My Secrets for CNC Machining PLASTIC

[@eduardofonseca7827]

I'm a mechanical design engineer, and I cannot iterate enough how important it is for all design engineers to watch these types of videos to understand how a machinist thinks and works. This allows us to design, document, and deliver better product designs and plans to our machinist that will allow companies to consistent and successful manufacturing flow. Seriously, engineers are machinists and machinists are engineers, we simply have a false disconnect.

[@qwertyuiop2895]

Most "designers" think they are something better/higher status than toolmakers/machinists/technicians etc. That's the biggest problem.

[@t.b.a.r.r.o.]

I was training an engineer to help himself in our shop before I retired 8 months ago. He's in his early 30s. One of the best engineers of that age group I'd worked with. In the shop I'd peg him in the 1-2 years operator range. His setup abilities were no better than that because that skill is only gained by watching the skilled, then doing. Also his CNC coding knowledge is good, yet even though I told him numerous times how to safely first piece a setup, he kept coming close to crashing. I hope he figured it out because right after I retired so did one of the other tool makers. That leave one. A 68 year old workaholic who may stay beyond his time. But he has more than enough work for his own boss and he won't be doing any training.

[@camoverholts6612]

@@qwertyuiop2895 really just called homie out for no reason

[@goldenmath4091]

I had to do alot of prototype work years ago, the number of times we got mis constructed parts was unreal, drawings that didn't match, I had to get all the assembly drawings and make sure everything worked before starting machining Smart guys are not always experienced, defo helps if you want to get involved in as a designer

[@ukasznikov]

How stupid is beeing a mechanical Design engineer without Basic cnc knowlege.

[@oldschoolmobile]

This little lesson right here is why Titan Gilroy is a godsend to the Cnc/manufacturing industry. He truly just wants us all to succeed together. Great lesson Titan, highly appreciated!

[@npi0081]

My Boss needs your mindset titan

[@smokenh15]

😂

[@ericed69]

Yep, when I machined UHMW on the mill it would always come out under spec. Found out the work light on the mill, which was a regular light bulb, was heating the material and expanding it. I changed the bulb out for Led bulb and no more problems. 😉👍 Thank you Titan for all your videos. Information is priceless. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@ronniewilliz153]

Damn that wild makes sense tho. Some light bulbs will make my room freaking hot the LEDs tho they have little to no heat given off from the bulb. Is it hard to keep the material cool when working plastics

[@imadequate3376]

UHMW ssssuuuuuuccckkkkkssss trying to hold a +/- .0005" tolerance on. But we make it happen!

[@bobbob8229]

@@ronniewilliz153 ,

[@machinemaker2248]

Ours would come out distorted from the vice. It's so slippery. Loose enough to keep tolerance, the tool would pull it out. Tight enough to hold it and it would have elliptical holes and trapezoidal sides. Eventually we found the balance to be in tolerance despite the defects, but I was never happy about the results.

[@bathedincloudsofblood]

​@@machinemaker2248 reaming thin parts with a large diameter bore is the absolute worst ive dealt with. had a .7500" reamer rip an aluminum part out of my vise and before i could stop it the tool decided to try to ream the next part, sending the stuck piece into the vise and BENDING THE SHANK of a 3/4" reamer. the okuma m560v it happened on didnt even care, spindle was somehow completely fine

[@SuperstarComponentsLTD]

One of the best videos this year. That facing tip will get tried out on Monday. I hope it solves my problem last week 💥

[@cliftonlewis1420]

Truth. *Tomorrow for me. LOL

[@Dyna78]

Several years ago I was inspecting a Delrin bushing about 5" in diameter x .50" long with a .06 flange and .06 wall thickness, turned from a 6" solid bar. I had inspected the first part off the machine and it was well within tolerance (+/- .005" if I remember correctly). When the parts were finished, they sat in a box for a few days until I could get to them for the final inspection. When I did, I found the O.D. and I.D. of the bushing to be about .005" undersize on all parts. "How could this happen, that first part was good?" I mentioned it to my father (who had spent 40+ years in the plastics industry) and he said it was likely humidity change, the parts 'dried out.' He suggested sealing them in a plastic bag with a few drops of water, so I did. A few days later I checked them again, and all dimensions were back to normal, well within tolerance! Now the work order/traveler for these parts has a note to keep them in plastic bags after they come out of the machine, and I haven't had any problems since.

[@blabla-kk8bl]

Plastics more sensitive to heat change than metals.reason was the termal expansion.

[@qwertyuiop2895]

@@blabla-kk8bl Bull$hit. Plastics are susceptible to all factors: moisture, temperature, pressure, forces (mechanical load), chemicals, plus shrinkage from manufacturing (molding or extrusion). All of those can cause dimensional/geometry changes. Uneducated trolls know only one thing: "thermal expansion".

