CNC Milling of acrylic glass and thermoplastics

Tips on milling plastic

When milling plastic, some criteria have to be considered which are responsible for whether top results are achieved in the final product.

These points are important to consider:

1. Clamping free of tension

The clamping should be as free of tension as possible to obtain distortion-free results.

2. The cutting tool should be extremely sharp

The smoother a plastic is, the more difficult is the machining of the material. Also, polished flutes at the cutter help to evacuate the hot chips cleanly and reliably to prevent clogging of the flutes.

3. Cooling directly at the cutting tool

For most types of plastics, it is to required to cool the milling process directly on the router using a coolant. Often plain water is enough. The melting point of the material to be milled is lowered which also can prevent clogging on the cutter to prevent a final rupture.

4. Low rotational speed

You should choose the rotational speed of the cutting tool as low as possible when milling plastic to prevent increasing temperatures at the infeed point.

5. Deburring of the workpiece after milling

Plastic has to be deburred after milling because the chipping produces sharp edges which cause the risk of injury or the damage of power cables. For the sake of blunting the sharp edges, they are deburred with a special blade of a deburring tool.