[jersatx1]

Newbe question here -

I have the opportunity to start a small side-gig in a very niche market with 2024 T3 aluminum, no more than 1/8" thick. Will need to be able to make precision cut-outs, some very small (3/16"). What is the best method for this? Laser, CNC router, CNC Plasma, etc? Any help would be appreciated.

[joeavaerage]

Hi,
for highest speed and therefore lowest overall production cost I'd say laser. The finish of laser cut aluminum is not perfect, you'd want to try one or two parts as a sample to determine if the finish is acceptable.
If not the cost of refinishing may tip you towards vertical CNC milling.

A laser machine to cut 1/8th aluminum with speed and quality is not really an affordable machine to own, you'd be better off contracting that work out to a company that has made the investment already.


Milling aluminum requires a very rigid machine. Some of the bigger and more expensive CNC routers are rigid enough to do a good job in aluminum, whereas the smaller cheaper machines are not.
A more conventional mill like a Tormach will do a good job, and is affordable, or even better a Hass mini-mill, if you want to 'own' your own machine. Otherwise there are dozens of companies
out there whom have machines ready and waiting to go.

A well sorted mill, and probably does not need to be a huge and expensive machine, will run small tools, say 1/8th or 3/16th with good results. It will be slower...but then should require no re-finishing.
Things like a chamfering pass sure do make a part look professional.

Craig

[6061billet]

It all depends on what you mean by precision. You can't make in in this business without exact dimensions and tolerances. To many 1/100th of an inch is more precise than they have ever seen, a general machinist might say it's 0.001" but someone in tool and die might say precision starts at 0.0001". Some machinists seldom work smaller than 1/4" inch and to others that is huge. Check out clickspring, he often makes entire parts smaller than 3/16". For him a small slot is under 1/64".

Plasma is out. Water jet is possible as long as the work is fairly large and will not fall into the tank.
It's a tossup between laser and router, a VMC might be slightly more accurate if you can tolerate rounded corners. Wire edm is likely the most precise.
The number of parts per run is also a big factor here.

There is a 1000x cost difference between these options depending on your tolerances and run size.