[@peterfitzpatrick7032]

@@qwertyuiop2895 why can't you make your point without being rude ? Let the validity of your comment stand on its merit ... people will respect you more for that than you just being nasty... 🙄🙁

[@TheGarrettrose]

@@peterfitzpatrick7032 he wasnt rude? just called bs

[@t.b.a.r.r.o.]

There are both hydroscopic and hydrophobic plastics. When I worked in the lithum battery industry everything that went inside the can was spected for minimum times under vacuum with/without heat, at least 24 hours in the dryroom. Lithum is hyper-reactive to water. Luckily, the dims on the plastic parts were checked off the truck, and not rechecked after the drying period. All those borderline at the low dim parts... 👀

[@spennerFX]

Plastics are a huge part of what we machine at our sign shop. I was a graphic designer, and was asked to replace the CNC role when someone left. What a rewarding shift of gears it has been, despite having no previous knowledge. Lots of watching videos like this in my free time at home to be able to learn for the next day. This channel gave me the confidence I needed to go hard and fast, especially on plastics and foamed PVC, and have upped the throughput and tooling lifespan hugely.

[@LearnSomethingHelpful]

5:55 I love this way of thinking...this is what makes businesses competitive. It's not that you can do the work, it is the pride that you take in the work that defines you. No matter what you do, do it to the best of your ability.

[@alexkern9134]

Nice to see you giving the knowledge like this, much appreciated! I like the facing trick of ramping up. Smart.

[@adambunce272]

Super kool!! My new shop does a lot of plastic and the ramp in trick to hold flatness is a definite try for us!! Ima pitch it to my boss next week and as open minded as he is i bet he goes for it!! And the hurry in amd out we did last week. They've struggled for yrs because of the thermal growth of the material and like u said they're instinct was slow it down... My go to is speed it up 1st. My last resort is slow it down. But anyway the hurry in and hurry out worked!! Great lesson!! Great info!! Love y'all and what y'all are doin for this industry and what y'all do for all of us machinists around the globe. Respect brother!! Have a blessed day guys!!

[@dgafbrapman688]

i work in an aerospace research and development shop, we use double sided tape for stuff like that all the time. Sometimes we even hold big parts with it. Its so useful.

[@jaserengraving9072]

Using the tape to hold the Peak is genius, I owe ya one 👍

[@norbertfleck812]

The plastic is PEEK. It's awfully expensive but pretty easy to machine. Just use aluminium cutters/cutting geometries.

[@sam-jacob]

Nice secrets shared! I actually agreed to all of the things that you said BOSS. Im working here in ITALY and been a machinist for more that 9 years and we are working on plastics every single type you can imagine. And i realy like working on PEEK and Derlin(Acetal). Really love your channel and Hoping for the best. Keep it UP! BOOM!

[@Eccex]

PEEK is my favourite material to work with. been machining plastics for 15 years. greetings from Germany.

[@v6turbobuick]

I need more info on machining plastic. I just started in a new shop 4 months ago that does nothing except plastics. Took me a bit to figure out work holding and figuring out which materials are doing what. Still figuring it out, more videos about plastic would be incredibly beneficial

[@MarcinKryszak]

You are right Titan. Plastic are way more tricky then metals. I have done a lot of Teflon. It took some time to perfect it, so the part is clean of "wiskers".

[@brandons9138]

I work in a shop where we do probably 95% plastic. The mantra around the shop is "I miss metal."

[@cliftonlewis1420]

Yea. I don't miss that stuff at all. LOL Good luck to ya.

[@stevedavis9777]

Back in the 70s I would manually mill and turn clear acrylic. Drill, ream, tap, mill and and it had to stay perfectly clear because parts were used in the medical field. I used tapmatic oil for my coolant. Feeds and speeds had to be just right not to burn. I learned to get good at it... Enjoy your channel.

[@Boodger]

Being semi-new to the CNC machining industry I have learned so much from Titans videos, it is truly amazing to see someone so passionate about the trade that they are willing to share all their experience so we can all succeed! Thank you!

[@VPEEK]

Plastics is my bread and butter, specifically polycarb and acrylic parts for medical requiring crystal clear finishes. Takes a lot of knowledge, practice and the right tooling to get those finishes. Not something you can just google the answer for.

