Small volume metal spinning

I've been looking for someone to make me 12 aluminum spun items but am not having much luck. Each site I find on the internet doesn't want to mess with only 12 items. Does anyone know of any spinner that does this more as a hobby and can do low volume? What I need done is a parabolic cone so it looks kind of like a champagne glass without the stem and a 1.05" hole where the stem would be. It is 2.5" on the large end and gets smaller with a rolled inward edge at the 1.05" hole. It is also 3.5" tall. It's going to be powdercoated so it just needs to be smooth and preferably out of aluminum. It is purely asthetic so material thickness can be whatever it needs to be to be spun. I need them no later than 2 weeks preferabbly sooner.

If anyone can point me to someone I'd appreciate it. I'll provide a drawing.

Thanks Chris

Reply to
Chris Shue
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You might add where you are located.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Dan- Hide quoted text -

We're located in Pella Iowa.

Reply to
Chris Shue

Reply to
Bill Noble

We're located in Pella Iowa.

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Have you talked to these people in Iowa? They say they do low volume jobs:

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Reply to
anorton

That piece is not a good candidate for spinning. It would be better to use a deep drawing operation. Your problem is that the tooling investment in any case will be more than you will be willing to pay. It would be much more practical and affordable to cut them out of the solid in your desired volume Steve

Reply to
Steve Lusardi

deep drawing operation. Your problem is that the

would be much more practical and affordable to cut

Second that. However, small easy job for a CNC lathe if you can have a large wall thickness.

Pella, IA is one beautiful small town. I'd love to come visit at tulip bloom time.

karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

se a deep drawing operation. Your problem is that the

pay. It would be much more practical and affordable to cut

I was thinking the $400-$500 range. Is that anywhere near the ball park? I quoted it through a CNC lathe and they wouldn't touch it for $1000. I'm going to Des Moines tonight to look at lamps. If I have to buy a $30 lamp and cut it out of the middle that's what I'll do. I've seen some online CNC shops as well, maybe I'll try them.

Thanks for the help. You should come to the next tulip time in May, we're due for a good year. The last couple they bloomed a little early.

Reply to
Chris Shue

if it could be pewter, you might be able to do it on a wood lathe, there are metal spinning kits for a wood lathe that come with all the tools for under $100, if I remember right (I have one) - without much skill, you can do pewter, other metals are harder. You could also use plastic and vacuum form it over a wooden mold pretty easily, or as you say, find an existing part and modify it

Reply to
Bill Noble

Aluminium is not much harder than pewter if you choose the right alloy. My local engineering supplier stock 1050 IIRC and that's pretty easy to spin. I've done pewter, aluminium, copper, and brass with traditional spinning methods. I think I know what the OP wants but wouldn't mind seeing a drawing to confirm. It didn't sound difficult to spin except maybe the rolled inward edge on the small diameter.

Reply to
David Billington

Does the bottom half of this look like what you want?

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I don't know this company, it was the only picture I found on the web. Frankly, their price is at least twice what I would expect to pay, but I haven't bought one recently.

The bottom has a flat and a 3/8 in hole, so you would have to monkey with that. Why reinvent the wheel.

Paul K. Dickman

Reply to
Paul K. Dickman

I know a semi-retired spinner not far from me (northern Calif), but your

2 week lead time is a total killer. He has someone make his tooling, and that alone would probably take two weeks. But if you want to give him a try, email me off list for his contact info.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Anderson

$1k sounds pretty friendly to me. How much is your time worth? Do the arithmetic. Steve

I was thinking the $400-$500 range. Is that anywhere near the ball park? I quoted it through a CNC lathe and they wouldn't touch it for $1000. I'm going to Des Moines tonight to look at lamps. If I have to buy a $30 lamp and cut it out of the middle that's what I'll do. I've seen some online CNC shops as well, maybe I'll try them.

Thanks for the help. You should come to the next tulip time in May, we're due for a good year. The last couple they bloomed a little early.

Reply to
Steve Lusardi

Or -- how about lost wax casting of something like zinc? After all, if it is going to be powdercoated, you won't see the actual metal.

For that matter -- does it really need to be metal? If you are powdercoating it, you will damp out most of the ringing ability from the sorta bell shape.

Good Luck, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

Exactly. I'll keep that in mind. I have a couple spinning and a couple CNC quote requests out, if they all come back too high I might have to go for the lamp option. Thanks for everyone's help, this is a great group of knowledgeable people.

Reply to
Chris Shue

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