Watch out for thin walls – CNC machining design TIP
October 23, 2018
There are a lot of CNC machining design tips to share with you. One common design issue that we see a lot of are walls that are designed too thin. With CNC machining, if your walls are designed too thin you risk warping and affecting the overall accuracy of the part. HLH recommends keeping walls for metal parts > 0.8mm and walls for plastic parts > 1.5mm.
Follow this design tip and others coming up for a part design that is well suited for CNC machining. Below is some further CNC machining guidance which may help you with designing a successful part for CNC machining.
HLH Max CNC Machining Size: 3000x1200x850mm
Advantages
High speed
High dimensional accuracy
Great surface finish
Wide material selection
High volumes
Rapid prototypes
Drawbacks
It can be expensive for complex
parts and for larger parts.
Tolerances – ISO 2768-1 states the tightest tolerances possible as standard are +/- 0.05mm for metals or +/- 0.2mm for plastics. Tighter tolerances should be discussed case by case.
Surface Finishes
Polishing
Sand blasting
Painting
Plating & More
Popular Materials
Plastic ABS, PC, Acrylic
Metal SS304, 316
Aluminium 6061, 7075
Plus many more
Tips and Tricks
Radius internal corners
Loosen tolerances where possible
Keep features perpendicular to the six sides
Reduce the number of setups
Keep it simple