Is there any cheaper alternative to lasergist for metal switch plates?

[JohanAR]

Going to make myself some Nyquist 1u plates since keeb.io only sells the version with 2u holes in the corners now. Lasergist's estimated price is $66.63 for brushed steel and $79.27 for sandblasted and I just wanted to check if anyone has any cheaper alternatives. The ones I know of are Ponoko, which doesn't have thick enough metal (and are extremely expensive on metal), and Big Blue Saw, which is also more expensive than Lasergist unless I order a large amount of plates. I was unable to get a quote from Sculpteo since their online tool claims the Nyquist switchplate can't be cut from metal, I guess because the screw holes are less than 2mm from the edge and they have a minimum of 2mm between any two cuts.

[ojrask]

Lasergist is not operational anymore from what I know. People have been suggesting Hek Laser Cutting to me for a while now. Ponoko was OK otherwise for a plastic proto, but the shipping was overkill. In Finland there is a service called Smidyo but only offers stainless steel at 1.5mm

I've been just checking local cutter services for quotes as the self-service sites seem either too expensive or just too difficult to use properly.

[JohanAR]

Thanks! It sounds a bit strage that lasergist would've gone down without writing anything on their web page but it could of course be true. Smidyo has a nice web interface but it only takes DXF. Used an online converter from SVG to DXF but something goes wrong and Smidyo thinks the plate should be 14mm x 15mm. Hek has no web interface and is in China so I'd be slightly worried that something would get lost in translation and something would go wrong with the order, but if they have good recommendations I suppose they speak good enough English

I contacted Sculpteo and they replied that they no longer cut metals btw. Also tried cotter.dk but their metal sheets are too expensive even without the cutting fee.

I've also tried to find some local laser cutter but there aren't that many and they all seem to cater exclusively to businesses

[ojrask]

If you do find a good local cutter from Sweden (who understand English) please let me know, nothing super good is standing out here in Finland.

I went directly to "industrial" cutters but their MOQs and minimum prices are quite painful unless you can get a good deal via someone. The best I've found is around 20 euros (200ish kronor) per plate at 20-30 plates, 1.5mm steel.

DXF is a quite standard format for cutting. You could try opening your SVG in something like OpenSCAD and export a DXF there.

[TalkingTree]

People have been suggesting Hek Laser Cutting to me for a while now.

That includes me. I've ordered two batches of different plates from them and I'm satisfied with the result. Plates clearly needed a paint job but any spray can will do just fine.
I usually order in batches of five because that's the cheapest and get shipments with DHL for it's the quickest and a TKL plate costed me around USD 120 shipped.
My contact on both occasions has been one Mr Hou who is proficient with english and I had no problem of any sort communicating with him (do consider that I'm not a native english speaker either).
Overall I can say the price/quality ratio is very good.

[ojrask]

People have been suggesting Hek Laser Cutting to me for a while now.

That includes me. I've ordered two batches of different plates from them and I'm satisfied with the result. Plates clearly needed a paint job but any spray can will do just fine.
I usually order in batches of five because that's the cheapest and get shipments with DHL for it's the quickest and a TKL plate costed me around USD 120 shipped.
My contact on both occasions has been one Mr Hou who is proficient with english and I had no problem of any sort communicating with him (do consider that I'm not a native english speaker either).
Overall I can say the price/quality ratio is very good.

With batches of five and that TKL plate you mean you paid 120 bucks for a single plate or for five plates? $120 shipped for a single good quality TKL plate is not that bad in my opinion either. Local cutters are asking nearly 200€ for a single 100% plate with no finishing whatsoever.

[TalkingTree]

With batches of five and that TKL plate you mean you paid 120 bucks for a single plate or for five plates?

120 for five plates shipped.

[ojrask]

With batches of five and that TKL plate you mean you paid 120 bucks for a single plate or for five plates?

120 for five plates shipped.

Wow even better. I guess at that price you can't not try them out at least. Thanks!