Re: would you buy 3/8" thick flanges?... if so, may start selling flanges again.
 

Same here. BMC CNC flanges are nice.

Re: would you buy 3/8" thick flanges?... if so, may start selling flanges again.
 

Yep, all the manis i made used BMC flanges

Re: would you buy 3/8" thick flanges?... if so, may start selling flanges again.
 

cant go wrong with BMC as long as you have 4 weeks to wait for an order.

Re: would you buy 3/8" thick flanges?... if so, may start selling flanges again.
 

Looks like HMT has gone high roller.

Re: would you buy 3/8" thick flanges?... if so, may start selling flanges again.
 

They are not even that expensive.

Even the premium flanges are only $50 and regular only $30.

Re: would you buy 3/8" thick flanges?... if so, may start selling flanges again.
 

you called? ^-^

Re: would you buy 3/8" thick flanges?... if so, may start selling flanges again.
 

I thought that was standard op with all our vendors ;)

Re: would you buy 3/8" thick flanges?... if so, may start selling flanges again.
 

they would be laser cut, not plasma. no, i'm not buying a machine for it, i'm trying to source them locally if i can get a reasonable price.

cnc machined flanges are nice i agree with everyone on that one. after speaking with my prospective supplier regarding mass production, it just isn't cost effective to machine them when they can be laser cut in a fraction of the time. there would be NO scale anywhere and NO rust anywhere on these flanges as the people i'm dealing with only use quality materials otherwise there is the possibility for imperfections and ------- up the laser with impurities in the material. the option for stainless is also there too but they would be spendy as the material is 4-5 times the price and they need to use a special gas for cutting ss.

this is just a possibility until i am able to get my own cnc... of course, then they would be all cnc machined.

thanks for the feedback guys i do appreciate it.

Re: would you buy 3/8" thick flanges?... if so, may start selling flanges again.
 

It depends on the type of laser but just for clarity this is the type of cut quality you would get:

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...2/DSC03683.jpg


Also the price would probably drop more than half as compared to a milled piece since one would be cut at around 6 IPM and a laser could probably do that same at 100ipm.

I think the issue here is the thickness and not the cut quality

Re: would you buy 3/8" thick flanges?... if so, may start selling flanges again.
 

cut speed is probably closer to 60ipm for 3/8" ms and 40ipm for 1/2". in the long term, that extra cut time adds up (30% more!), material cost would not be significant. it is also very difficult and more costly to laser cut holes that have a diameter smaller than the thickness of the material and retain acceptable quality- they have to be pulse cut which slows things down significantly. this is the main reason for sticking with 3/8" for everything since cutting from 1/2" would probably double the price on cut time.