East Coast Precision Manufacturing » mill

Tips for Customers and Engineers Who Want Vapor Polished Plastic Parts

eastcoastmfg — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:07:33 +0000

Here is set of photos showing the progression of vapor polishing a plastic part. The first shot is of the part before polishing. The second is during vapor polishing. We only polished half of it to show the difference in finish that vaporing can offer. The final photo is of the part fully vapored. Many potential customers ask about having us vapor parts that they machined. Normally, we do the machining in house but we also offer vaporing as a service. The thing about vapor polishing though, is that any surface imperfections can be magnified. For example, if you give us a piece of machined acrylic, ultem, or polycarbonate that has heavy feed lines or chatter, the vaporing will bring out the poor finish. The truth is, poor finish in = shiny poor finish out. If your machining is fundamentally good and your surface finish is smooth, vapor polishing can brilliantly polish your plastic parts. Engineers and Machinists should also know that overly aggressive machining can impart stress in the finished parts. This can be problematic during the vapor polishing process because the parts may end up with crazing visible inside the material or on the surface. Ultimately, we like to do our machining in-house so we can be sure the parts our customers receive will be as good as possible. However, If your in-house machining work is strong, you will be very satisfied with East Coast Precision Manufacturing’s vapor polishing service. Can’t wait to hear from you!

East Coast Precision Manufacturing

Plastic Polishing

Secondary Plastic Machining

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G10, FR4, and Fiberglass Machining at East Coast MFG

eastcoastmfg — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:22:18 +0000

At East Coast Precision Manufacturing, we not only provide our customers with machined plastic but also other composites. This is an example of G10 machining. Some engineers may recognize it as FR-4 but we often refer to it as “fiberglass” here at the shop. It is a laminated composite held together by an epoxy binder. It is mainly used in circuit board applications but is also structurally superior to many other materials and finds its way into applications that can take advantage of that. For some, it is difficult to machine. It is very abrasive to tooling, easy to burn, and may de-laminate if the machinist is not experienced in cutting it. Here at East Coast, we do an excellent job of cutting it due to our time proven methods. Send us an RFQ, we’d love to work with you.

Milling at East Coast Precision

FR-4 Wikipedia Page

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Clear Polysulfone Machining at East Coast Precision Manufacturing

eastcoastmfg — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:45:09 +0000

Here are some photos of a plastic part machined out of clear polysulfone. Engineers choose polysulfone for their applications because it has a very high service temperature. This allows it to be used in assemblies where high temperatures are encountered regularly, such as autoclaves. Polysulfone can also be used as a membrane in filtration systems.

Polysulfone on Wikipedia

CNC Milling at East Coast Precision

Not enough capacity? Outsource your plastic machining to us

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Milled & Vapor Polished Polycarbonate Coverplate

eastcoastmfg — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:42:45 +0000

This part is an example of our milling department’s capabilities. It is machined out of a sheet of polycarbonate and vapor polished to a perfectly clear finish. Engineers designing parts that require visually or optically clear finishes should know that polycarbonate is an excellent material choice. Acrylic works well too but polycarbonate polishes to a clearer finish almost every time.

This part is used in a light housing and is implemented as a lens. The inside of the lens has been cosmetically machined to help with light diffusion.

Outsource your plastic machining needs to us

Polishing Q&A

Polycarbonate Wikipedia page

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Machined Teflon / PTFE Manifold

eastcoastmfg — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:38:57 +0000

Here is a PTFE manifold we recently machined on one of our mills. We have developed techniques that allow us to mill Teflon in such a way that burrs are either minimized or eliminated, thus saving part deburring time. This customer has East Coast do some light assembly work for them as well. We install the push to connect fitting you see in the first picture.

Teflon (PTFE) is often selected for manifolds for its inert qualities. Many chemicals do not affect PTFE.

East Coast Precision can work with you to produce great parts in Teflon or any other plastic material.

Teflon Machining

Milling Department

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Machined & Vapor Polished Polycarbonate Lens Housing

eastcoastmfg — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:42:19 +0000

Polycarbonate is a material often found in environments where it may be subject to impact forces. This lens that we machined is no exception. It was milled on East Coast’s state-of-the-art vertical machining centers. To ensure a clear finish, the polycarbonate was vapor polished after machining. In some cases, our customers are not sure what they ultimately need in their plastic parts. When questions, concerns, or changes need to be addressed, our customers speak directly with engineers and machinists that are directly working on their part. That is one of the many benefits of working with East Coast Precision Manufacturing.

If you need plastic machining of polycarbonate or any other materials, we would love to be considered.

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Plastic Machining – Art or Science?

eastcoastmfg — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:09:09 +0000

Plastic machining is both an art and a science. Plastics can change dimensionally due to humidity, temperature and machining process and there is an “art” to keeping machined components within stated tolerances. All polymers and copolymers react differently to coolant and machining technique- the science required to properly machine plastic.

Plastic can be machined or molded to create plastic components. Plastic machining is typically used for low volume components or components that may have a short life span. While creating a mold is costly up front, each individual component created from the mold is a cost effective way to produce high volume, long life span components.

Machining a plastic component can allow an OEM to test certain materials for reactivity as well as tolerance to stresses. Parts can be turned or milled or both turned and milled. In selecting a shop for plastic machining, it is important that the shop have experience in both the science and art of plastic machining. Plastic only shops in particular will help to avoid contamination with coolants and metal fragments usually found in a metal shop. They are also familiar with both annealing and polishing of your plastic component.

In selecting a shop for your plastic machining, three criteria are important:

Does the shop have the expertise and experience to produce your component within your stated tolerances?
Does the shop use up-to-date equipment and machining techniques?
Does the shop care about quality and producing quality parts 100% of the time?
In order to find the answers to these questions, review the company’s web site and talk to their salesperson.
Additionally, ask for a sample lot before full production in order to review your component.

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Machined Polysulfone

eastcoastmfg — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:32:34 +0000

This part is made out of Polysulfone. Polysulfone is known for being tough, wear resiting, and high temperature stability. It is also a dielectric material that can be used in capacitors. Dielectric means that it will not transmit electricity.

This part is milled in the milling department here at East Coast Precision. It is approximately 1.5 inches square. It features a milled out body, some threaded holes and a polished top. Due to the geometry, the part is actually able to spring a little bit.

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Round Acrylic Manifold

eastcoastmfg — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:33:04 +0000

Sometimes it is necessary to utilize multiple machines to effectively produce a part for our customers. This is an example of that. This manifold is machined from acrylic. A turning center (lathe) is used to turn the outside diameter and round features that are concentric to the center of the part. A vertical machining center (mill) is used to complete the rest of the features. On this part, we can see some port work, deep hole milling, and thread milling.

The manifold is also vapor polished for a nice finish. Acrylic vapor polishes quite well but if you need “optical” clarity, polycarbonate would be the way to go.

Common polishing questions

www.eastcoastmfg.com

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Milled and Vapor Polished Acrylic Manifold

eastcoastmfg — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:32:52 +0000

Take a look at this acrylic manifold we made for one of our customers. It features four ports connected to a main track. Each port features thread-milled threads.

This part also showcases our vapor polishing process. Not only can we polish the exterior of a part, we can polish interior features that would not normally be able to be polished otherwise.

The mainfold is approximately 3″ x 1″ x 3/4″

Milled Plastic Parts Page

Polishing and Finishing Page

Vapor Polishing Page

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