[@aspeaerospaceprecisionenging]

exactly we do a lot of plastic for aerospace, and some materials can cost even over £3000 per 1m long plate tecasint5000, torlon, vespel and a lot of tricky to machine like a glass filled ultem or pvx i love it, and you're right regarding the special tooling and surprisingly we use a lot of special tools, PCD and MCD (mono crystalline diamond) tooling where slot drill cutter cost even $800 :) glass filled peek GF30 is my favourite one to machine

[@dominic6634]

LOL think that's fun try machining optical lens! my 1st job was in a shop that did that. We actually got to do stuff for the mars rover.

[@aspeaerospaceprecisionenging]

​@@dominic6634 what material is it used for marsROV lens we do simillar thing lenses for high pressure subsea company called SAAB seaeye thick acrylic machined with MCD inserts to get he best posible finish for gentle polishing

[@aspeaerospaceprecisionenging]

@@dominic6634 im guessing you use CATIA for porgraming, designing and assembling, most of our Aero & Space customer require CATIA :) i like using Catia we just moved to CATIA V5 R31 version :)

[@dominic6634]

We used Mastercam for programming, don't remember the CAD software. Machined a lot of manganese, Zinc, NBK7 and synthetic sapphire.

[@dekatexas]

Thanks that was a great idea about ramping to stop part from chipping. I work with a special iron powder mixed with resin and that will work perfect.

[@artmckay6704]

Thank you, Titan! I love that you're completely removing the blanket of secrecy that had covered up machining techniques and tricks! You've made machining mysteries common knowledge! Wow! Thank you soooo much for making machining public, mainstream, and easily understood! You're a hero to multitudes of people, both machinists and non - machinists. I can't say thank you enough to express how I feel about what you're doing. Thanks! :)

[@RonnieBravo_]

I'm not a machinist, I like it. But I just like to listen to this guy talk and hear his stories. Good motivational listening.

[@TheDartblockstang]

I got to stay Titan I used to complain to you in the past about the industry being corrupt but now I have an opportunity to learn setups and I already have a certificate for programming and you are the final icing and cherry on the cake your knowledge gives me the desire to start my own shop thanks for sharing your immense knowledge with us.

[@coasterp2199]

So cool hearing someone else talk about the difficulties of machining plastics. My partners have built a business that focuses primarily on machining plastics and aluminum. It's fascinating to see them deal with some of the complexities of machining plastics first hand. Most don't realize how difficult plastics can be to work with. I personally HATE working with polycabonate the few times I've done it.

[@TheBorderfire]

Polycarbonate sucks ass to deal with even as a hobbyist.

[@tubbytimmy8287]

Yes, this is what I want! Enough with the exotic Inconels and ceramic cutters that no one will ever get to use 😋 Cut me a slice of Tips'n'Tricks for the normal everyday parts and materials. ✅

[@user-kp4en8no4y]

meanwhile we have 14 108-116" hastelloy flanges cut into 4 pieces we gotta mill at work....shall be interesting

[@cliftonlewis1420]

"no one" LOL I have done it. (Can't say I liked it tho. LOL That stuff is a B****)

[@thomasreyes2857]

Just want you to know I have nothing to do with machining or anything like that interest or anything but the way you explain things in lame man terms makes it very interesting nice job you've been blessed my friend. Your an excellent instructor.

[@CM-xr9oq]

lame man or layman's? Yeah, you got it right.

[@e.z.hernandez6378]

Polycarbonate and delrin… meh. I just machined ultraflon 550 (Teflon variant) and had to put a tight tolerance on a 3” bore in a 2.875 thick 4.500 square that always moved when released. Also all six sides got machined and had a separate setup (with no 4-5th axis) and there were 44 soft parts to be made with no extra setup pieces because the customer supplied 6” X 3” round stock with a 2.0 bore was hand extruded and cost $1000 plus a chunk. More $$ went into the bin as chips than into the parts. But all were nominal and on time. Delrin… lol. Love that stuff ❤️

[@harryniedecken5321]

Makes sense. A machine shop owner I think in Sunnyvale showed me a similar tool around 1990. Same reasons.

[@PraetexDesign]

Speaking my language! Plastics are tricky, there are so many details and counterintuitive methods to working with them.

[@OctaneWorkholding]

We have covered plastic tips many times on Instagram because it can be difficult. Stringy chips especially can wreak havoc when turning. Milling a slot or creating a series of grooves breaks up the material allowing better chip control when turning. Reversing drills upon retract quickly can often unwind the chips between holes. Peck turning in small increments can break the chips. Sharp tooling with a high polish, coolant if needed to prevent melting. On new materials it is good to make a prototype and allow it to rest overnight, did the dimensions move the next day?

[@brandons9138]

We had a customer freak out that we sent them a bunch of bad parts. Turns out that they had been sitting on the shelf so long that they shrank over time by about .010 of an inch. They were totally surprised by this. We informed th that plastic parts, especially those made out of delrin, while shrink over time and need to be used very quickly.

