ADin
Silver Member
I looked at the dimensions again and would think this is pretty common stock size. Years ago I occasionally helped my father-in-law in his shop. I'm pretty certain that he would have been able to knock these out in less than an hour if rushing and under two if he was taking his time. Looks to be 2 cuts (1 before and after the milling), 2 16" blade milling operations, and 6 holes to drill/tamper, plus some rough deburring. Depending upon the equipment, there is also variability in the how many passes (how aggressive) are taken to cut down the material. I wouldn't risk damaging an expensive bit trying to save an extra pass or two just to save 10 minutes. The holes are easy given the tolerances involved. The usual problem with this type of work is that there are usually jigs which needs to made to automate and/or ensure quality which can take significant time before you get to make the first piece. In your case, I don't see any need for jigs unless one was going to make a number of these in a row.
The biggest (only) problem I see you will have going this route is locating someone to do the work as many shops want to focus on larger jobs and not a small one off job. I would go in person to show/explain what you want as they are likely to tune you out on the phone before they realize what you are actually asking for. Even at this, they may still only take on as a job "when they get the time".
Unless you get really lucky and find somebody with a machine shop in their garage (side job) or free access to the equipment after hours, you should not expect to to get this made for less $75 and $125 would not surprise me as you are paying a premium for access to expensive equipment, wear/tear, profit, etc. Still a far cry from the $275 online.
The biggest (only) problem I see you will have going this route is locating someone to do the work as many shops want to focus on larger jobs and not a small one off job. I would go in person to show/explain what you want as they are likely to tune you out on the phone before they realize what you are actually asking for. Even at this, they may still only take on as a job "when they get the time".
Unless you get really lucky and find somebody with a machine shop in their garage (side job) or free access to the equipment after hours, you should not expect to to get this made for less $75 and $125 would not surprise me as you are paying a premium for access to expensive equipment, wear/tear, profit, etc. Still a far cry from the $275 online.
until I post more but if you put H T T P colon // in front of the strings below you can see it on my photobucket account (or just highlight the string and the computer will ask if you want to go there, these things are so smart 