Good progress! I'm in for results.
Not trying to be negative, but it's going to be tough to find a shop that will make this prototype for you on a small budget. It's a large business risk for them not knowing if they will get the follow-on orders. The NRE cost for a one off part is mostly what is driving the cost up...that and 5 axis time is never cheap (don't think you actually need 5-axis capability to make this part as a one off). You would be better off if you could find a friend (or someone here on the forum) with access to a machine shop that will do the labor for free/cheap for this prototype. Even better if you have access to MastercamX (or equivalent) and can do the NC programming yourself. For a cheap fit check, you could always invest a few hundred bucks to get a plastic rapid prototype made.
Good luck and hope you are able to get your test part fabbed up soon!
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