Customer Logan Reed wrote in recently to show us the beautiful table he made with help from Big Blue Saw.
The legs were waterjet cut from 1 inch thick aluminum 6061 using our low taper process. As shown in the outline of the CAD design, the legs are approximately 18 inches tall.
For information on how this was designed and assembled, check out Logan's earlier blog post on a prototype made back in 2012
Here are the legs newly arrived from Big Blue Saw:
And another view of the table:
See more of the table on Logan's Tumblr site.
We love our customers, and starting Monday, February 13, you'll be able to save with sweetheart deals on custom aluminum parts. During our Valentine's Day sale, Big Blue Saw is offering savings on waterjet cutting your designs from 0.125 inch (1/8 inch) thick aluminum 6061.
Gather your loved ones together and place your orders online to automatically receive quantity discounts.
Here are some examples of how you can save:
This lovable 21 x 21 inch robot baseplate design is normally $114.40 when ordered in quantity 1. That's with waterjet cut from aluminum 6061 1/8 inch thick. During the sale, this same part would be just $56 in quantity 1. That's a savings of $58.40, a savings even the most emotionless robot couldn't ignore.
Normally, our cherished "Butterfly" example piece is $92.10 in quantity 1. During the sale, it will be only $9.20. That's a honeybunch of savings of $82.90 or 90%.
This nameplate design (perfect if your paramour happens to be named "Gavin Chan") when waterjet cut from aluminum 6061 alloy in 0.125" is typically $92.10 when you're getting just 1 piece. But during the sale, you can get it in quantity 1 for just $10.60, or $81.50 off!
Remember that the sale is only on custom waterjet cut aluminum 6061 parts in 0.125 inch thickness ordered through the website during the sale. And the sale ends on February 15. So upload your designs to our online quoting and ordering system now.
When you order custom waterjet cut cold rolled steel on the Big Blue Saw website, you've got a choice of several different thicknesses for your parts. We offer the following thicknesses, from 0.0239 inch all the way up to 0.135 inch:
0.0239, 0.0299, 0.0359, 0.048, 0.0598, 0.075, 0.09, 0.105, 0.12, 0.135
But why these sizes in particular? Why not nice round numbers like 0.04 inches or at least useful fractions like 1/16 (0.0625)? These values aren't round numbers when converted to metric, either.
The answer lies in the gauge system of standard sheet metal thicknesses. In the US, standards for sheet metal come from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). AISI standards tell manufacturers how thick to make steel sheets (the gauge) as well as what tolerances are allowed.
Many of our customers are used to the gauge system when ordering parts cut from steel sheet. So a customer might e-mail us to ask about getting a set of parts waterjet cut from 14 gauge steel, rather than asking for parts 0.075 inches thick.
Confusingly, as the gauge gets higher, the thickness gets lower. So 10 gauge steel is a stout 0.135 inches thick (about as thick as a stack of 2 quarters), whereas 24 gauge is a puny 0.0239 inches thick (thinner than a credit card).
In the chart below, you can see the thickness we sell, its corresponding gauge, and its metric equivalent. In the chart, inch and millimeter measurements are only for cold rolled steel sheet, not aluminum, not stainless steel, nor any other material. Other materials have their own gauge system. That's an article for another time.
Big Blue Saw's Nominal Thickness, Inches |
Gauge | Minimum Thickness, Inches |
Maximum Thickness, Inches |
Nominal Thickness, mm |
Minimum Thickness, mm |
Maximum Thickness, mm |
0.135 | 10 | 0.1285 | 0.1405 | 3.429 | 3.264 | 3.569 |
0.12 | 11 | 0.1136 | 0.1256 | 3.048 | 2.885 | 3.190 |
0.105 | 12 | 0.0986 | 0.1106 | 2.667 | 2.504 | 2.809 |
0.09 | 13 | 0.0847 | 0.0947 | 2.286 | 2.151 | 2.405 |
0.075 | 14 | 0.0697 | 0.0797 | 1.905 | 1.770 | 2.024 |
0.0589 | 16 | 0.0548 | 0.0648 | 1.524 | 1.392 | 1.646 |
0.048 | 18 | 0.0438 | 0.0518 | 1.219 | 1.113 | 1.316 |
0.0359 | 20 | 0.0329 | 0.0389 | 0.912 | 0.836 | 0.988 |
0.0299 | 22 | 0.0269 | 0.0329 | 0.759 | 0.683 | 0.836 |
0.0239 | 24 | 0.0209 | 0.0269 | 0.607 | 0.531 | 0.683 |
For example, when Big Blue Saw gets an order for a part from 0.12 inch thick Cold Rolled Steel A366/1008, we'll use the gauge size sheet provided to us by our suppliers. Based on the standard tolerances, the parts the customer receives may be as thin as 0.1136 inches or as thick as 0.1256 inches. Be sure to design your assemblies to tolerate this kind of variation in thickness.
If you're wondering how these sizes relate to various real world objects, read our article on deciding on a material thickness.
It's time to start planning for the next sale on custom waterjet cut parts. The sale starts Monday, February 13 and runs through Wednesday, February 15, 2017. The sale material this time around will be aluminum 6061 in 0.125 inch thickness. Get your designs ready now and upload them to the online quoting and ordering system.