Sheet stock pricing guidelines from various sources we use. Types of common sheet good related services are milling plywood, milling composites milling plastics, milling metals and milling foam. Sheet stock can be used to make parts, furniture, signs, forms and endless other fabrication uses. The most common for us is plywood, composites such as MDF and color MDF along with plastic.
MDF, foam and sometimes solid hardwood can be used for milling 3D shapes on the CNC. Most sheet stock is typically used in as a 2D surface, though there may be pockets or recessed for attachment of other pieces.
Be aware that 4x8 sheets of material need be sent by truck or fleet service and this can occur a cost greater than the material itself. Usually between $50 to $350. Ordering a few sheets of MDF or plywood a local supplier is going to cost $50 to send down the road. Ordering a few sheets of plastic from Pennsylvania which goes on an 18 wheeler across several states may cost you $250 - $350. The material will need to go on a pallet which generates a crating fee of around $50. Then the supplier has to haggle with the fleet shipper based on your receiving shipping zone (zip code). This charged is based on distance, size weight. Weight is the key here. One pound though five hundred pounds might be the same fee. So if you order one full sheet of acrylic for $70 it will likely cost you $250 to ship. If you order 20 sheets of the same material it will still only cost you $250 to ship because you are taking up the same space on the freight vehicle but have not exceeded the lowest weight category. Now each piece of material becomes cost effective. If you order a small piece of plastic, say 12"x24" that can be shipped affordably by standard carrier like UPS or FedEX. Sometimes the supplier wont bother to deal with the fleet service because that can be hours of work. You pay the freight on your end not knowing that you will be charged. To this point I will not spend hours dealing with the shipping company to get you a free quote. You can take this on or I can bill you for my time creating a cost proposal.