[@OctaneWorkholding]

@@brandons9138 Tenperature, and humidity are the greatest factors in plastic parts changing. They certainly can change overnight when allowed to rest. Large changes after 24 hours I have not witnessed personally.

[@brandons9138]

@@OctaneWorkholding The specific part I was talking about we go from 1 and 3/8 down to 3/8 with a very aggressive thread on it. Delrin is also known to have a very high centerline porosity which increases it shrinking over time. At my previous shop we were doing large delrin parts over a foot long with very thin walls. What we weren't told by the customer is after completion they were put through an autoclave. The customer complained that we send them parts out of print. We told them to check the parts prior to being autoclaved and they found that the autoclave was shrinking them by almost an eighth of an inch in the thin wall sections. We ended up having to rough the parts leaving a hundred thou on every surface. Then we would anneal the parts in an oven overnight. Basically at this point we had preshrunk the material. Then we could finish machine the parts with some predictable stability.

[@pgroadglide1581]

Lol now you’re talking my language, love plastic machining, with all the materials you mentioned, yes so many shops are lost when it comes to plastics, they think they can set it up vises and the clamp as if it were metal materials that’s a Knogo!! Plastics does shrink always a consideration never use oil, Always use vacuum plates fixtures jigs, pressure Padding, and lots of double back tape, router tables come in handy cutting tools have to be brand new, I usually put a coolant in syringes and inject into threaded holes prior to threading comes out like glass no burn marks or stress marks,

[@cliftonlewis1420]

Going to give that a shot thank you for sharing. *Iv got some vinyl blocks, waiting for me in the morning.

[@MasterCraftFishing51]

So as a programmer to deal with hats after you flip a part. Your best success rate i have come up with is . Create an off set boundary about .025 larger than the od of the part. Ramp and endmill down with a profile cut. The hat will drop around then part then clean off the remainder of the material . For plastic conventional milling on the finish pass will lead to no chipping of the edges. Much the same way you would deal with lets say castings and cast iron parts as the chip very easy as well .

[@Crsf84]

work on delrin daily in my shop and as per the vid my guys are brilliant at it. Quality every time but it comes with experience not with a sales flyer. Tooling,work-holding are key but knowledge is where it’s at.

[@kendallehman5302]

I basically only machine filled plastics like (PTFE, UHMW, Nylon, PEEK, Acetal ext.). Hardly any metals. So its kinda nice to see a legit machining video about plastics.

[@creepjax]

Love it, I had to cnc some polycarbonate for my high school robotics recently and the testing we did for it was a lot and difficult. Eventually we found good setting and we managed to get a super clean part out of it.

[@Big3dprinter]

Awesome thank you for sharing. Has give me some great ideas for my large hybrid 3d printer project. Please keep teaching us.

[@themattrixrevolution]

Thermwood has the lsam

[@Big3dprinter]

@@themattrixrevolution I know love watching that machine. Machine I'm building will be for high temperature polymers.

[@nathanthomas8184]

RPR is forgiving . Wow Sir to use your fascinating approach & Awsome attitude , this is WHY I'm surprised all the time, what a SHOP to work for, polycarbonate with 40% glass with geometric components NOW thats an interesting day @ the office

[@1AMERICANWORKER]

Seems like most of the time it's the machinist's mind that solves the problem. I was a Westinghouse toolmaker's apprentice 50 years ago ( I took my final exams for my tool design degree with a slide rule). Every so often the journeyman shop would come across a job that they would have a hard time with. After they figured out how to make the part, they would send the print to the apprentice shop to see how long, if at all it would take us to do the job. One such job was an 8-inch long piece of 3/16 i.d. surgical tubing that needed both ends machined with a relief to hold a clamp. The machine used collar clamps so we needed to hold +/- .005 on silicone tube. Back then we didn't even have d.r.o.s . We only had the machine dials and dial indicators. When the apprentice instructor gave me the print my instructions were "MAKE THESE." The first thing I did was make an arbor to hold the tubing rigid. It shredded the tubing. I then ground a tool bit with all kinds of top and side rake and polished it with diamond lapping paste. It was probably the sharpest hand-ground tool ever. Same results. Both of my parents worked in the same complex and I remembered my mother had access to liquid nitrogen. I told our instructor I would be right back and went to my mother's lab. When I got there, Mom was just finishing a cyro test on a phosphor sample. I asked her if I could borrow some of the nitrogen and told her why. She said, " Just let me dunk these candy bars in it and take what's left". When I got back I froze one end of the tubing, took the cuts, measured, and measured again after the tube was back to normal temperature. This gave me a baseline of how much the part changed. After a few tries, I knew how much to take from the frozen silicone. I made the parts and handed them in about three hours after I got the print.

