On Tue, 16 Jun 2015 19:25:47 -0500, Tim Wescott
wrote:

I'm working on a project that may well end up having a case made of
fiberglass. As I'm working on a 3D model that will use mostly to make
pretty PDFs for my fiberglass guy and my customer, It occurs to me that I
could just make a 3D model of a mold and send it to a machine shop.

A 1.25 x 12 x 48 inch piece of 6061 costs $430 from Online Metals. Is
that pretty much what I would expect to pay for materials from a machine
shop? Is there any material that's significantly cheaper, that can be
tossed into a CNC mill and made into something mold like, and then hand-
polished to a high shine?

That's almost twice what I'd expect the shop to pay for that piece.

If you're cutting a large cavity in one side of a piece of 6061 plate
it's not going to stay flat. Cast tooling plate (e.g. Alcoa MIC6) is
stable, but is relatively gummy, so will be more difficult to machine
and finish to a polish. Also more expensive.

--
Ned Simmons