Relaible China CNC machining shop recommend 1

[cyrus2000_]

I'm currently working on a prototype for a machined metal house case. I've reached out to local fabrication shops and Protolabs, but their prices aren't particularly budget-friendly. RapidDirect seems to offer better rates, but I haven't had any prior experience with them. I'm wondering if anyone here has worked with them before and could share your experience. Given my budget constraints, I may need to opt for CNC machining shops in China. I'm also open to other reliable suggestions if they're available. Please help.

 

[geesaman.d]

The first thing I notice is 'prototype'. Unless you have an existing vendor who has an appetite for the production lots down the road, and existing tooling that works with it, you will pay through the nose for a true one-off. One company I worked for maintained a full machine shop simply for the one-offs and prototypes because going out for bids was such a pain.

My experiences working with China (or India) machine shops is that quality is your choice, not theirs. The parts are cheap but you will need to inspect every lot to be sure you're getting the correct parts every shipment. Our first shipments are always treated as first articles and they generally never pass our inspections. We start getting usable parts by the 2nd or 3rd shipment and once they start passing, at any point the quality can degrade because (I'm guessing here) they finally consider if their estimates were accurate and sub out the machining to cheaper shops to make their money. And unless you have an inspector there at all times, you'll never know what actually happens.

Local shops are definitely better but the QC is still hit or miss. There are a shocking number of suppliers who make things that they don't have inspection equipment to verify. That said, my company uses local machine shops and although they look alike there are major differences in price / lead time / quality and when comparing one shop to another, it's not necessarily going to cost you more to get a better part faster.

 

[looslib]

Try Protogenic in CO.

https://directory.designnews.com/protogenic-comp227227.html

"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli