Thread: CNC an aluminum name plate....Where to get it done?

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I need to have a new custom badge made for my valve covers that resemble these (see pic). I would like it to say:

427 Sideoiler
Provided by the members of
Club Cobra

Haven't spent any time on the graphical appearance, but I would assume that I need someone with a CNC machine
to mill this for me. Anyone in Washington state do this stuff? Any ideas on cost?

Brent,
That's a lot of letters to squeeze into a 1 1/2" by 3" plate. I have a cnc machine but I don't have the expertise to program it to do that. The 2 has ten different radiuses that have to flow smoothly. If I wanted to try something like that I would design it ten times the actual size to make the layout easier and then divide all the dimensions by ten. the upper left corner should be designated zero and all dimensions should be measured from that point. Here's a picture of a 4x10 piece I made from the leftover aluminum from my 40 Ford panel truck dash. It's been kicked around for a while so it's scuffed up. The dash was 4x48 inches. I made the V8 in the center of the dash half the size of the one pictured by dividing the dimensions by 2. I engraved it with a 1/8" ball end mill. What you want requires a much smaller end mill. I sprayed it with red paint then sanded it for a brushed aluminum finish and clearcoated it. It took about eight hours to draw a picture of what I wanted and work out the dimensions and another two hours to program the machine. Machine shop time was $35 an hour when I made it. That adds up to $350 just in the planning stage before I bought the aluminum and turned on the machine. That was just for one letter and one number and the "wings". Have you cosidered having the badges made by a trophy shop. They have the machinery to do the engraving at a much lower price than a machine shop.
AL

Brent,
I'm with Al on this one too. To set up a CNC program for two plates is prohibitive.

As Al says, a trophy shop can do small run engraving. You might also try a sign shop. With the more recent advances in PC based programming they are able to design and fab small run designs at a reasonably economical number. Perhaps something in vinyl would come close to the configuration and coloring you desire.

Yuo might try a local engraver. Most hava a computer operated engraver & can engrave most everything. I even had the RR symbol engraved on my horn button. I bought the software for $40 & THE ENGRAVING COST WAS $10. Don

Hmmm...Sounds like the engraving is the way to go. I'm just looking for ways to say thank you to the Club Cobra members who gave me the gift of a new engine. Without them, I couldn't have done it.

Thanks for the input fellas.

Hi there..I am a new user here...I have a 68 Roadrunner with a BB Mopar that I made some Billet VC covers for...here is a few pics..

I amsl make custom Dashes and other billet Alum parts...go to my website for more info.. www.cdignition.com

Originally posted by CDignition
Hi there..I am a new user here...I have a 68 Roadrunner with a BB Mopar that I made some Billet VC covers for...here is a few pics..

I amsl make custom Dashes and other billet Alum parts...go to my website for more info.. www.cdignition.com

CD made me a custom motor plate for less $ and its nicer. He does meticulous work.

BTW, nice site here!

brent some cnc shops that do that
type of work will use a software
engraving program,or a 3-d cad-cam
software program such as mastercam
the software will create surfaces in 3-d
then create tool paths over the surfaces
then it is ball milled.cost for shop time is
around 70.00 per hour for a small shop
to program and set up for that small
quantity would be around 500 bucks.