[@KallePihlajasaari]

I hope you got your deserved praise.

[@mw8580]

You have to be carful when machining plastic because some types are weakened by coolant. I've machined all types of plastic, Peek and Delrin are nice to machine, PETG not so good it can shatter.

[@cliftonlewis1420]

Yup. W those it's all about chip thickness.

[@AlexLancashirePersonalView]

Titan, I love you. I wish I was starting now. So much great technology.

[@rickyhammer6832]

Ok , Here is a polycarbonate secret ,for slots or shallow work that need to stay clear, flood it with wd 40 instead of coolant! Cheers!

[@machinemaker2248]

I'm curious about the long term effects from exposure to oils. Have you had discoloration, cracking, or reduced strength, after a few months?

[@rickyhammer6832]

@@machinemaker2248 No, Of Coarse clean it well right after and no issues!

[@colinweir5807]

Yes. Machining plasics is a whole new learning curve. I worked for a plastics company for approx 5 years (2002-2007) as machinist, mon a CNC C-Axis lathe, CNC flat bed router and manual mill. One story I heard while working there was that a large, well known plastics company in Germany would machine parts to customer specs, inspect and sign off on the job, then guarantee the parts specs for 14 days only. As you stated plastics can flex after machining. Many plastics also absorbe moisture which can also be an issue,

[@TylerBrigham]

Whenever im cutting uhmw i throw a thermometer in my coolant tank and make sure its 70F. If its hotter or colder ill throw a heating element or a chiller to get it to 70F. That shit is wild with temp

[@nelsonbrum8496]

Try air blast cooling next time.

[@bboydrummer1]

Super cool Titan! Thank you for the detailed explanation.

[@Wbfuhn]

I work for a company that makes bearings and a large number of those bearings are plastic housings, made in the building. A 2 chemical cast that is made larger and thicker so it can be run in the CNC machine. These housings can't have pockets in them. It's more than just shaping and cutting these housings, it's the pouring process. We also make Urethane inserts but again same thing.

[@tomnomnomnom1317]

Always makes me chuckle seeing this video pop up, remember when I first started my current job and the method for holding down a 2metre long x 300mm wide Delrin insulator was with double sided tape 😂

[@wwindsunrain]

Man, this guy is a great teacher.

[@MantismanTM]

3:45 - I did the same thing for a brass company last year for the exact same reasons (I.D. o-ring groove) but in brass, except I ground down by hand a 2 flute endmill to look like what your holding now!

[@fredbloggs4829]

This was a great video. I learned a lot. I really enjoy this channel. Thanks for taking the time to share.

[@peterkwofie]

Indeed this Man is a monster n a certain type of person, continue revive us, love it,bam!

[@AlixFlemmer]

The fact that you make so much practical education for free is nothing short of incredible.

[@rikilshah]

You are rockstar of Machining world! Your videos are super informational and inspirational!

[@jamescerven4400]

Great video! It was really interesting to see how you face op2 hats with plastic. I typically get bad chipping, so I would cut the profile of the part staying .03" off the face. Than I would take am aggressive face .005" above the face, and then come and kiss it. I'll definitely have to try your method though!

[@MG-sg2ci]

Just use a pocket routine and start from the outside working inward on faces.

[@jamescerven4400]

@@MG-sg2ci that's a good idea, I'll have to try that too! Thanks!

[@shopdreamin372]

I had the pleasure of turning little Vespel parts, cool exotic material to work with.

[@t.b.a.r.r.o.]

