- Resin Printer. If there any reason you couldn’t 3D print these on the resin printer and then just clean up the holes with a drill press? That’s what I would do this if this were my project.
EDIT: Depending on the thickness, you can just laser cut the thinner (i.e., Acrylic) piece.
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Shapeoko XXL. Shapeoko XXL is feasible, but it’s not going to be nearly as easy as you think it should be. You need to know just as much machining to run it on the Shapeoko as you would need to run it on a manual mill. Your strategy to hold it onto the bed and square/parallel will be crucial - there’s no vise. IIWM, I’d drill two small holes in the center of the stock and bolt the stock onto your own spoil board. I’d machine the outer edges and the four corner holes. Then I’d screw through the corner holes into the spoil board (or use clamps), remove the center screws, and machine the center cavity. Then I’d remove it from the Shapeoko and drill the lengthwise hole using the drill press.
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Sherline mill is a feasible solution. The vise opens to 2", so if your part is truly 5cm it should just barely fit.
(a) Cut your stock to size using a saw of some type - but cut a little large. If you need this thing square, you will have to square it on the mill unless saw cut is good enough.
(b) You don’t need starter holes for the interior cavity, just mill them out. If you need to put something square into that cavity, then make a final pass using a small endmill (1/8") and “dog ear” the corners slightly by going slightly past the edge.
(c) Is the thicker one really 2 cm thick?? You’re probably going to have to use at least a 1/4" end mill to get that depth of cut (and obviously not all in one pass). BTW, thickness isn’t specified on the thinner piece.
(d) It’s unlikely that we have a 6mm drill. 6mm is 0.2362" - but it’s possible we have a 15/64" which is 0.234. If it’s just a clearance hole that might be good enough.
(e) You will probably have to drill the two (lengthwise?) holes in the thicker part using the drill press/vise because I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to have enough column height to use a drill that long in the Sherline. I just set it up in my Sherline and I don’t have enough height … but if we have a 1/4" chuck with a morse taper for the headstock, you might just barely squeak by.
(f) BTW, Sherline mill is Training Required.
- Bridgeport mill. You could easily do the thicker one on the Bridgeport using the same steps I describe above, but I’d be concerned about bending the thinner one in the Bridgeport’s vise.
