Hey guys this is my first post, my name is Danny and I could use alot of help lol. I want to get started on designing custom pieces out of aluminum. I do not know CAD, nor have any experience with this. That said, I am looking into many quotes for a part I need made. The best I can do is present a full scale drawing of the part and show all the angles. I'm not great with math or radius' etc so the company would have to be able to take the measurements I come up with from my drawing and put it on a cad program. I am TRYING to find NY based companies to help with this but I'll consider out of state. I have been quoted $120 an hour for a prototype that I want made. I think thats a bit absurd. That was using a lazer based machine and would need extra milling/smoothing which in turn would cost more money. All said and done the quote was around $1000+ for a single part that is roughly 9 x 4 ", 2 -4 mm thick and very very basic in design. It was also said it could take a day to do this or more. This sounds rediculous to me.
Another question I have is if I want to go into a small production of the part I design, do I have to pay for the CAD/tooling AGAIN??? Is the info/file stored for future use? Do I own the tooling??? Thanks in advance. I'm on a budget but I'd love to get started with this ASAP.
-Danny