Toughest plastics job I had was R&D for a mil spec battery part. The material was Tefzel, part was 0.200 OD x 0.125" L with a 0.045 through hole, intersecting slots on the bottom, a bowl shaped pocket in the top with a nearly sharp upper edge... And 4 x 0.06 deep radius bottomed 0.03 W castellations at 90 degrees though the upper wall. Being R&D meant I made 100pcs. A couple weeks or months later I made another 100pcs to a slightly different print. Sometimes a minor change (tweek a depth or like that), sometimes a more radical change (F Cam rewrite). Rinsed and repeated at least 5 times. Then they had a mold made. That took for ever because the parts kept failing 1st Article. Which meant reworking/remaking the mold. The secret to getting usable parts was to machine the tefzel while it was submerged in liquid nitrogen. LN2 is -300° F. This did not freeze the tefzel hard. Tefzel looks and feels like milk carton plastic, but it is in the same chem family as Teflon. Amazing plastic. It did shrink due to the cold temp during machining, about 5% as I remember it. All codes had to be written to make parts that would meet spec once they warmed to room temp. Tools had to be dead sharp. The LN2 allowed for parts that could be deburred under a microscope. Even with that, I had a lab quality scope at my desk and spent as much time deburing as machining those parts. Without the LN2 the burrs would be big and include an unreasonable amount of mushing at the parts edge. Removing that, even with the scope and scalpel would render the parts 100% unusable. I also had programmed certain tool paths to run deburing passes. As in, rerun the finish passes without removing material. This weakened the burrs without damaging the part. With LN2 some burrs could just be flicked away with the scalpel. This was the toughest part to get right. I did 100 percent inspection on the parts. On a good day I'd keep 20 of 30 parts. 20/day was possible after a week of dialing in after being down for a while. The process took a month or more to develop. Over my career I made parts of many sizes, and many materials. Small Tefzel parts are a nightmare until you figure it out. Even then, it can be insanely hard to maintain the perfect conditions required to have consistant repeatability.

[@marouanebenderradji137]

man this is a really great educational video it is easy to make and contain really precious knowledge keep them Titan thank you so much.

[@DuBB900]

This guy is truly amazing, so smart and intelligent. Would love to be taught by him!

[@MrDrewmcdonald]

You can be. Titans of cnc academy. Link is on the description.

[@gtcollection6933]

Thermal dynamics of composites are pretty epic at best when it comes to machining precise features out of them.

[@gtcollection6933]

POM (acetal/delrin?) being one of the worst standing in thermal properties. Can expand by 0.1mm as soon as the cutter edge touch it...

[@ronniewilliz153]

Aye you mentioned the tv show again 😁 nice. I bet ur competition is hating you right now saying wtf he's telling our secrets of the trade lol. An this is a very good vid imo. I love how you break things down an explain it. Nice job man.

[@oulinsaeteurn9078]

Haha I’m his competition. But I will never hate or gets jealous of a good machinist. I be like great minds think alike. 🤔

[@leonardohustin4847]

I get inspired everytime I watch your videos

[@DEWtheMCCOY]

You saying that acrylic chips makes me feel better about myself.

[@ClockwerkIndustries]

A lot like the manifolds I make for computer watercooling, cool stuff!

[@post-leftluddite]

I've seen your IG

[@ClockwerkIndustries]

@@post-leftluddite thats awesome, small world! right now its mostly cable management on there, which has been my main focus, got a mx1100 on the way and with the larger work area Ill be getting back into watercooling.

[@SamCyanide]

You are such an asset to the CNC world. I am a hobbyist going into making my own machine shop and your videos are invaluable. Really just so much good information

[@miketimms7952]

Great Lesson Titan. I'm sad to say I have been a CNC Machinist for 25 years and plastic still kicks my butt. I haven't had full control of the machining situations but no excuses!

[@shvrdavid]

Many years ago I watched my Uncle machine plastic bases for pipeline inspector bodies. He was extremely knowledgeable when it came to machining anything, especially plastics. As I was watching this I was wondering when you were going to get to the speed in which plastics are machined, and sure enough you did. He was a stickler about temp control as well, initial prototypes were monitored to adjust cutting, etc. I don't remember what type of plastic it was, to look at it when it was done there were no visible machine marks at all, there could not be any. He told me that if there were any machine marks in it at all, or is anything was off, at all, it would not work. A good machinist doesn't simply make parts, they make works of art.

[@powercosmic4058]

Thank you, sir

[@fifofififo]

Crazy!!! Thank you T and God bless 🙏

[@flovrec1]

very nice tehniq for sec. operation - facing in ramp 😀

[@eamonahern7495]

You talked about quality tools. I remember being in a job where administration was discussing with engineers and technicians about buying cheaper tools to save costs. That decision was above my pay grade at the time as I was a machine shop general operative but if it wasn't I would have stuck with the expensive tools because they were producing good quality automotive parts that the company were making money from and at a time when they could possibly have raised their prices if profit margins needed to be maintained.

[@brandons9138]

Trying to save money by using cheap tools never work out well. I worked at a shop where we had a job out of HY80. It was planned to be roughed out on the lathe and finish op on the mill. Lathe time was going to be 30+ minutes. The GM called in a tool rep from Mitsubishi. He brought in a tool for roughing it on the mill. Cycle time was brought down to less than 10 minutes. The proved it out on the machine. When the GM went to get the purchase order from the management team they actually asked if the tool was worth the cost since "it wasn't budgeted for" in the quote for the job. The GM was literally speechless. The tool was cutting the machine time by 66%. The tool paid for itself on the first 4 parts.

