Small Polycarbonate Parts Production
When it comes to small polycarbonate parts production, nothing beats our CNC router in speed, precision and accuracy.
Although CNCROi.com cuts lots of polycarbonate for a whole host of custom applications, doing very small pieces has its own set of challenges where the specs are tight and the requirements are fixed.
Polycarbonate is a wonderful plastic material, it’s optically clear, incredibly strong (bulletproof glass!) and best of all, can be cut and color changed in a variety of ways.
Due to these two factors, making small polycarbonate parts is a great way to make specialized items that are durable and resilient in just about any environment where glass would shatter or break too easily.
Here’s an example of CNC laser cut polycarbonate that’s also color changed using our fiber laser source, something we do quite a bit of when it comes to medical applications.
CNCROi.com uses a variety of technologies to cut polycarbonate, for these small polycarbonate parts, we used our CNC router but as you can see from the burned edges, we also do the same here in the shop using our CNC laser and can do the same with the waterjet too.
As to which technology CNCROi.com employs to make custom polycarbonate parts, it depends on the material, shape and sizing specs.
When it comes to thicker polycarbonate, CNCROi.com can make parts using that too no problem, in this case quarter inch or 6 mm thick.
For these small polycarbonate parts, our CNC router has the most +s in the column than any other machine or fabrication type we have at CNCROi.com, so that’s what we used, our trusty and incredibly accurate ShopBot with a 1/8″ straight double flute bit.
CNC routers use a contact cutting method, as such, the part needs to be held down and secured, otherwise, it will fly off and wack people in the face looking at the work being done.
Another application we use polycarbonate for are stencils, they are easily washed, incredibly durable and make placing on substrates easy as you can see through it.
As these are small polycarbonate parts, it adds another complication because they are so easy to damage during production, so slow and steady wins the race.
I tried of course to speed things up and more optimally use materials but as you can see from the above and below picture, the results weren’t very good at all, so I just fine tuned the settings on our CNC router and produced small polycarbonate parts that were within specs.
All the frills you see going around the small polycarbonate parts are just the ripped-up masking, polycarbonate doesn’t rip like this, it acts more like a typical acrylic plastic but is way stronger.
When it comes to PETG and Polycarbonate, they couldn’t be any more different, check out this video showing you the differences using our Austrian wide-format industrial CNC laser.
The other material you see flying about when the small polycarbonate parts were being CNC routed is the MDF base that we screwed in the screws to hold everything together.
MDF does not scratch polycarbonate so it poses no issues or problems but the sacrificial board is important as CNCROi.com had to cut out all these parts, so going deeper into the MDF assures that the parts are all clearly cut through.
The added benefit of cutting into the MDF during the small polycarbonate parts production was that it helps to hold the small polycarbonate cutouts a bit better as there is something pushing along all the edges as cut through it.
I often get asked by customers why we make metal stencils instead of polycarbonate ones for some applications, here’s a good explanation for you!
The reason why everything is so messy is that I couldn’t run the vacuum system during the production of these small polycarbonate parts as they may be sucked-up and long gone.
Cutting small polycarbonate parts using our CNC router requires tabs to be made (then sanded after) to make sure that the part doesn’t move or flexx during the production process, movement means going out of spec and neither do we or the customer want that to happen.
Polycarbonate is so strong that even the 1.7 mm or 0.06″ thick small polycarbonate parts we are making today with our CNC router are impossible for a human to bend, rip or break.
When it comes to color changing polycarbonate, the results are permanent and visually striking with the same roughness of gritty sand paper or skateboard tape.
Although polycarbonate is incredibly strong, a sharp router bit will quickly and efficiently cut through it without any problems, which makes production cost-effective for our customers wanting small parts, if they were larger, I’d cut them out using our CNC laser.
What you see in these photos is a combination of small polycarbonate parts, polycarbonate chips and MDF shavings produced while making these parts, it’s an interesting mix of materials.
These small polycarbonate parts are now finished being CNC routed and the tabs have been sanded off, ready for shipment from CNCROi.com to our customer!
Have some polycarbonate parts that need making?
Contact CNCROi.com right now!