Machine shop me!

August 9, 2015 8:26 AM

I have a small, simple menorah design that I would like to have fabricated: preferably machined, preferably out of steel. Where can I go, online or in real life, to get this done? I'm in New York.
posted by the_blizz to Grab Bag (3 answers total)

Best answer: Depending on what format your design is in (idea in your head, sketch on paper, formal drafting drawings on paper, CAD) you'll have different options. If you have a CAD drawing, you can send the data to a company like eMachineShop or Shapeways. (I've used the ordering/quoting processes for both of these places to find out how much it'd cost to have them make something for me, but I haven't actually had them cut parts.)

If you have something other than CAD data, you can probably find a local custom engineering company that can turn your idea into a physical object.
posted by spacewrench at 8:51 AM on August 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you have the design in something other than CAD data, there are lots of industrial design students out there with the skills to make a good, solid CAD drawing for you to take to a machine shop. Some of those same ID students might have access to equipment to produce the item. My local art school with an ID program is usually my first stop for getting a project like this done; especially if its not a 'precision' part that has to be machined within a certain tolerance. Basically for what you're describing, I'd hit up art schools.

I'm lucky that I have a good shop nearby for precision parts too, but I have peers who have send CAD drawings across the country, and even to other countries for good, solid, work. Lots of really amazing, larger machine shops exist in the midwest, so don't be afraid to farm the work out somewhere cheaper than NY. The markup that some shops charge for their rent and overhead can be drastically more expensive than shipping to get the item back to you.
posted by furnace.heart at 9:44 AM on August 9, 2015

Check and see if there is a techshop in your area. Likely someone there can be hired to do the whole project for you.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 12:00 PM on August 9, 2015