What sorts of places laser cut balsa/basswood/thin ply to order? Like a walk in place

Hi guys,

The laser cut fins thread over in techniques has prompted me to ask here:

Are there places where I can walk in with a sheet of balsa and a fin design on a USB flash driver or some such, and walk out a little while later with a laser-cut set of fins? Sort of like those office supply stores that have equipment (copiers etc.) for rent?

I've got some projects in mind where it would be much easier to cut the wood via laser, and just in general I prefer such laser cut fins to ones I hack with a knife.

Has the popularity of laser cutting for a variety of purposes made such shops available to the consumer? I live in the Indianapolis area, which is a reasonably sized metro area.

I've seen there is a makerspace club, but I'm not looking for a club or to pay monthly fees and such... just a simple transactional walk-in, hand over my balsa or get directed to the machine, and walk out shortly thereafter with my fins, for a small fee.

Am I dreaming or do such places exist?

Marc

Laser cutting is still not there yet, each type of material needs very different settings to get a clean cut so it's not user friendly. Also it's easy to damage the very expensive lenses if a job is set up wrong. Though there are places that well run small jobs for you. You probably have a locale engraving shop or sign shop that has a laser that would work.

Marc,

DFR Technologies isn't walk-in, but they have done great work for me. https://dfrtech.com/ He did some basswood fins for one project (volume), ply for a second, and 1/8" ply for my upscale Corona. Reasonable prices, fast turn around.

His name escapes me at the moment, but he's on the forum and is also the owner/producer of Real Space Rockets.

Woodcraft stores have laser cutters. They only advertise engraving services, though, so I am not sure how they would do on rocket parts, if they will. As mentioned before, it isn't just "here, cut this for me." Fins aren't as much trouble because it is often okay if a cut is a fraction of an inch off. But, things like centering rings are very tricky.

Personally, I take advantage of Carl Campbell of DFR Tech since he has experience with rocket parts (and lives near me). I am not sure how much he normally charges since I assume I am getting a friends and family (offering to bring an order from Del Taco over to his place helps). You can contact him through his web site at https://dfrtech.com.

-- Roger

You might take a look at National Balsa. I just placed an order with them (not for laser cutting), and noticed that they will laser cut for you.

https://www.nationalbalsa.com/laser_cutting_s/8.htm

NikeMikey

Contact Pavel at https://www.allrocketengines.ca/ he has a laser cutter if he can do what you want he is very reasonably priced. He is also a very reliable guy and will respond to you quickly.

jadebox said:

Personally, I take advantage of Carl Campbell of DFR Tech since he has experience with rocket parts . You can contact him through his web site at https://dfrtech.com.

Click to expand...

Carl has made parts for me and he does excellent work.

NikeMikey said:

You might take a look at National Balsa. I just placed an order with them (not for laser cutting), and noticed that they will laser cut for you.

https://www.nationalbalsa.com/laser_cutting_s/8.htm

NikeMikey

Click to expand...

I've used National Balsa for laser cutting. Fast turn around and reasonable prices.

I have a background in printing and graphics, so it is very easy for me to take my RockSim fin template, saved as a PDF (as opposed to printing), open it up in Adobe Illustrator, lay it out virtually on a piece of wood and export it as a CAD (.dwg) file. I emailed it to National Balsa and they gave me a price right away.


Jerome

Thanks guys. When I get ready to move on a few projects I'll look into this!