Which material to choose for CNC machining?
The CNC machining process is suitable for various engineering materials, including metal, plastics, and composites. The optimal material choice for CNC manufacturing depends mainly on its properties and specifications.
What are the specifics of different CNC materials?
CNC machining can produce parts from almost any metal or plastic. The properties of interest of these materials are:
● mechanical strength: expressed by the tensile yield strength;
● machinability: the ease of machining influences the price of CNC;
● the cost of the material;
● hardness: mainly for metals;
● temperature resistance: mainly for plastics.
CNC Metals
● Applications that require high strength, hardness, and thermal resistance exploit metals or, rather, metal alloys.
● Aluminum: used to create custom metal parts and prototypes.
● Stainless steel can be easily welded, machined, and polished.
● Mild steel, or low-carbon steel: used for machine parts, jigs, and fixtures.
● Alloy steel contains other alloying elements in addition to carbon to improve hardness, toughness, fatigue, and wear resistance.
● Tool steel is advantageous for fabrication tools such as dies, stamps, and molds.
● Brass is ideal for applications that require low friction and architecture to design gold-looking parts for aesthetic purposes.
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