Advantages of CNC Machining

• 01

  Variety of Production-grade Materials

  CNC prototype machining can use a variety of production-grade plastic and metal materials, which allows engineers to use the same (or similar) materials as the final part to make prototypes to test the product’s performance, function, and manufacturing cost.

• 02

  Consistently Surface Finishing

  Prototype machining provides a consistently smooth surface finish with a typical machined surface roughness of Ra 1.6μm and super-finish machined surfaces up to Ra 0.2μm. additional costs.

• 03

  Highly Accurate Parts With Tight Tolerances

  CNC machining can create parts with greater dimensional accuracy than most other common manufacturing technologies. During the final finishing machining steps, material can be removed from the workpiece very accurately, achieving very tight tolerances.

• 4

  One-off Custom Parts & Prototypes

  In contrast to formative technologies (Injection Molding), CNC machining does not need any special tooling. So, the on-demand production of custom one-off parts and prototypes is economically viable. This is especially relevant for one-off custom metal parts and prototypes, where CNC is the most cost-competitive solution.

CNC Machining Tolerances

Precision Machining

How IDEAL to Improve the Precision of CNC Machining?

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CNC Machining Finishes

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Our Maxime Size Range of Your Machine Ability

CNC Machining FAQ

• Q: Is CNC machining expensive?

  A:The price of your CNC machining projects depends on the product’s complexity and the number of parts you want to make. For example, if you’re making a part that has a combined machining and material cost of $2 and a setup cost of $200, one part will cost $202. However, if you make 200 parts, each would cost $3!

• Q: What Determines CNC Machining Cost?

  A:1. Material
  As CNC machining is a subtractive process, it tends to use more material than what will be on the final product. Machinists buy these materials in blocks, and they calculate the prices per block.
  Plastics are cheaper to use for CNC machining due to the lower average price for the bulk materials and the shorter machining times due to their lower hardness. Plastics like ABS, Nylon 6, and POM (Delrin) have approximately the same bulk costs as Aluminium 6061, although they might cost a little higher per block. Plastics like PEEK are really expensive and should only be used when absolutely necessary.
  2. Machining Cost
  Machining costs also depends on two factors: the price of the machine and the number of hours the machine is expected to operate in a year (which is 5000 hours on an average). The machinists divide the machine’s price by the number of hours it will operate in a year to determine their machine shop rates (also known as the machining cost per hour).
  3. Labor
  The programmer who converts the CAD file into a CAM file to help the CNC machine understand the design. All this expertise will come at a price. Also, The cost of set up depends on the quantity of the parts to be produced. After production, your production will require some assembly and transportation to your desired location. These processes will involve some manual labor which incurs additional costs.
  

• Q: How to Reduce CNC Machining Cost?

  A:1. Reconsider Material
  The material you’ll use for your product is a huge determinant in CNC machining costs. You should consider the price of the material before choosing it for the production process. Also, the machinability of the material is very important. This determines the machining time, which in turns, affects the CNC machine shop hourly rates for your production process.
  2. Optimize Design
  The complexity of your design determines the length of the machining times, which, in turn, affects the costs. To minimize the complexity of your design, you can consider the following questions before sending the design for quoting:
  – Is my part optimized using the Designing for Machinability guidelines?
  – Are all features in my model necessary? Can I remove or simplify any of them and still retain full functionality of my part?
  – Can my design be split into multiple parts that are easier to CNC machine and then assembled?
  – Is there a way to modify my design to eliminate the need for multiple machine setups or special tooling?
  – Is there a less expensive or easier to machine material that can fulfill my design requirements?

• Q: What information do you need to quote my part?

  A:In order to provide a meaningful quote, we require the following information:
  We accept CAD data in any format, 2D and 3D, including STP, IGES, X_T, DWG, PDF, STL; The expected quantities, machining processes, and raw materials required; Any necessary secondary operations, including finishing specifications, heat treatment, anodizing or plating, etc.
  Any applicable customer specifications, such as First Article Inspection, PPAP requirements, and required outside process certificates;
  Any other useful information, such as target pricing or required lead times.

• Q: How quickly can I receive a quote from you?

  A:In most cases, we will respond to your quote within 1 business day. The best way to help ensure a quick quote is to provide as much accurate and specific information as possible.

• Q: What is your leading time?

  A:In fact, there is no standard delivery time and we will schedule production based on the current workload. Once your purchase order is received, documentation is completed, and materials are available, we will provide prompt feedback on the exact delivery time, which can usually be anywhere from 3 business days to a few weeks, depending on the complexity of the part and quantities of parts ordered.