New Member
yes you could cut those on a cnc router. i dont think the price you were quoted was out of line you are dealing with expensive technology that needs to be paid for...dont like the price hack up that sheet into more manageable pieces and get busy with the scroll saw.
 
G

gnemmas

New Member
It can be cut with a CNC router. Just the inside corners won't as sharp as waterjet or laser. My local guy charge me $100 per hour as well.
 
houseofgrafix

houseofgrafix

none
SignManiac said:
I know that CNC waterjets are incredibly expensive compared to a CNC router table. The quote you got may be based on and hourly rate. I run my table for $100 per hour but your waterjet company might run theirs at a higher rate if they paid $200k compared to the $70k I paid for my router.

So I can't really tell you if that's a high quote or not but I'm sure it would be higher compared to me just based on the price to get in the game.
Click to expand...

Thats pretty much what I thought..

gnemmas said:
It can be cut with a CNC router. Just the inside corners won't as sharp as waterjet or laser. My local guy charge me $100 per hour as well.
Click to expand...

Looking for a local laser guy here!

DanStriker said:
yes you could cut those on a cnc router. i dont think the price you were quoted was out of line you are dealing with expensive technology that needs to be paid for...dont like the price hack up that sheet into more manageable pieces and get busy with the scroll saw.
Click to expand...

Looking into lazer now!
 
Letterbox Mike

Letterbox Mike

New Member
Laser cut them and go with acrylic, that waterjet price is astronomical. I had our laser folks cut something very similar to that as far as complexity out of 3/8" acrylic and it cost us $110 for a 4x8' sheet.
 
houseofgrafix

houseofgrafix

none
Ok.. Just got ahold of the laser cutting place in town.
The largest size he could is a 25x18
He charges 1.00 per min and told me each would take about 2-3mins to do

Thats still alot of cash
 
V

V-ENGRAVE

New Member
Check if you have local laser engraver. As long as you will not paint or glue it this would be simple cut job.

PS, on woodworking forum "Sawmill Creek" there is a engravers section where you can find local engravers with lasers.
 
SignosaurusRex

SignosaurusRex

Active Member
The last time I had Abrasive Waterjet cutting done was a few years ago. The price was based on inches of cutting distance regardless of thickness so we cut our substrate into smaller sections, stacked it and supplied a nested file based on our stacked cut size which cut our total costs for AWJC down to about 1/10 of the cost. Just an idea to explore....
 
CES020

CES020

New Member
houseofgrafix said:
He charges 1.00 per min and told me each would take about 2-3mins to do

Thats still alot of cash
Click to expand...

Not sure where he sees 2-3 minutes a piece on those unless he's got a 25W laser. Find someone with a 60W or more laser and it's probably less than a minute each. Ideally, you'd want something in the 100W or more to do it. Ours is 50W so it will probably be slower, but it'll give you an idea.

If you send me a file, I'll run one and tell you exactly how long it takes.

PM me and I'll give you the email address if you are interested.
 
astro8

astro8

New Member
If that file is on a 8' x 4' sheet it would take between 1hr-1.5hrs to cut on a cnc router..quarter to half that time on a good laser (1500 - 2000 watt)..try find someone with an industrial laser...take advantage of this and set up a relationship with them for future jobs...look for someone with a cnc router as well and do the same thing...advertise and push for more jobs like this...if customers say they didn't know you have all that equipment tell them you're in a 'pool'....less overhead means better pricing for them, they love the idea.
 
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