Custom Lexan Parts: Prototype Polycarbonate Cutting

Making custom lexan parts, otherwise known as polycarbonate, is a relatively easy process regardless of thickness for CNCROi.com because we have both a full sheet CNC router and CNC laser which means we have many different cutting options to optimize the end-result.

CNCROi.com also has two fiber laser sources, which means we can also etch and anneal the polycarbonate jet black without using ink in order to produce permanent branding on the polycarbonate parts we make without chipping, fading or cracking over time.

When it comes to making custom lexan parts using our CNC router, our only limitation is the diameter of the bit we use but CNCROi.com can cut far thicker polycarbonate than otherwise possible using our CNC laser.

When it comes to the size and shape of your custom lexan parts, literally anything goes, the only limitation with the laser is the material thickness as polycarbonate tends to hold onto heat and warp while our CNC router cannot cut inner corners like the laser but a lot thicker material because of the bit used that doesn’t generate the heat the laser does.

You’ll see the polycarbonate build-up on the router bit, this is no big deal, it flies off or cut itself off during production, our full sheet CNC router isn’t impeded in any way with this extra baggage that tends to build-up and fly off during production.

We’ve made parts for robots, medical and aerospace… including industrial applications using polycarbonate.

With custom lexan parts, CNCROi.com can’t just cut the parts but also permanently brand them, this is a massive advantage when it comes to ultimate customization of what we produce, think serial numbers, graphics or anything else you want on the parts we fabricate for you.

For this specific job, CNCROi.com had to employ two different bits, one was a pocket about 1/8″ 3 mm diameter followed by the larger quarter inch 6 mm bit to cut the part out, we did experience melting along the edges but this comes out a lot better after a quick cleaning.

In order to keep everything precise, we made the first pass of these custom lexan parts with the pocket so the entire sheet isn’t carved into, it’s pretty much a straight drilling operation just a few mm deep.

Small parts have their own challenges to contend with, but CNCROi.com can make small just as easily as big parts.

The next step is switching to the quarter inch 6 mm diameter bit, this will cut the parts out, I could technically use our 1/8″ 3 mm bit to cut this material out but the quality of a larger bit, especially through quarter inch 6 mm thick polycarbonate, makes a big difference.

Generally we use our 3/8″ bit which has a lot more rigidity to cut out parts from such a thick polycarbonate but I wanted to see the results on this prototype piece first and it was alright for this application.

A bigger diameter bit does cut faster but it also removes more material, but the extra rigidity does make a slight difference in edge quality if I was making a lot of parts instead of only a few.

You can already see a lot more material being removed during the passes with this quarter inch bit over the 1/8″ one on this custom lexan parts production.

Big polycarbonate parts, small polycarbonate parts, no problem either way for us!

During production, I’d actually have the dust shroud on the machine but for better visuals in film and photography to show you what’s happening, I took it off for these few parts being made at CNCROi.com.

Not shown in these videos or photographs is the fiber branding we did on these parts after they are cut out with our CNC router.

All those little chips you see building-up around the cut area are just carved out polycarbonate chips, they come right off the surface.

These custom lexan parts have the protective masking on both sides to protect everything from scratches during further production and branding at CNCROi.com.

Here’s the polycarbonate part I show in the video with the fiber annealed surface.

What I really enjoy about making these custom lexan parts for customers is that we have so much flexibility in volume and finished parts which means we can pretty much make anything for them.

You’ll notice that there isn’t anything holding down this sheet of polycarbonate, the reason for that is because our CNC router has a vacuum table, which means this sheet of plastic is being sucked down on the table, so it won’t move.

One issue with polycarbonate or plastics in general with a vacuum table is that the more parts you cut, the less hold the pieces have, this is why for larger production runs, the process you see here of cutting out individual parts doesn’t work.

As these are prototypes for an actual production run, some corners are cut just to make things quick and easy for our customer to evaluate as the extra programming required isn’t worth it for so few parts.

I’ve made products using polycarbonate using both our CNC router and laser, face shields are just an idea of what’s possible for CNCROi.com.

Now that these custom lexan parts are just about done, you can see how they are all identical, that’s the nice thing about our CNC router, it’s precise and can cut the same or different pieces all day and night without skipping a beat.

You do see the chips of polycarbonate flying all over the table surface, up to several feet in any direction, this is what the dust shroud prevents, it sucks the pieces up so that the clean-up afterwards is a lot easier at CNCROi.com.

The final part of this production run of prototype custom lexan parts is just about done, the sheet of MDF along the back helps hold things in place as that too is being sucked down from the vacuum table.

And now, you can see all three pieces, the forth piece you see that’s missing is actually an even earlier prototype we made at CNCROi.com internally just to verify settings for this custom lexan parts job.

Need custom polycarbonate parts? Contact CNCROi.com right now!