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.
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.
