Our Outstanding Machining Plastic Services
RapidDone has a professional plastic machining capability. We can handle all kinds of different plastic manufacturing projects depends on customers’ ideas and preferences. Our engineer team can always be able to choose the most suitable process to build your project.
Your Best CNC Plastic Machining Services
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√ Offer the best CNC machines to allow us to machine high-precision parts
√ Offers the best CNC machine tools to allow us to machine complex plastic parts
√ We can support both CNC Lathe and CNC mill services at the same time
√ Use a high-quality raw plastic sheets and plastic blocks for machining
√ We are one of the best companies with competitive price in China
√ We have a professional engineering team and sales team as support
√ Our strong engineer team can support you with custom plastic machining parts
√ Our one-stop of CNC machining plastic solution makes your business safe
√ We support NDA to protect your design and your business
Custom Plastic Parts Prototype to Skyrocket Your Brand
RapidDone has an experienced team that has built more than 1000 plastic projects, covering different types of sizes, materials, surface finishings. We keep developing unique products to meet every client’s needs.
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Black ABS Machining Part
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Plastic CNC Lathe Part
CNC Plastic Machining Services-The Complete Guide
Are you looking for the most comprehensive guide for plastic CNC machining services?
Or, you are planning to look at a CNC machining supplier from China.
Well, this guide shall help you in this regard.
In this article, we are going to cover everything to let you know about all the details.
What is Plastic CNC Machining?
This refers to a subtractive manufacturing process that transforms a stock piece of plastic material into a finished part by using a milling machine, lathe machine, or other machines.
Compared with metal material, we are using the same CNC machines to deal with plastics. However, plastic material is much softer than metals. Therefore, CNC machines simply run faster and turn a design into a physical part at a higher efficiency.
How Many Typical Plastic CNC Machining Processes Are There?
There is a lot of machining progresses for plastic material, the typical types are as below.
First, it is milling. This process is the most widespread method, most of the plastic parts are created by the CNC milling method. The reason is that milling is easier to build complex features, this fits with part manufacturing requirements.
Next, we have the Lathe machining process. It normally is well suited for producing parts with a circle shape. The advantage is this process usually cuts material at a higher efficiency.
Lastly, the other typical operations include drilling, sawing.
At RapidDone, we hold all of these machining processes, so we can fulfill a lot of different machined requirements.
What Plastic Material Machining Services Rapiddone can Offer?
CNC machining has a strong manufacturing ability to cut most of the engineering plastic materials in the market.
At RapidDone, we can offer strong machining services, we are able to create plastic parts with a full range of machined materials including sheets and round rods.
See the below list to check out all services we can work on.
• PTFE (Teflon) Material Machining
• PEEK Machining
• ABS Material Machining
• Nylon Material Machining
• Polycarbonate CNC Machining
• Acrylic CNC Machining
• Delrin Machining
• HDPE Material Machining
The Typical Finishings
Usually, the plastic part surface is a little ugly after machining, people can see tool marks and blurs. Thus, we will ask for an additional process done to your machined parts, this is called surface finishing progress.
At Rapiddone, we support a full range of finishes for your product. The following is a list of the standard secondary processes we can do.
√ Deburring
√ Polishing
√ Painting
√ Silkscreening
√ Sanding
√ Custom processes
The Application Fields
Today, CNC machines are found from small-scale industries to big companies in almost all industries, we can rely on it for an endless number of applications to meet our business needs.
Based on our manufacturing experience, we can apply the below application for both prototyping and end-use production.
√ Automotive Industry
√ Medical Industry
√ Optical Industry
√ Robotics Industry
√ Electronics Industry
√ Measuring Devices Industry
What Are Cutting Tips For a Successful Plastic Machining?
RapidDone team has more than ten years in this manufacturing field, so we can offer some good tips on your plastic machined projects when you come to us.
To have your part done with high quality, we suggest considering the below important points.
√ Use Less Setups
Setup is related to machining time and efficiency, more setups mean more time for re-clamping. Besides, more setups bring a higher tolerance.
We suggest using fewer setups, this can reduce machining time and raise machining tolerance for your plastic parts.
√ Reduce Clamping Force
Plastic is a soft material. Therefore, you may create a visible mark if you clamp it with too much force. Besides, it may crack the blank part during machining due to too much tension.
Due to this, it is important to clamp the part correctly. Here, we suggest below two steps for a correct clamping way.
- Step1-make sure to use less force during clamping.
- Step2-we can add a softer material between the fixtures and machined parts, this additional material can absorb some additional forces.
√ Try to Avoid Elastomers Plastic Material
Because soft plastic tends to deform when the cutter attempts to cut the material, resulting in a bigger tolerance for the machined part.
