[EricH]

Originally Posted by David Noll

I know there is a post on similar lines but my situation is a bit different...
My team has the money we need to operate but we don't have sponsors for materials, instead of getting people to donate/reduce price on tools and metal we have to shell out the majority of our budget to buy this stuff. Because our money goes towards parts and tools (barely) the students have to pay for hotels and airlines, etc; and we have problems retaining a mentor with the meager salary we can offer them for the huge time commitment we require.
Any suggestion on how to approach or find industrial supply or metal for our needs?
Also, and a bit aside, I noticed a lot of people talking about CNC mills; we would not have the finances for a good CNC mill unless we didn't build a robot for a year. Is it normal for teams to get one?

Paid mentors--see if you can get a volunteer.

CNC--You don't need it. My old team only has a drill press and hand tools--the press belongs to a mentor. Come to think of it, the same goes for my current team.

To find industrial supply/machine supply/machine shops, try the phone book. You'd look under machine shops, metal, or any other relevant "keyword". You could do the same thing on the internet. Then, you find the place and talk to the manager or owner. If you can get them on board, you should have no problem. They may even be able to tell you other places to look.