Finding a machine shop?

[spikeball]

I've never sent out a marker to get work done on it. My modifications have always been done by me. Now I want something done that I know I can't do; get my Trilogy feed neck replaced with a clamping version. I know it's not a major thing but I'm still a bit nervous about it.

What kind of shop should I be looking for and what kind of questions should I ask to make sure they can handle the project?

[Lt. head-shot]

Multiple PB specific shops should be able to help you. I know BMC Fabrication does mods to make cocker bodies accept Empire spec feednecks. I believe Super Stanchy Customs (SSC) does that work as well. There are a few other but those are the ones I know of since they are local.

[Grendel]

You also can look into local non-paintball machine shops. What you are wanting to do is pretty simple especially if you already have the part and can clearly explain what you need done and you are patient. Most of the time if you do not pressure them a local machine shop will work you in between bigger jobs when there isn't enough time in the day to start their next big one. I've had many things for paintball and vehicle projects handled by small local shops.

[Bulldogr6]

I think Angry autocockers charges 65 bucks for this

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[Bulldogr6]

https://m.facebook.com/AngryAntlesAutocockers/?ref=content_filter&mt_nav=0

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[scottieb]

Bearded Works should be able to do this also. PM superman on here and ask. Check out the Bearded Works section on here as well.

[tjd10684]

There are tons of different types of machine shops out there all filling different niches in the market. They range from high volume production shops that will not look at jobs with less than 1000+ parts to prototype shops that rarely ever make more than 1-2 of anything. Those quantities really influence the pricing thought process. If you bring this to a prototype job shop be prepared for sticker shock while the overall operation may be simple they have to take into account a risk of damaging something they can not replace. One fat finger number when writing the gcode file and the part is toast (in this case it could be the body of the marker). They should be taking this into when pricing so they throw a bunch of "insurance" money on top to kinda dissuade the uncommitted and account for inevitable unseen issues in the process.

So the question is you know you need a job shop probably one that specializes in prototype or one off jobs. How do you get the best price? You need to give them AS MUCH INFO ABOUT THE PROJECT AS POSSIBLE. Some common questions what material is it? What tolerance are the final features? When do you need it by? For paintball stuff material is almost always 6061 aluminum. For tolerance typical shop tolerances vary by shop but its generally accepted that +/-0.005 is a good place to start. You may not know the dimensions exactly for this but if you have the mating part, in this case the feedneck, tell them that you have it and that the feed neck just needs to fit over the modified feed neck. If you can show them examples of how others have done it even better. When do you need it is really up to you but I personally would not give the shop carte blanche over the time frame. I would give them 3-4 weeks this is a bit longer than the standard 2 week lead time but it holds them to a bit more of a schedule. Otherwise other jobs might keep pushing your project out. If this happens enough they might even forget why this thing is sitting on the shelf. Lastly this is something most people would not know to tell them and a shop that doesn't specialize in paintball would not think about. Let them know that the feedneck they are modifying is a press fit into the body. This lets them know to tone down their feedrates so as not to rip the neck from the body. Don't ask how I know that its possible.

[SETHZILLA!]

BMC Fabrication did mine. Also turned it into a mid-block while he had it for me.
If you want to send him a barrel or 5, he does freak boring too.

He just got a legit website up and running, so you can check it out here:

https://www.bmcfabricationservice.com/

[spikeball]

You also can look into local non-paintball machine shops. What you are wanting to do is pretty simple especially if you already have the part and can clearly explain what you need done and you are patient. Most of the time if you do not pressure them a local machine shop will work you in between bigger jobs when there isn't enough time in the day to start their next big one. I've had many things for paintball and vehicle projects handled by small local shops.

This is kind of what I had in mind. Just someone to create the threads so I can thread on the neck. It seems like it would be a simple job but I'm no machinist. I'd just be worried about the job going poorly and having my unique annoed body screwed up.

[flyweightnate]

Nummech did a nice job on mine; I bought their empire feedneck with it. They were the cheapest I found.