Quote:
Originally posted by Spamz0r
mill it !
my friend had his block milled for $6
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I'm sorry, but unless they are doing all of the following:
1) Not charging for machine time
2) Not charging for tools
3) Not charging tax
4) Not charging for labour
There is no way in hell that a professional machine shop will be milling a block for $20 AUD (about $10 USD pre-tax), not unless they are a good friend, in which case maybe they're just asking for a token amount.
The professional machinists I use are charging around $70/hour (Australian dollars) for their time, which includes use of a large 4-axis CNC mill (not that I use all 4), and that excludes ongoing tooling costs. That is cheap. Many machine shops were asking for $100/hr, some up to $200/hr.
The Australian minimum wage is around $10/hour. A machinist typically earns $25-40/hour in wages.
If these guys are doing it for you as a favor, then just say so. The prices you're talking about are simply not realistic by any company interested in putting dinner on the table for themselves, let alone their wife and kids.