How to Cut Your Cost on CNC Machining Services for Your New Parts

When you are looking to create new parts for your company’s products, you will often rely on CNC machining services. Sometimes, however, those services can cost more than you expect, this is often due to the designs and specs you have sent to the machinist, but you can reduce the costs of manufacturing through a variety of techniques.

Material and Finishing Choices

When selecting materials for the CNC machining services you need for your parts, the cost is affected by both what the material is and how machinable the material is. You can choose cheaper materials, but if they aren’t as easily machinable, they may end up costing more in the end. Softer materials are easier to machine, thus cutting down on the time taken, and require less expensive tools to cut. As well, if you choose a hazardous material, there are additional safety requirements that will affect your cost. Another selection that affects the cost is the type of finishing you want on your parts. Specialized coatings, anodizing, and heat treatments all increase the cost of the machining, and if you need multiple finishes, that will also increase the costs.

Quantity and Time Turnaround

When considering CNC machining services, you should think about the time frame and the amount of parts you need. CNC machining is most cost-effective under 10,000 units, but in general the more units the more cost effective it will be. As well, if you need the parts within days rather than weeks, it’s going to cost substantially more for such a quick turnaround.

Avoid Complex Interiors

The more complex your parts when seeking CNC machining services, the more expensive the machining process is going to be. If there are a lot of deep pockets and interiors to worry about, the machining is going to take more time and more precision from the machinist, or multiple machines to complete, increasing the costs. If you want square corners, it will take more time and possibly different machines, increasing the prices. You can cut costs by minimizing the amount of interiors you need, and leave the interior corners rounded if at all possible.

Avoid Complex Geometry

The larger your parts, or the more complex their design, the more time and cost it will take to create them. When considering CNC machining services, think about whether you can create multiple smaller components and join them after the machining process, this will cut down on the time and number of machines needed, therefore less cost to you.

Standard Drill and Tap Hole Sizes

Using standard drill and tap hole sizes when you provide your designs to CNC machining services means that they have to do less precision or manual work on your components. Standard tap sizes like 4-40 taps are more common than other sizes, and if you need threaded holes smaller than 2-56in, they will have to be hand tapped. Drill sizes that are in fractional inches or whole number millimeters are going to be quicker to complete parts and do not require reamers or end mills to complete to non-standard sizes.

Design Accuracy

Nothing can slow down a CNC machining services progress more than inaccurate designs. With inaccurate designs, they may have to recreate your part a second time to fix issues, and this is going to increase your costs greatly. Consulting an engineer or experienced machinist may cost you a bit more upfront, but can save you a lot of money in the long term.