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What about G10?

Phil Stein

Hi Phil,

I never have, but I'm sure I could do it. My only concern is the environmental hazard to myself and others. For that reason, I would be more inclined to do G10 in small quantities.

Regards, Kevin

What if I had DXF files ready to go? Prices?

-- Joe Michel NAR 82797 L1

Hi Joe, I charge $30.00 per hour regardless if it is running the machine or creating geometry. You would save on the CAD work. I would have to see the part to give you an estimate.

-Kevin snipped-for-privacy@defnet.com (remove the X)

Don't forget that Balsa Machining can laser cut direct from Rocksim files.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

I love that. Being able to do laser cut (or CNC for that matter) from Rocksim is a BIG PLUS in my book.

Thanks, Kevin. I'll keep you in mind for my next project.

-- Joe Michel NAR 82797 L1

And the possibility of DIY CNC at home....

It's on my big list of 'to do's'. IIRC Mr. Mike Fisher ala Binder Design has built a similar CNC machine???

Ted Novak TRA#5512

There's an LPKF "circuit board plotter" on sale on eBay at the moment:

It does a fine job of cuttting G10, although the bits wear out faster and cost more than you would have hoped...

BillW

Looks like a nice little machine. I would think that water jet cutting would be the best way to cut G10. All the nasty stuff would get flushed away.

Regards, Kevin

WHEN i cut G10, I use a tile cutter whenever possible. The blades hold up well & the water takes care of the dust.

Phil Ste>> There's an LPKF "circuit board plotter" on sale on eBay at the moment: >>

Waterjet cuts G10 fine with a waterjet, and you are right that there is no nasty waste to deal with. The drawback would be that the machines are about 100 times more expensive to purchase than a $995 circuit board plotter. Also, there are some tricks to prevent delaminating when piercing. If cost is an issue, then just farm out the work to someone who has a machine. As far as waterjet pirecing G10, piercing with low pressure usually does the trick, but in some cases pre-drilling start holes may be necessary to prevent delaminating. (Or if you don't need to pierce, just come in from the edge of the material to do the cut.)

If you want to try this, I would suggest contacting a water jet manufacturer, and asking which shops in your area they recommend for G10 work. I work for OMAX, which is a manufacturer of waterjets that have both low pressure and pre-drilling capabilities. Call 800 838

0343 (or 253 872 2300, or mailto: snipped-for-privacy@omax.com) to ask for shops in your area, and specifically ask about those needed capabilities. Only a handful of machines have the pre-drilling capabilities, but nearly all have low pressure pierce capability.

Links of interest:

(My personal web site with lots of related information, and hundreds of waterjet job-shop listings, and lots of other information about waterjet cutting, machining, etc.)

- Carl.

We've got a Bengal waterjet at work. Slices thru solid bars of Inoconel 3

1/2" thick lickety split. It saved us bigtime cost as opposed milling the thing out like we used to. I think they add some kind of grit to the water to help it cut. I do know that the thing is really loud when it runs. You can hear that one above all the machines in the factory.

Water-jetting G-10 sounds like a very cool idea, but I'm sure it would be too cost prohibitive to make parts unless you were buying in huge lots.

-- Joe Michel NAR 82797 L1

At last fall's hobby show I saw a CNC machine targeted to the home marked. A few grand IIRC. I burried the literature while cleaning up the basement this weekend.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!