It's a fun and rewarding process to see a part that you designed come to life. Working in an environment such as here at the Polarized Target Lab, a lot of the core systems consist of one-off, custom made components. As such, there isn't the option to run to the hardware store and buy a replacement, instead we must either commission the machine shop to make the part or make the part ourselves. In either case, producing clear, concise, and accurate models and drawings make the process smooth and gives yourself and others something to refer back to if the need ever arises. Some tips and tricks to help you get started are given in the itemized lists below.
Golden Rules for submitting jobs to the shop.
- Time is money for the shop, so the less work they have to do, the better. Thus, simple is almost always better.
- Design your part to be made from a generic piece of stock material. This will lessen the total amount of machining required to make the part. Look around at supplier websites such as McMaster.com to see what is available. If you are unsure, ask the shop.
- Although you are a scientist and have unconditional love for the metric system, American Machinists use the Imperial system. You should design your part in inches from the beginning as opposed to designing in metric and converting at the end to minimize potential errors/oversights (think about what happened with the Hubble telescope). Also, designing in inches will also make it easier to find generic stock pieces close to the dimensions you want.