I was wondering if it's gotten to the point where most parts are cut
with a Laser or some other (plasma? water?) state of the art
technology vs conventional CNC shearing/punching etc.

My only parts are usually aluminum chassis for electronics equipment.

I know that there are different ways of approaching a part, like do
the punching first, then shear, notch and bend (or whatever).

But how would most big fabricators today approach an electronics
chassis?

Say a typical, simple aluminum one with small holes and 90 degree
bends etc -- nothing fancy.

Would the part be completely laser cut and then sent to the bending
machine? done deal?

THANKS for any answers.

A buddy of mine has both a laser and CNC punch. The laser is used
most because of the faster setup times and increased flexibility.
The CNC punch being very labor intensive to setup and maintain is only
used for products having either high volume or special features.

The laser works best on ferrous alloys and pretty poorly on
stainless. If you need a clean break on stainless the post cleanup
can erase any gains obtained by laser cutting. If the part is simple
but has a grid of holes the punch will beat the laser. A punch can
also do louvers, dimples and other simple forming operations.

The real trick in a small shop is to maximize the up time of the laser
by converting the majority of the jobs to that machine and still have
enough punch work available to justify keeping a full time punch
operator on the payroll.

mkr5000 wrote in news:41903f66-d603-41ae-8eb9-
:


Would the part be completely laser cut and then sent to the bending
machine? done deal?

Most likely.



--
Anthony

You can't 'idiot proof' anything....every time you try, they just make
better idiots.

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On Dec 2, 8:51 am, mkr5000 wrote:
I was wondering if it's gotten to the point where most parts are cut
with a Laser or some other (plasma? water?) state of the art
technology vs conventional CNC shearing/punching etc.

Depends on volumes really, if we're talking about operations which can
be performed on either machine (simple cutting/punching)


My only parts are usually aluminum chassis for electronics equipment.

I know that there are different ways of approaching a part, like do
the punching first, then shear, notch and bend (or whatever).

Parts which have cuts/punched holes on formed features must be cut/
punched *after* forming (typically). Simple chassis don't require this
sequence because the punched features are typically far away from the
bends, and the bend geometry is so simple that the bends have
virtually no effect on the punched feautres.

I've done quite a bit of work with car body panel dies. The major
forming occurs first, and then the panel is trimmed. There are a
couple of reasons, but one major on is that forming will distort
punched features readily. It's hard to punch an oblong hole and then
bend/form the part such that the hole becomes round - easier to form
and then punch (for example).


But how would most big fabricators today approach an electronics
chassis?

How many copies do you want? 100pcs and they'll use the laser. 100,000
and they'll punch it. There are different ways to punch such a part.
Turret punch versus dedicated die set (and some other options in
between). Course there are always special instances where this is not
necessarily true.


Say a typical, simple aluminum one with small holes and 90 degree
bends etc -- nothing fancy.

Doesn't have as much to do with features/geometry as it does volume
(typically)

Regards,

Robin

"mkr5000" wrote in message
...
I was wondering if it's gotten to the point where most parts are cut
with a Laser or some other (plasma? water?) state of the art
technology vs conventional CNC shearing/punching etc.

My only parts are usually aluminum chassis for electronics equipment.

I know that there are different ways of approaching a part, like do
the punching first, then shear, notch and bend (or whatever).

But how would most big fabricators today approach an electronics
chassis?

Say a typical, simple aluminum one with small holes and 90 degree
bends etc -- nothing fancy.

Would the part be completely laser cut and then sent to the bending
machine? done deal?

THANKS for any answers.

Water jet would do the trick just fine. The problem is that for electronic
chassis it is a simple matter to lay out, shear and punch or drill holes and
then fold using a brake.

With the water jet they take your drawing program the cuts and cut out the
part. Your job would be near perfect to the drawing, but the minimum charge
for the job would probably cost more than manually fabricating the piece.

Of course if you wanted 10 parts it would probably be the same price as one,
given that water jet can cut through ten sheets just about as fast as it can
cut through one sheet.


--
Roger Shoaf
If you are not part of the solution, you are not dissolved in the solvent.