spdcrazy Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 I have been working on a little project and i'm ready to have a 1/2in steel intake flange cut. Thanks to some knowledgeable fella's I have a cad file now, but my local shop wants $125 minimum to cut it, I haven't found any other places to compare it to, so I don't know if this is a typical price? I wasn't expecting this price tag. any thoughts? anyone have access to cheaper? anyone have said flange already cut and laying around? Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 Try having it cut by water jet. $125 seems too high. Naturally it would be less if making 100 of them. Buy an old vertical band saw, make your own. I cut mine with a 6" angle grinder with a cut off wheel on it and smoothed with a belt sander. 1 1/2" hole saw was $14 and $4 for the cut off wheel, the1/2" steel was $10. Made two for about $30, but still need to drill the two bolt holes on each. They didn't take long to make, maybe 1/2 hour each. 1 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 $125 does not seem high. Most shops get $80 to $150 per hour and then there's the wear and tear on the machine that any shop would be stupid not to add in. Can you make them for less by yourself? No way, not if you value your time. Will they come out as nicely if you carve them out yourself? Maybe, it all depends on how much time you put into them. I do most of my steel fabrication by hand so that things come out perfectly, but what a plasma or laser cutter can do in minutes, takes me a couple hours. My hand built parts look a lot nicer, but I still would love to have a plasma table. Oh wait, I do have one, but it's still in the shipping crates because I don't have the time to put it together and set it up. There's that time thing again. Sorry to be on my soapbox, but it troubles me when people undervalue my time. So I tend to defend other's shop rates when they seem reasonable. One question. Why steel intake? 5 Quote Link to comment
spdcrazy Posted March 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 I see your point, and keep in mind I never said I didn't think it was worth it. they have the skills and tools and such that I do not. Just making sure I'm not getting hosed here. and seeing if there is a more reasonable option for what I'm after. I could do this with a grinder and a drill, but I don't quite have my garage lined up for metal fab work yet. Nor do I have a drill press, (yet) also, steel just due to lack of being able to weld aluminum. also, first physical attempt at this, will do aluminum at a later time if I'm happy with things. 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 First price seems about right for a custom cut piece... I'd try what Mike said... look for someone with a water jet that would be less tooling and time than a machine shop in my opinion... But mostly I'm curious what your up to.. I can only assume the flange is for a custom intake.... care to share more or is it still a secret? 1 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 I see your point, and keep in mind I never said I didn't think it was worth it. they have the skills and tools and such that I do not. Just making sure I'm not getting hosed here. and seeing if there is a more reasonable option for what I'm after. I could do this with a grinder and a drill, but I don't quite have my garage lined up for metal fab work yet. Nor do I have a drill press, (yet) also, steel just due to lack of being able to weld aluminum. also, first physical attempt at this, will do aluminum at a later time if I'm happy with things. I wasn't trying to put you in check, just pointing out that I thought it would be more than worth it. Steel intakes don't shed heat like aluminum does, so unless you're making a turbo intake or a log manifold or some other experimental thing, I'd stick with what's available. 1 Quote Link to comment
spdcrazy Posted March 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 I hear ya. And I received the actual quote and it's not as expensive as it seemed. The price per part is only $43 but there is a 125 min for setup. So if I had 3 or 4 made cost is about right. We will see how it goes, I have another shop running a quote for water jet cutting. Quote Link to comment
spdcrazy Posted March 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 First price seems about right for a custom cut piece... I'd try what Mike said... look for someone with a water jet that would be less tooling and time than a machine shop in my opinion... But mostly I'm curious what your up to.. I can only assume the flange is for a custom intake.... care to share more or is it still a secret? Totally missed this. But ya, kinda secret squrriel at this point. I'll make sure to post up here if/when all goes well Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 I can respect that...I'll keep my eyes out for an update... good luck with your idea.... last thing you need to do is give up your idea and then see it on someone else's car before you get yours done.... 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 Well hopefull all goes well because you've peeked my interest... if you get stuck don't give up maybe others here may have an idea how to help you progress but don't give up the idea till you have too.. Quote Link to comment
