Three tips to save CNC machining costs
Before the project starts, the cost of the CNC machine is calculated. When manufacturing parts with CNC machining process, the processing cost should be minimized.
Customers have some fixed requirements that cannot be modified, but there are still different ways to reduce processing costs, as follows:
1. Quantity
If you need to make a large number of parts, you can save a lot of processing costs. The cost per unit part will be reduced because you only need to design the same part once. In this case, you need to repeat the machine settings for each part, which will also reduce production costs.
2. Choose materials wisely
In order to reduce the cost of the product, special attention should be paid to the selection of materials. Materials with good mechanical properties will have lower processing costs. Keeping in mind the functionality of the product, you must choose the best available materials that are easy to process. There is a difference in the price of plastic and metal materials. Of course, you can let your manufacturer give you more suggestions on material selection according to your project needs.
3. Design optimization
If some features of the product do not affect the function, the design should be optimized to avoid processing these features, thereby reducing production costs.
3.1 Consider hole size and profile
When manufacturing your CNC parts, you should ensure that your part features (for example, holes, contours, slots, threads, and so on) can be manufactured using commonly used standard tools. Custom hole and thread sizes require special tools, which can be very expensive. There is a lot of information on the Internet about the standard sizes used in the processing industry.
3.2 Avoid thin walls and deep cavities in part design
Thin-walled parts and deep cavities are difficult to achieve by machining, and they are often prone to dimensional inaccuracies. These part features tend to cause the part to vibrate and sometimes cause the part to be scrapped.
3.3 Avoid very tight tolerances as much as possible
Parts with extremely tight tolerances are often difficult to implement and therefore expensive. Control is only made when a dimension is critical to the overall functionality of the part. A good piece of advice we can give you is to have a common reference point or fiducial point when designing parts. This will help both you and the mechanic. Firstly, you minimize the dimensional control on the part, and secondly, the machinist, reduce inspection time, which also reduces costs.
3.4 If complexity is unavoidable, part of the complex is transformed into modular components
When a part becomes too complex, it is recommended to disassemble an entire part into multiple parts for assembly. This will make machining much easier and simpler. It greatly reduces set-up time, reduces machining operations and optimizes machining time. This is a common strategy used by designers to promote the manufacturability of parts and reduce their manufacturing costs.
Customers have some fixed requirements that cannot be modified, but there are still different ways to reduce processing costs, as follows:
1. Quantity
If you need to make a large number of parts, you can save a lot of processing costs. The cost per unit part will be reduced because you only need to design the same part once. In this case, you need to repeat the machine settings for each part, which will also reduce production costs.
2. Choose materials wisely
In order to reduce the cost of the product, special attention should be paid to the selection of materials. Materials with good mechanical properties will have lower processing costs. Keeping in mind the functionality of the product, you must choose the best available materials that are easy to process. There is a difference in the price of plastic and metal materials. Of course, you can let your manufacturer give you more suggestions on material selection according to your project needs.
3. Design optimization
If some features of the product do not affect the function, the design should be optimized to avoid processing these features, thereby reducing production costs.
3.1 Consider hole size and profile
When manufacturing your CNC parts, you should ensure that your part features (for example, holes, contours, slots, threads, and so on) can be manufactured using commonly used standard tools. Custom hole and thread sizes require special tools, which can be very expensive. There is a lot of information on the Internet about the standard sizes used in the processing industry.
3.2 Avoid thin walls and deep cavities in part design
Thin-walled parts and deep cavities are difficult to achieve by machining, and they are often prone to dimensional inaccuracies. These part features tend to cause the part to vibrate and sometimes cause the part to be scrapped.
3.3 Avoid very tight tolerances as much as possible
Parts with extremely tight tolerances are often difficult to implement and therefore expensive. Control is only made when a dimension is critical to the overall functionality of the part. A good piece of advice we can give you is to have a common reference point or fiducial point when designing parts. This will help both you and the mechanic. Firstly, you minimize the dimensional control on the part, and secondly, the machinist, reduce inspection time, which also reduces costs.
3.4 If complexity is unavoidable, part of the complex is transformed into modular components
When a part becomes too complex, it is recommended to disassemble an entire part into multiple parts for assembly. This will make machining much easier and simpler. It greatly reduces set-up time, reduces machining operations and optimizes machining time. This is a common strategy used by designers to promote the manufacturability of parts and reduce their manufacturing costs.
