If I had a design for a small part that I wanted manufactured out of metal, who would I talk to? Someone at a machine shop?
For a one copy, look for model makers, or hobbyists like Creative Anachronists. Corporate folks are just not that interested in a one time, one off manufacturing job.
I have been trying to get silver bullets for years now. Mostly promises, so far.
Tris
Look up rapid prototyping:
Here’s a good hit:
http://www.dmoz.org/Science/Technology/Manufacturing/Prototyping/Rapid_Prototyping/Service_Providers/
Here’s a joint that does sintered metal, machining etc.: http://3axis.us/
A local machine shop would probably be simpler, that’s kinda exactly what they’re there for.
We need more info. How many parts do you need? Is this for a home project? Is it a prototype for a patent? How complex is the part? What are the tolerances?
A machine shop could probably do it, but you’ll have to pay quite a bit of money for set up and overhead. If it’s just a non-critical piece for a home project or whatever, I would ask around to see if someone has a small home-based shop, and ask him if he could make it for a modest fee.
What kind of metal. Are you providing the material? Do you have engineering drawings or will the machine shop have to produce them?
Stranger
Depending on what it is, you might have reasonable luck just going at a block of metal with files and a Dremel, quite frankly.
But do look into if there is a FabLab near you…
If you live in an industrial area, there are probably all kinds of small machine shops that do this sort of thing, making single parts and/or small production runs. In my day job, we do business with these kinds of places all the time, getting one-of-a-kind brackets and parts made, stuff that’s more complicated or exacting than we care to get made through or own on-site machine shop.
Some examples from the southeast Michigan area:
Protomatic
Lidell Specialty Products.
Technosports
Specialty Fabrication
Depending on the complexity and precision requirements of your part, the cost could vary widely; some shops specialize in high-precision work using the latest and greatest hi-tech equipment, while others are more budget-minded, locating their facility out in the countryside and outfitting themselves with used equipment bought at auction. Call a few places to get some prices.
Check the Yellow Pages of your nearest metro area for “machine shops” to find similar outfits near you.
As noted, the more copies you get made, the lower the cost per part is, because the setup/overhead costs get distributed across the entire run of parts. If you’re only having one made, be ready for some sticker shock. The shop may work with you to lower the price, telling you what features or what tolerances are driving the cost.
If it isn’t a moving part of some machine, and doesn’t have to stand up to massive wear, and tolerances aren’t hugely important (that’s a lot of ‘if’, but the OP didn’t give us much detail), you can cast it yourself quite easily out of pewter or something similar, using the lost wax method.
I’ve been playing with this myself recently and wrote it up on my website.
(I haven’t posted a link as I don’t want to appear to be spamming). PM me if you want the details.
The item I want made isn’t complicated at all. It’s essentially this piano sustain pedal like the Casio SP2-R, without the electronic parts i.e. no wire, no switch inside.
It’s just two pieces of metal, two screws and a spring but I need a modified version of it that’s 2" longer and I need about a hundred of them.
Big Blue Saw (http://www.bigbluesaw.com/ )is another metal prototyping site – looks like they do laser and water jet cutting. I need to come up with some clever idea myself so I can try them out.
How about a door hinge and two pieces of wood? Ace hardware has a good selection of springs.
This technique is quite amazing (at least to me).
http://www.van-cn.com/en/dzjg.asp
But it’s not a fast way of copying, takes a lot of electricity and you usually end up ruining your mold. I got the random link above googling
nickel electrolysis gypsum mold
because I was not sure of the correct term (only seen it once). It takes days to get thick pieces with this technique.
Not sure without actual plans, but that looks like something I could crank out in that quantity in my garage in under a week. If you are anywhere near central NY state, I could make you a deal.