Elastomers plastic, like rubber, is a flexible plastic with low hardness. Therefore, we should try to avoid cutting this type of plastic with the CNC machining process.
√ Select the Cutting Tool Correctly
First, try to use a cutting tool that can create smaller chips.
Secondly, it is important to keep your cutter to be as sharp as possible, especially for a softer plastic material like rubber.
√ Avoid Hot Chip
As the hot chip is not good for the machined part especially for plastic parts, it is important to remove the chip as fast as possible during machining.
It is suggested to take three rules.
- Keep the cutting tool moves fat all the way, this can prevent creating too much heat.
- Keep a big feed rate, make it be 3X faster comparing with aluminum machining.
- Do not keep the tool running in one place for too long. If not, it will create huge heat and damage the plastic part badly.
√ Cooling The Cutting Tool
For most types of plastics, it is necessary to cool the whole process directly on the tooling using coolant. This effect is obvious as this will take out a lot of heat and prevent the plastic part from damaged by heat.
√ Remember The Deburring
Deburring is a necessary and important step for plastic machined parts.
What Are The Advantages Of Plastic CNC Machining?
There are a lot of advantages to this process, the typical ones are as below.
1- Quick Turnaround Time
Unlike plastic injection molding, it does not ask for tooling that takes several weeks, CNC machining only asks for a CAD file for the CNC machine. Therefore, this can cuts down production time dramatically to be several days.
2- Easy To Produce High-Quality Parts
Due to the materials available and the production process, CNC machining can produce more robust plastic parts than the 3D printing process. Besides, it is easy to create precision parts that reach 0.001” mm.
3- Low Cost
As the material is much softer than metal material, it can be cut easily in a high-efficiency way with a shorter manufacturing time. Therefore, it brings the cost down.
What Are The Limitations Of Plastic Machining?
There are mainly four limitations.
First, plastics materials do not conduct away heat generated well, the plastic machining heat needs to be handled correctly. Otherwise, the hot plastic chip can cause a burning and distortion problem for the machined part easily.
Next, the machining ability is limited to the more rigid plastics materials.
Thirdly, it requires robust jigs and fixtures for volume production.
At last, the cost is relatively high for volume orders. In another word, the CNC machining method is only good for prototyping order and low-volume production.
FAQs
What Are the Size Ranges for Machining?
Unless the size is tiny, there is no limitation for the short-size part. Short size runs comparatively economical as it takes less material and less machining time.
However, there is a limitation for the large size part. It depends on the machine processing stroke, most CNC machining has a processing stroke at 1 meter, rarely reach 2 meters.
Therefore, it is suggested to design your plastic part to be less than 1 meter if you want to build your plastic parts with the CNC machining process.
Can We Machine Nylon Gear?
Yes, it is. We machined a lot of Nylon gear parts in our factory.
Normally, nylon gear asks for a high precision regarding dimension due to function requirements.
How to Avoid Distortion During Plastic Machining Process?
This is a tricky issue.
It is all about friction and heat during material cutting. Basic on our experience, to avoid melting the plastic, you need to set the three processing parameters right at the same time: RPM, bits, and feed speeds.
Once you have a solid project, you can talk to our experienced team to get a detailed answer.
When You Should Use CNC Machining Way For An Plastic Prototyping Order?
CNC machining process is good for prototyping order and low volume manufacturing order. Therefore, when the order quantity is less than 100pcs as well as high-quality requirements, it is an ideal way.
However, the best way is to talk to our quotation team about your project. Our team can work out a quotation sheet with cost and lead time information based on different processes, then you can make the best decision.
What Are The Differences Between Plastic Machining And Metal Machining?
Metal and plastic are two totally different materials. There are a lot of differences in the CNC machining process, the major differences as the following:
- Metals tend to have higher melting temperatures than plastics, thus, metals have less chance to have a melting issue.
- Plastics have higher elasticity than metals. Therefore, plastic cutting can run the bits at a higher feed speed, this can lead to a higher cutting efficacy.
- Usually, plastic parts are cheaper than metal parts by using the same CNC machining process.
What Is The Difference Between Plastic Stamping And Plastic Machining?
Plastic stamping refers to the use of a die and a high-speed punch press to cut raw material into parts.
Plastic machining, on the other hand, refers to cutting raw material by using a bit at a CNC machine.
They are two different manufacturing processes.
Plastic stamping is good for simple parts in high volumes, while plastic CNC machining is ideal for complicated parts with lower quantity production.
Conclusion
It is very important to note that you need to work with a professional partner, a good supplier can make you sleep easier at night.
When you need plastic CNC machining services, we are here to make your business profitable.
What matters to us most is your success.
We offer the best plastic CNC machining in a cost-effective way. Please contact us today, and we’ll tailor a suitable solution for your needs.