CNC for plug/mold
#1
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CNC for plug/mold
Hi all,
I have a 3D CAD model of a fuselage (roughly 4ft x 1ft x 2ft) for which I'd like to create a mold. I'm considering using a CNC service like quickparts.com or firstcut.com. My questions are:
1) should I have a CNC-created plug and then make a composite mold myself, or just have a CNC-created female mold?
2) has anyone here used one of these cnc services, and if so would you mind sharing some ballpark costs?
I have a 3D CAD model of a fuselage (roughly 4ft x 1ft x 2ft) for which I'd like to create a mold. I'm considering using a CNC service like quickparts.com or firstcut.com. My questions are:
1) should I have a CNC-created plug and then make a composite mold myself, or just have a CNC-created female mold?
2) has anyone here used one of these cnc services, and if so would you mind sharing some ballpark costs?
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RE: CNC for plug/mold
You can have the master/plug cut from cheap and easy to cut materails like MDF. This can be sealed/painted to prep it for molding.
You can also have a mold directly cut but the material choices can be expensive if you are trying to pull more than a few parts. If you want a high grade surface on your parts then you need a material that can be cutt and polished. Your options will be aluminum, tooling boards, and glued stacks of Corian. If the surface isn't super important then you can cut a mold from MDF or syntactic foams, seal it with resin, and pull your parts. This type of mold doesn't produce very many parts.
An aluminum mold set (fuse, stab, wing, joiner) for a 60" plane can easily cost $10,000.
You can also have a mold directly cut but the material choices can be expensive if you are trying to pull more than a few parts. If you want a high grade surface on your parts then you need a material that can be cutt and polished. Your options will be aluminum, tooling boards, and glued stacks of Corian. If the surface isn't super important then you can cut a mold from MDF or syntactic foams, seal it with resin, and pull your parts. This type of mold doesn't produce very many parts.
An aluminum mold set (fuse, stab, wing, joiner) for a 60" plane can easily cost $10,000.
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RE: CNC for plug/mold
ORIGINAL: caplan
Yow - $10k is certainly steep.
I assume an aluminum plug would be similarly priced as an aluminum mold?
Yow - $10k is certainly steep.
I assume an aluminum plug would be similarly priced as an aluminum mold?
In today's economy you will find a shop that will cut for less. Many shops are looking for work so they are more competative with their rates. Most charge a per hour fee for machine time plus a set-up/tool path fee.
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RE: CNC for plug/mold
Hi Caplan
You can maybe visit our thread on the Radiance Pattern Plane to see the moulding work we have doen there.
We also do cnc work for outside companies.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_10..._3/key_/tm.htm
Thanks
Tommie Prinsloo
Pretoria
South Africa
You can maybe visit our thread on the Radiance Pattern Plane to see the moulding work we have doen there.
We also do cnc work for outside companies.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_10..._3/key_/tm.htm
Thanks
Tommie Prinsloo
Pretoria
South Africa
#6
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RE: CNC for plug/mold
If you are going to get it CNC'd from Aluminum, why bother with the extra step of going from plug to mold. Go direct to mold. I think you could get something for like a 2m pattern fuse for less than 10k, but it will definitely be in mid to high four figures. I design, and have had built, female vacuum form molds from aluminum, and we pull thousands of parts from them, so the cost gets spread out.
If you think you will sell a thousand, that's $10/unit for a $10k mold. I fly pattern, and would be hesitant to invest that much. A successful design may sell one to two thousand units over it's market life, but most sell less than that. The materials and labor to carve a plug and pull a resin mold can be less than $1k, if the builder is a pro. A beginner risk loosing his arse if there are snags (been there, done that)
If you think you will sell a thousand, that's $10/unit for a $10k mold. I fly pattern, and would be hesitant to invest that much. A successful design may sell one to two thousand units over it's market life, but most sell less than that. The materials and labor to carve a plug and pull a resin mold can be less than $1k, if the builder is a pro. A beginner risk loosing his arse if there are snags (been there, done that)
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RE: CNC for plug/mold
Is the cost of CNC machining foam tooling board any lower than aluminum? I'm guessing that if most of the cost is labor then it won't make much of a difference...
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RE: CNC for plug/mold
Cutting foam is cheaper than cutting aluminum simply because it can be cut much faster. The less time that the blank is on the CNC table the cheaper it will be.
#9
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RE: CNC for plug/mold
ORIGINAL: wyowindworks
Cutting foam is cheaper than cutting aluminum simply because it can be cut much faster. The less time that the blank is on the CNC table the cheaper it will be.
Cutting foam is cheaper than cutting aluminum simply because it can be cut much faster. The less time that the blank is on the CNC table the cheaper it will be.