Custom Cut Alum bed

[adamfilip]

Does anyone know a place where i can get a custom cnc cut Alum plate 12" x 12" x 1/4" that is super flat
for not too much money?

[beerdart]

http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant...915&top_cat=60

[Marm]

Call a local welding and metal fab shop, that's where I get all my pieces. Since that's fairly small (for a weld shop), they might even have it laying around in the 'scrap' pile. They will usually cut the piece to size, usually free, and should be flat enough, especially that thick. No reason to use a CNC to cut that, a shear would do it fine, unless you have specific inclusions and extrusions you need on it.

[bandit1942]

Does anyone know a place where i can get a custom cnc cut Alum plate 12" x 12" x 1/4" that is super flat
for not too much money?

You need to find a local machine shop that does cnc machining.. Why not by the aluminum and have a machine shop cnc the aluminum plate

[adamfilip]

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-al...sheets/=whssqb

[curious aardvark]

yes, but not in canada :-)

[beerdart]

Find an unused road sign.

[adamfilip]

yes, but not in canada :-)

where? im not limiting myself to Canada

[Marm]

Thinking about this a bit... You need to define your tolerances. I would assume 12"x12" +/- 1/16" would do for the long dimensions, but your statement of "super flat" bothers me a bit. How flat are we talking? +/- 1/32" might be acceptable to some, but if you're looking in the +/- .1mm range, then it's going to get pretty costly.

If you are looking for a CNC milled pieced, with a drawing and everything, then yes, you will have to go to a CNC shop (local or online) to have them fabricate the part. But if all you want is a 12x12 plate, which is what you wanted in the OP, then a weld shop is your best bet.

Even if the plate you get is not flat enough, you can attempt to flatten it yourself (I cannot gurantee this will work, but I do the same thing at work with Titanium and Steel). Get a couple paver stones that are slightly bigger than your plate. They have to be pretty flat on at least one side. Sandwich the plate between them, with a smooth layer of aluminum foil on each side of the plate. PLace the stack in your oven. Stack as many bricks or I beams or other heavy objects on top. You'll probably have to remove the racks and set the stone directly on the bottom. Set your oven to the highest setting, and then leave it for at least 24hours. After 24-36 hours, turn down the oven by a bit, and wait an hour or so. Slowly lower the setpoint of the oven over about 12 hours (or longer, if you can't get to the oven to lower it, then letting it sit at temp is ok), till it's at warm setting. Then you can turn off the oven. Do not open the oven for another 24 hours, then open it and let the stack finish cooling. You want to let it cool very slowly or you may warp the plate. This should flatten your plate to ann acceptable amount, assuming the stones were first. The foil should prevent the texture of the stone from getting imprinted on the plate.

[richardphat]

Why don't you stick to glass bed? Glass has typically perfect surface and tend to last longer if you're the type of person trying to poke it with a steel spatula. Aluminium easily gets damaged and sometime it's nearly unavoidable to use steel tool....