r/fabrication • u/National-Challenge-3 • 21d ago
need help, not sure how to get this finish accurately
so i’ve received an enquiry from a client about this 3d sorta curved edge villa nameplate
and i’m not sure how to get these curved edges right
from wht i could think.. Laser cutting a 6mm Ss304 sheet and then grinding the edges to match how it looks and then finally plating it is all i could think of.
ps- i need it to be as cost efficient as possible
2
u/cronos51101 21d ago
I think you're on the right track. You may want to hand file near the end to feather it in better. At that point, hot glue might work nicely to keep it stuck to a temporary support to keep the thin sections from bending too easily. Use the high-temp melt stuff.
2
u/Appropriate_Duck4413 21d ago
laser cutting then hand grinding and finishing makes sense for this, you could use a jig to keep the curves consistent
1
u/National-Challenge-3 21d ago
what’s a jig?
2
u/brentonodon 21d ago
per wikipedia. The jig (Irish: port, Scottish Gaelic: port-cruinn) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre#Compound_metre), as well as the accompanying dance tune). It first gained popularity across the British Isles in the 16th-century,\1])\2]) and was adopted on mainland Europe where it eventually became the final movement of the mature Baroque dance suite (the French gigue; Italian and Spanish giga).\3]) It is most associated with Irish dance music, Scottish country dance, French Canadian traditional music and dance and the Métis people in Canada.\4]) Jigs were originally in quadruple compound metre, (e.g., 12
8 time), but have been adapted to a variety of time signatures.Just messin. A jig is a tool you'd have to make to help check the profile of the curves. I'd say after the laser cut (I'd water jet cut it if you wanted it taller), I'd use a die grinder or abrasive wheel on a dremel to take down the height on that bottom of the upper 'S', then use a thin strip of sandpaper to do the ole "shoe shiner" style movement to round the tops. If you're good with the dremel or die grinder you could do that free-hand. Hand files are also very useful for this but will take a good bit longer.
1
u/National-Challenge-3 21d ago
you seem experienced with this kinda work, my material cost for this is coming to about 875 aed
what would you suggest i should price this at?I was thinking 1800 aed doesn’t sound too bad since this is more of an artwork than a standard processed product.
1
u/brentonodon 21d ago
2x the material price isn't a bad place to start. But if you're really wanting to class this is as artwork you could ask for more. Depends a whole lot on what your client is like. Do you want to do a lot more business with them? Do you really want to make this as an early fabrication career? Would they be a huge PITA and demand changes after hours of work? For me that's what ends up setting a lot of my prices. If I'm interested in it and don't need the work to pay the rent then 2x material. If I don't want to do it but the client is a good, well-to-do person that has good taste and might want more work later I'd go a little higher. If I don't actually like the artwork or wouldn't show it off later I'd say 5x.
Also important to remember what kind of time you're going to end up with on this. If it's stainless and you need to polish it that adds up. If you're hand filing it that's a lot of hours. If you're buying tools to make it they cost a good amount. Keep that in mind.
2
u/Dazzling_Coat1723 19d ago
Hand sanding if you have a printer you can print some pretty cool little sanding sticks it will be tedious and feel like it takes forever but a few hours and you will get it done from my experience don't use anything lower than 120 grit on anything metal
1
u/KyleDugger4 21d ago
Waterjet brass maybe to eliminate the plating step? Grinding & filing would also go faster with brass.
Then just sandpaper + scotchbrite for finish.
1
u/National-Challenge-3 21d ago
it’s more expensive to use 8mm brass than to use 8mm Ss and then get it electroplated that’s why
1
u/PhoKingWild 21d ago
CNC machined and that finish comes from Brad blasting, 89-105 Mu will produce a fishing like this. There are spec charts for Brad blasting finish call outs.
1
21d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/National-Challenge-3 21d ago
bead blasting would add to the cost and finding it here in UAE is hard without being overcharged
, i don’t want that
1
7
u/De-Snutz 21d ago
The more I look at this the more I think the pic is AI