spdcrazy Posted March 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 Well hopefull all goes well because you've peeked my interest... if you get stuck don't give up maybe others here may have an idea how to help you progress but don't give up the idea till you have too.. It's been in the works for over a year. Last steps so hopefully soon. Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 My experiences so far. Plasma - cheaper, ok quality cuts, usually requires cleanup Laser - less cheaper, awesome cuts, little to no cleanup Water jet - less cheaper than laser - no cleanup neededI get my laser cutting done a bit cheaper as the company that does it will piggyback my smaller runs on production runs. Although my runs have started getting a bit bigger these days. For one off brackets, I still use the drill press and band saw. Less turn around, but more work for me :) 1 Quote Link to comment
spdcrazy Posted March 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 If I had a real shop or even the room, a band saw and drill press would be a must. And I'd make it myself then. Thanks for the heads up. We will see how it all works out. Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 There's always the cutoff wheel and hand drill. :) 1 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 31, 2017 Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 Going to try something. R-1 carb steel intake. Don't have shield gas and would rather TIG weld aluminum. But that's in the future. So right now trying it in something I can do... think I can do. Cut the flange of a '75-'77 L20B intake, the ones that are co-joined to the exhaust and pretty much the most useless intake around. Transferred the shape to steel Drilled/bored to 1 5/8" so that a 1.5" exhaust pipe will fit. Didn't know if this would work on steel so went slow and squirted lots of water on the part while boring. Took about 45min for each hole using a POS $50 drill press. Had some 1 1/2" muffler pipe laying around. Fits just right. Still needs the two bolt holes, will do tomorrow. Probably will set the pipe back 1/8" and weld from the head side so it's air tight, Grind down the lip plus some on the outer carb side for good measure. My U67 head has 1.375" ports that I gasket matched last spring for Canby trip but will have to be expanded again to 1.5". This will allow for any discrepancy/misalignment in my drilling too. Still have to figure out the pipe lengths and any bends yet. When complete, sand down and silver/aluminum paint and it will look fine. Yeah I don't have the set up for welding aluminum so I went with steel. This takes a 1 1/2" muffler pipe. And looks like 1/2 hour each was way out. But still about $25 for two (I already had the cut off blade) 2 Quote Link to comment
willz Posted March 31, 2017 Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 Could always cut and fit the pieces out of aluminum and then bring them in to have them tig'd 2 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 31, 2017 Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 My time is not worth much and I love making shit. I don't work 4-5 hours to pay some machinist for one of his hours to make it, if I can do it myself. 4 Quote Link to comment
willz Posted March 31, 2017 Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 Part of the fun/enjoyment/pride is knowing you did it yourself. I'm looking forward to making my own tubular manifold 1 Quote Link to comment
distributorguy Posted April 7, 2017 Report Share Posted April 7, 2017 I'd recommend my local laser shop since they're cheaper, but shipping would make up the difference. You can try them. http://www.e-ims.com/ I did have some "square port" exhaust flanges made a couple years ago and have an extra if anyone needs one. I never considered making an intake manifold. They work better when tapered to increase air velocity as it travels through the pipe (helps to keep fuel suspended), so building one that works really well would be a monumental challenge. Quote Link to comment
Xnke Posted April 7, 2017 Report Share Posted April 7, 2017 I have aluminum L20B intake flanges available, if you want to PM me. I'm currently building a run of L20B EFI intakes, so I can just get some extra cut. Local waterjet shop charges me 135$ per intake flange if I only want 1 at a time, if I provide the material...I am looking for a cheaper shop, but the guys I used to use are closed up. I'm currently having them cut in 5/8" thick aluminum, and I mill them down to 12mm where the shared bolts are. I can have them cut in whatever thickness you want, but I'll have to get an updated price if people are actually wanting bare flanges. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.