Paul, this isn't a cheap proposition in my experience unless you know people in the business. One avenue to try is https://www.ponoko.com to get custom acrylic cut and MDF etc, I've had some simple acrylic plates made by them and they've been very reasonable. Having custom pieces made from aluminium etc can get pricey as most shops charge minimum fees to be bothered with the tooling, materials etc and costs only become palatable (unless it's a true work of art!) with multiples of the same item (obvious economies of scale). For simple 2D CAD you could try FreeCAD which is OK, but not great. Inkscape is a good tool for 2D drawing but the learning curve is steep (although there are plenty of online resources to help if you have patience). I've recently started using Fusion360 for 3D work as it's free for hobbyists and is really easy to get the hang of. I think you could probably design 2D stuff in that pretty easily, but it's designed more 3D objects.
PM me if you want to discuss more as I've had some experience making custom cases for Nixie clocks etc. Cheers, Nick On Wed, Jan 11, 2017 at 2:20 PM, robin bussell <[email protected]> wrote: > I've used frontpanelexpress before too, their engraving and ink fill > service looks very nice and has a good timeless vintage feel. Costs more > than silkscreen though. > > I'm working on a lasercut perspex case using openscad as a cad system. > Currently awaiting replies from a couple of laser cutting services > regarding the suitability of the files I exported. > There is a handy openscad library for making tab and slot boxes and so on > here: https://github.com/bmsleight/lasercut > > Openscad is free but not to everyone's preference as you basically program > the object you want in a declarative language, there's no placing objects > with the mouse or anything. However it does mean that you can design to a > specific dimension easily without any fiddling about with grid snap values > etc. Also you can make your design parametric so you can resize it easily. > > Cheers, > Robin. > > > On 11/01/2017 20:14, NeonJohn wrote: > >> >> >> On 01/11/2017 01:33 PM, Paul Andrews wrote: >> >>> Hi, >>> >>> I'm trying to make a case for one of my clocks and started looking at >>> online fabrication services such as big blue saw. I am basically looking >>> at >>> designing and fabricating one-offs of some simple acrylic pieces (with >>> cut >>> outs/holes etc.). I was wondering if anyone can recommend a service that >>> is >>> reasonable for one-off parts like this? >>> >> >> You might take a look at frontpanelexpress.com. They supply a sorta-CAD >> package that you have to submit your design to them with. It prices out >> the cost of the panel as you add things to it. The software is so >> limited, however, that I end up drawing the features in a real CAD >> program, exporting the object to DXF and importing it into the Front >> Panel program. >> >> I just had a panel made for our new induction heater which fits in a >> Pelican knockoff case. The panel is 200 X 300mm. IT has 2 large >> rectangular cut-outs and a couple of small ones. a couple dozen drilled >> holes and several DXF objects. Their CAD program calls out each item >> and puts a price on it. A drilled hole is 2.5 cents, for example. >> >> This panel is 2.5mm aluminum, anodized red and the legends and logos are >> silkscreened white. Cost was $189 single piece. Drops rapidly with >> quantity. Quantity 5 is about $150. >> >> We're shopping the piece around to Chinese manufacturers for volume >> production but I can live with their price until sales justify a large >> run. >> >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "neonixie-l" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/ms > gid/neonixie-l/8b3b93df-f288-679b-bec5-330460fc6e13%40cqr-ltd.com. > > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAOX%2BRHLjAuvNU4B37yRWgvRxvXFKMy99mm7%2BsKu8fUBfTY-yGg%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
