Just got a qoute back from a local CNC shop to make my build plate, a 33cm33cm6.35mm(13"×13"×1/4"), and they want $1.78 US per 25.4mm sqr (1"sqr) for a total of $300.00… Omg is this even realistic. What have been you experiences getting a milled plate? And is this as I think a ripoff or is this reasonable?
Im in the NW USA BTW.
I can’t find the specifications for how tight the tolerances are for this product, straight out of the box, but the price is reasonable.
https://www.midweststeelsupply.com/store/castaluminumplateatp5
I plugged in the numbers you’ve provided and the price is a bit more than US$25.00. That would indicate a pretty high labor cost.
You could consider requesting a quote from
to see what numbers they would toss back at you. I’d expect it to be somewhat less, as it would be only a couple discreet operations on the mill. My mini-mill does not have 13" capacity, otherwise, I’d give it a shot.
https://www.midweststeelsupply.com/store/castaluminumplateatp5
@Fred_U Thanks I’ll look into that.
I think that if you can’t mill it yourself and you don’t have a friend in a shop/with a mill who will do it for beer you’re going to pay an arm and a leg. Most shops charge a lot for small run jobs, or more accurately charge a fairly high setup fee that only becomes worth it when spread across many pieces.
Mic 6 aluminum plate is another option, it’s a cast aluminum plate that’s then ground flat to high tolerances. Just make sure it’s thick enough not to warp under thermal stress.
@Stephen_Baird Thanks
1/4" might be thicker than you need. I use 10" x 10" x 1/8" flat aluminum plate cut out with a mill on all my small printers and it works great with no warping even at 100C. Sell price is $45 for a plate that size. A plate the dimensions you are looking for but half as thick should be sub $55 US even with markup and labor included.
That is what happens when you set tight tolerances on a 1 off part. You pay a tooling fee and an accuracy fee
+Peter van der Walt I do use an inductive bed probe and Mesh bed leveling which works, but the print is askewed. Would like to beable to print better quality.
@Camerin_hahn true their tolerances for the $300 plate was +/.05 and they did give me the option for a $200 plate with +/.25 tolerance. But this is just not a good option for me.
@Fred_U I did purchase a 13"x13"x1/4" plate for something around $25 and I am paying almost twice that for shipping but it will be here next week I think. I will also have to drill my own holes in it but that is doable. Thanks for the link even the cheapest plate i was looking at before was $70 something plus shipping, so this is perfect.
Are you requesting a mic6 bed? I’ve made a few beds for people, 1/8" Al. will always be warped due to internal stresses from the hot or cold rolled manufacturing process in my experience. I’ve made them out of 1/4" 6061 then fly cut them. Happy with the results at first but after a few heat cycles of +100 degrees and back down I started to notice the plate began deflecting again. Made one from 1/4" mic6, the material was crazy expensive but it did stay flat and to this day it still is. But to +Peter van der Walt point above I am now playing with 16g steel and using a probe, flex as you want bed, the controller can handle it.
@Brandon_Satterfield It is an ATP-5 which I am lead to believe it is an equivalent to mic6. I currently use a 6061 1/8" diy plate and I bent the edges down which seams to help with heat warp but the deviations in it are just a pain. So if the 1/8" seems to work then 1/4" should be atleast slightly better. Without the probe and Mesh lvl I was just pulling my hair out to get it to print!
+Peter van der Walt it is a NPN NO Capacitance Proximity Sensor Switch, DC 6V - 36V/300 mA, 1 mm -10 mm
+Peter van der Walt it is adjustable I have it set about 5mm off the bed and the nozel is able to 0.00 out prefectly, I do have a spare 4mm version though.
+Peter van der Walt thanks, here is another question with the print plate being 12"x12" and mesh bed leveling using a max of 7 points this, if Im right, means that the software squares are approx 1.7"^2. So if the deviations happen in the square and not the point then the software will not compensate because it doesn’t see the deviations?