Laser / waterjet / CNC cutting services?

Anyone on here have access to / offer either of the above cutting services? I have some PVC / acrylic (Kydex) sheets Id like to cut.

Not 100% sure which method would be best, if it even matters. But precision will be important on a few of the smaller details, hopefully sub 0.1mm to achieve a nice tight fit. And Im looking for a clean and finished looking product along the cut edges.

For now its just a 12x12x1/8" sheet Im working with. Probably will be able to get 5 large and 10 small parts out of that sheet to give you an idea of size.

 

The issue with cutting Kydex with a laser is the fumes. I don't know that I would want to try it, it's not worth it. A (quality) CNC router would probably be your best bet since they are more common.

 

Yup, thats why I was hoping to find someone with a semi profession setup.

Not sure a CNC router could get down to the tolerances Im looking for on some of the square details. But I honestly dont know

 

My inlaws have a business and do laser work with exhaust and all. The bed is only like 36"x30", but it still isn't worth it to cut those with a laser since the gases are so toxic.

 

I have a Glowforge and shapeoko xxl, but not sure if it would have the tolerances you’re after.

 

Even with an exhaust system? Isnt that the point of it haha

Either way though, I dont really care how its cut. Im just focused on the finish and tolerances on the square details.

Interesting. I will have to look those up

 

I mostly have the Glowforge for engraving so I haven’t got a clue what it’s accuracy is tbh. It’s probably the cheapest consumer grade laser I would personally buy, though it’s not perfect itself.

A few weeks ago I measured a part I cut on the shapeoko with calipers and I believe it was around 0.04” larger than it should have been, so something like +-0.04” over 12” is probably a fair bet on tolerances.

I use Fusion360 for CAD/CAM and it’s great

 

Yeah thats pretty good. Out of curiosity what file types do those machines use? Im working on getting my idea laid out in AutoCAD

 

It’s a .NC file extension. The shapeoko uses grbl which is pretty common for lower end cnc machines.

Glowforge is controlled through their web gui, it can take a variety of vector and bitmap images though

 

Don't use Laser for Kydex. They don't recommend hot work. Kydex Sheets emit Hydrogen Chloride fumes when cut with laser. I have a $40K fume extraction system on our laser and I won't touch the stuff it's just too hazardous.

 

Preach

 

So then how do you recommend it gets cut? The outside profile is fine, but I will have a few small rectangular cutouts in the middle. Those are what Im worried about.

I dont really have any experience with this kinda stuff so thats why im asking

 

Might be cost prohibitive to have a real shop do just a few parts, but why not. Definitely worth at least looking into.

 

I recommend waterjet as well. but I would contact the manufacture as I'm sure that question has come up to them.

 

I'm not really sure what the easiest method would be. If you go cnc you would need to have tabs that hold the part from breaking loose when the cnc is cutting it out, these tabs would be manually broken loose and then some clean up would be needed around the tabs. If you go waterjet then it gets tricky because you have to weigh the kydex down so it doesn't move and then if kydex doesn't float good luck finding that at the bottom mixed it with all the aggregate.

I can't say that I've ever heard of someone needing high accuracy with kydex, usually it's just molded around a handgun for a holster and then the excess is trimmed off. Depending on what you are doing, even if you are able to get within 0.1mm like you want the material will expand and contract with temperature changes and such. Maybe not much, but something to consider if tolerances are that tight.

 

Yeah, good points. The material does work pretty easy by hand, so at the end of the day its not a huge deal to cut some tabs and file by down hand. Probably not even too bad to file down the pieces that are going to be glued into the slots that Im so worried about..