Non-paintball manufacturing help
Hello,
I have a project I'm working on (actually, the same one as I've mentioned before), and I need a bit of advice for determining the best way to manufacture something.
I need to build rails that will hold a large (4'x8'x1/2") sheet of acrylic. I'd like to use rectangular steel tube (1"x2"x9', 0.120" wall) as a starting point, then either machine slots a touch over 8' long and ~5/8" wide or cut the top side off the steel tube. Regardless of the method chosen, I was going to use plastic or rubber extrusion to buffer the acrylic from the steel.
So here's my question: What's the best way to put a long, 8' slot in 24, 9' long rectangular steel tubes? Just get someone with a torch to do it? Is there a machine that can cut slots like that easily? Get a router, build a jig and do it myself? Any estimates on cost?
Alternatively, the slots could go the full length of the rails - although I'm having a bit of trouble finding "C" channel of appropriate dimensions in steel tube.
Any suggestions to get me started somewhere would be immensely appreciated.
Steve