What are CNC Machined Enclosures?

CNC machined enclosures function to provide impeccable outer protection to your products as a result of their stable and durable nature of materials. They feature excellent mechanical properties including corrosion resistance, durability, longevity, as well as great machinability. Consequently, these impressive features make these parts perfect for vast varieties of applications in the industries today.

It offers varieties of styles you can select from. These styles can be customized to fit the requirement of each project.

Why Use CNC Machined Enclosures

The use of machined housing comes with a vast variety of benefits. They include below:

√ Accuracy & Precision

The use of the CNC machining process to manufacture enclosures allows for application with tight tolerances. Such applications may be found in aerospace and medical applications.

√ Customizability

The main CNC machining advantage for manufacturing enclosures is the freedom of customization. This means that the enclosure can be design to feature varieties of shape, size, and profile.

√ Excellent Corrosion Resistant

Secondary processes for enclosures materials such as aluminum and stainless steel add up an excellent corrosion resistance. Consequently, the parts are protected from environmental factors such as chemical irritants as well as other corrosive materials

√ Reliability and Durability

One interesting thing about CNC machined enclosures is that they do not bend or swell. These materials feature a high overall ruggedness rating as a result of their high tensile strength. These mechanical properties make them withstand high impacts when used in the field.

√ Natural RFI Shield

One of the reasons these enclosures are used in electronics is that they naturally block the passage of radio waves such as aluminum. This makes it possible to protect some sensitive devices.

Raw Materials

Classified by Material Type

√ Aluminum

At RapidDone, aluminum is the most popular material and one of the most lightweight materials for enclosures. It offers vast varieties of finishing options such as sandblasting, anodizing, bare metals, powder coat, and many more.

√ Stainless Steel

In CNC machining material use, stainless steel is a premium solution to corrosion resistance. This is as a result of its chromium and nickel contents. Consequently, these content materials add more cost which makes the material a little bit expensive than cold-rolled steel or aluminum. You can consider stainless steel as an option if your housing project requires better strength & toughness at cryogenic temperature.

√ Copper 

While we offer copper as part of the raw materials for CNC machined enclosures, it is used rarely as a material option. Interestingly, copper features excellent electrical conductivity and soft nature which makes it ideal for electrical and electronic applications.

√ Plastic

Plastics serve as a raw material for the enclosure. They are durable and sleek in their mode of action. Plastics are perfect for indoor applications where the weight and cost of great concern. Examples may include ABS, ASA+PC, PA, PC, and many more.

Classified by Customized Manufacturing Process

Another option of material from a customized manufacturing process include below:

√ Standard Raw Sheet Material or Rob Material or Tube

These materials are made directly by using the big tool or big machine, the size is big and thickness cover a full range, there is stock in the open market for most of the size.

Most of the machined enclosures use these types of materials.

√ Customized Aluminum Extrusion Material

This is another one that comes from another process called customized extrusion. Since it is customized, you make the extruded size to be close to your machined size, this offers a perfect material cost saving.

√ Customized Cold Forging Material

Workpiece materials made by cold forging are less affected by variation in temperature. Consequently, they ensure greater precision in geometric tolerance as well as better smoothness. The advantage of using cold-forged housing materials for your enclosure is that it saves more material costs and machining time when a high volume quantity is required.

Typical Manufacturing Process Used

For the creation of an enclosure, designing a CNC program and selection of materials are part of the preparatory phase. Then the next phase involves the machining manufacturing process. At RapidDone, we offer varieties of manufacturing processes as stated below.

3-axis, 4-axis, and 5-axis Milling Machines

Most projects of CNC machined enclosures are created using the 3-axis, 4-axis, and then the 5-axis milling machines. In terms of cost considerations, we shall consider the use of 3-axis and 4 axis milling machines. However, in a situation where undercut is required which the 3-axis and 4-axis milling can’t handle, then we use the 5-axis milling.

EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining)

At RapidDone, we take pride in our experience, professionalism, and expertise in delivering impressive enclosure solutions. Our client’s satisfaction is our priority which is why we also offer an EDM manufacturing solution. We offer the EDM capabilities in a situation where CNC machining is not sufficient to manufacture the enclosure designs. We’ll manufacture your enclosures using EDM to feature a high degree of functionality and customization.

Laser Engraving

Once your enclosure has been manufactured using any of the manufacturing processes stated above based on the nature of your enclosure, we then use laser engraving to attach your company logo, instruction, or application information on the surface. This can be done in varieties of methods including:

• Mechanical Operation by milling process
• Chemical operation by the etching process

Polishing: When Ra is Too High

Based on our expertise and professionalism we inspect the product for RA. Once the RA is too high, we then use the polishing process to smoothen the surface of the enclosure to the desired standard. This involves the use of abrasive particles as well as polishing tools on the surface of the CNC machined enclosures. It is mostly used when the roughness average (RA) of the end product of the parts is too high. Methods used for polishing may include:

• Mechanical
• By hand polishing

Applications

CNC machined enclosures have a vast variety of applications in different fields. They can be seen in varieties of industries in the following:

√ Medical Devices

CNC machined enclosure requirements and standards are to feature high-end and sophisticated housing. Its application can be found in medical instruments including:

• Ventilators
• Heart monitors
• Imaging equipment
• Carrying cases for handheld medical devices and many more

√ Consumer Electronics

Varieties of electronic companies prefer to use machined housings because of their ease of customization to match the aesthetics of consumer electronics. At the same time, they maintain reliable protection as well as fail-proof housing. They may come in the form of:

• Phone enclosures
• Remote controls
• Laptop enclosure
• Tablet enclosures

√ Housing for Industrial Equipment

CNC machining offers these enclosure solutions even when exposed to unconventional environments including high heat, high wear conditions, harsh environmental factors. In this CNC space, they may come in form of:

• Telecommunication cases
• Lift stations
• Solar battery storage
• Protected control boxes
• Wastewater treatment applications
• Sensitive electrical assemblies and many more

Work With us For your Projects

In conclusion, it is important to start on the right foot for the production of machined enclosures. This can be evident by choosing the right materials that will best suit the need of your enclosures. Also, you must consider the level of complexity with simplicity in mind. Remember, simple designs translate into higher manufacturability and the in turn lower the cost of production,

However, no matter the level of complexity, we are capable of delivering high-quality enclosure solutions. Reach out to us if you have questions about your project and also to request a quote. Our mission is to find long-lasting solutions to keep your project moving and innovative.