[@nicrains]

best video I've seen from these guys in a long time, keep it up!

[@matthewblackwood4704]

Machined a lot of UHMW and nylatron at a hydraulics shop I worked at, deburring it was the only tricky part to me.

[@makerspace533]

Another interesting thing is coolant choice. Some plastics, like acrylic, are sensitive to solvents. Make a part and it looks great, the next day it crumbles like it was made of popcorn.

[@rrcncrop311]

Its perfection it is so clean and clear the polycarbonaat iam cursus to the rpm and feed speed in metric

[@cubfendi8714]

very informative. I'm a injection molding process technician and I deal with noryl regularly. just recently got a contract to cnc hpde with a carbon additive. have you ever dealt with such materials ?

[@lumpygasinavacuum8449]

Mold building for medical components has huge rewards waiting.

[@fishsticks88]

Cam pins make or break how much "extra" work comes after the parts are molded.

[@Mike-ff7ib]

I think titans is probably the best shop on planet earth. Id love to work there but I dont think I have have what it takes. 😁

[@TrPrecisionMachining]

very good video titans..thanks for your time

[@cuda210]

Hi Titan, I am a tool die and jig maker in South Africa, I do enjoy your videos as well as your journey. when I machine plastic parts, I find that using a paraffin mist helps with getting very good results. Have you tried this?

[@rickojames]

David - by 'paraffin' are you referring to what us Yanks call kerosene?

[@cuda210]

@@rickojames Hi Mike, yes that is correct. good finish with little to no burring.

[@flikflak24]

we did see you do that glassfiber part with the dimond endmill

[@Jordn284]

Thank you for these videos! Do you have a helpline of any sort that I could call into with a machining issue? I could really use some ideas on how to address some machining issues on Polyester and your videos have been a great jumping off point for conversations and ideas on improving our process.

[@themattrixrevolution]

Never thought about it being extremely hard. I have done aerospace "engineering" plastic parts of +-.030 but I haven't took it to Xtreme like .005+- or less. I had fun cutting plastic. Definitely moves a lot if you don't have great vacuum suction.

[@andrieslouw6588]

Have you ever milled Acytal gears? I have to hit ISO Quality 5 for an acytal spur gear.

[@TomTheDutchy]

Ah man, finally a vid on plastics. I mill a lot of polycarb sheets and i always have trouble in the z axis. Since i have to go through a cannot bolt it to the bed. For now i use plywood that i mill down before i start and then bolt the PC to it. Its terrible. Do you have tips on how to handle that, i have a table cnc. Love the channel!

[@JonasDM46]

Can you give a detailed explanation of your problem, maybe i can help you.

[@TomTheDutchy]

@@JonasDM46 sounds like you are dutch, would be great to get your help. Can i sent you a message somehow?

[@JonasDM46]

@@TomTheDutchy Leg je het exacte probleem even uit, dan kijken we eerst of ik je hiermee kan helpen.

[@TomTheDutchy]

@@JonasDM46 ik heb een step-cnc, moet 15 mm dik PC frezen, waarbij ik gaten van 14mm diep moet maken en op op sommige plaatsen volledig door. De vloer van de cnc is een aluminium bed, Dus ik kan niet helemaal door frezen omdat ik dan het aluminium raak. Ik schroef het nu op hout vast maar dit is gewoon niet accuraat. Heb je advies?

[@JonasDM46]

@@TomTheDutchy Dat is normaal eenvoudig op te lossen. Je schroeft een MDF plaat van 12mm dik vast op je freestafel waarbij de schroeven tot de helft verzonken zitten in het MDF. Probeer de schroeven te verdelen over het oppervlak van de plaat. Hierna vlak je enkele tienden van een millimeter van je MDF af om zo een nauwkeurig oppervlak te verkrijgen. Aangezien je niet beschikt over een vacuum tafel raad ik je aan om de polycarbonaat niet te schroeven maar te kleven door middel van dubbelzijdige tape. Om dit kleven te vereenvoudigen kan je de contour van de onderdelen die je wenst te frezen 2 tienden "voorfrezen" in de MDF onderplaat. Zo zie je makkelijk waar de tape gekleefd moet worden. Ik hoor het graag als je hier nog vragen/opmerkingen over hebt.

[@klausuhlig7141]

This was great, haven't machined in almost 20 years, but u brought back many memories and nightmares, yes the tape part I used it too, I was waiting for you to bring up UHMW, couldn't think of the name, of that horrible material,

[@cliftonlewis1420]

I mill that crap on a daily. Vinyl that S can go back to HeLL where it came from. LOL

[@c3ramics]

I’m really fortunate to say I work as a mechanical engineer for astrobiology experiments and you bet it’s a lot of polycarbonate, PEEK, and Vespel. Very interesting mix of Aerospace and Biomedical. This really felt like a behind the scenes of the fluidics vendors we go to! Thank you so much for the video!

