A colleague and I have finished our 2nd stage of prototypes and are ready to go into production! Needless to say we are excited - and have spent a notable chunk of our savings on the project - but we are happy with the results and believe in the product.
We about 10 parts that will need CNC'd (3-axis milled). Neither of us have engineering backgrounds and thus as we are sending out RFQ's to machine shops but we need advice on how to pick one. While cost is important, quality and pride of workmanship is also important. We understand that the cheapest price may not be the best price. The fellow who did our CNC work for the prototypes is a great machinist, but not interested in doing volume work and isn't too eager to help "consult" or spend a lot of time giving us advice going forward.
Can anyone on the forum help recommend a "process" to help pick a machine shop? I.e. ask for references, sample pieces, demand QC checks, etc? I've poked around on the forum looking for similar threads with no luck - but if I've missed one, I certainly apologize.
Thanks!
John