cenix

thanks for all the suggestions guys, i appreciate it. i'm going to contact all the people here and see where that takes me, but i'm always open to other shops, too. any other shops not on the list?

yes, i fully expect that they will charge for the consultation...hopefully that doesn't account for a whole lot of the cost though.

chairmnofthboard

It's usually the shop rate. $65-85 an hour. However they might wave in this economy.

S2Koupe

you ought to be looking for a design engineer to consult, not a machinist. its not their job.

honestly there sa few machinists i worked with in hawthorne and compton. the one in hawthorne i wouldnt recommend unless i was desparate or just needed something easy to get done. but i just dont have the contact info for my guy in compton. id recommend him, he could help some with the design, but like i said, you shouldnt be going to a machinist to help design anything.
you need to find an engineer who will design and make a drawing for you to take to ANY machinist to get done. thats just how it works, typically.

iam7head

hit me up, our business partner have like a dozen of high end cnc machine, including 5 axis.

the client list is very very impressive as well, we are in torrance btw

as for design engineering, that's not going to an issue at all