[@Eccex]

I've been machining weird parts from PEEK for the last 5 years. astrobiology experiments huh

[@c3ramics]

@@Eccex you wouldn’t believe the identity crisis lol. But now I’m one of the most multidisciplinary biomedical engineers I know, and I now have a masters in aerospace mechanical 😂

[@Eccex]

@@c3ramics that might be the coolest job combination i've ever heard off.

[@andrewbeaton3302]

Love this! Super inspiring!

[@douglascalhoun6471]

Solutions frequently come from thinking outside of the box. Heat is your enemy with any plastic. How one approaches the problem dictates how the solution is found. Sometimes fresh eyes will yield a better solution.

[@aspeaerospaceprecisionenging]

we use a heating process before machining (using a special annealing oven) aneal material if you want to relieve stress from it

[@cliftonlewis1420]

We can't think in a box in this trade. We shouldn't even know where the box was if we are to make the best products we can. ))))* I love it when they tell me, " you can't do that." I love to say; "Hold my coffee. Watch this."((((

[@robertsoso7093]

@@cliftonlewis1420 oh yes 👏 You have to think outside the box We also anneal plastics before the machining process. We basically bake raw or roughed out material in the annealing oven way above 100 deg for long hours to improve dimensional and geometrical stability during and after the machining. Great ASPE!!!

[@cliftonlewis1420]

That makes perfect sense. Wish we had the ability at our shop.

[@pwest3732]

Love ya Titan. God bless you.

[@xjoex6]

One of the better videos you have put out. One plastic material that can chip easily is ultem. Curious to see how you hold tight tolerances on the uhmw. One of my least favorite plastics to machine, peek and vespel sp1 are definitely my favorites out of the plastics.

[@fireteamomega2343]

Yeah I always hated cutting ultem we'd back it with fiberglass layup and I had a few techniques but it's tough AF and chemical resistant as far as plastics go.

[@lumpygasinavacuum8449]

You are fully ready to take in die work. Titan I admire you. You would invest time in Nathan Oakley 1980

[@WinferdFrancis]

Have you ever flame polished polycarb to get it to come back glass clear. I just had a job I had to do that on and i thought it was really cool how it brought the finish back to perfectly clear. The company I work for only machines plastics so the challenges that makes are just a normal day for us. Plus this is my first job as a machinist too im only 6 months into it but I absolutely love it. Finally got a career I can enjoy. I like the way yall run fast, I ran 18550 parts in 19 hours couple weeks ago on the CNC routers. I was pretty proud of myself had them bitches eating.

[@pummppkinn]

Excited for the next vid for this topic!

[@davidbodnar18]

Titan your a freaky genius

[@hiemabedrog]

Great info.

[@krazykillar4794]

You are the best sir !

[@SGO113]

I machine a lot of acrylic on a old conversational mill and 70% of the time I hold down acrylic sheets with double sided tape. Pretty cool to watch Titan talking about plastics. I’d be very interested in learning more from their experiences

[@adambergendorff2702]

great video, awesome information!

[@donaldscott6231]

Ive done alot of plastics you gotta work with the material and find the best approach, ive also worked with vepel a bit about 300 parts and its a nice material to machine

[@themadmachinist8637]

I see time and time again guys using aluminum numbers in plastic and winging the rpm to the stratosphere. My approach has always been hi feed low speed in most plastics. Chiploads of .02-.04 per tooth. Keeping in the cut and reducing the heat generated. With uhmw I've cranked it up over .06-.09 chipload per tooth. I'd love to try tools made specifically for plastic. I've always had to run what we brung and I brung it hard. Guys thought I was nuts but my parts came out good.

[@platin2148]

Such a beauty probably not visible in the yachts 🛥..

[@brucetraudt1571]

great video!! I have some Delrin pieces to make

[@Inventorsquare]

I cut a lot of plastic. Thank you so much for that ramping trick to prevent chipping when facing!! I also like using extra sharp HSS where possible.

[@Inventorsquare]

I’ve also remembered your advice on more aggressive cutting to prevent heat for years, and it’s made me stand out. Thank you for everything Titan. Your advice literally changes lives!

[@TITANSofCNC]

Thanks Brother

[@cliftonlewis1420]

Couldn't agree more. Wish we would have had this resource available to us 20 yrs ago when I started.

[@Dimacswtf]

Thats actually brillant at 5:50 if you don't mind ill start doing it myself :D