Milling plastics is a machining operation in which material (such as acrylic) is removed with the help of a rotary cutter. Thanks to this technique, grooves, holes and contours can easily be milled in thick material.
PyraSied has three CNC-controlled, flat-bed milling machines with which we can fabricate all our available plastics to size. Plastics such as acrylic (Plexiglas), polycarbonate and PETG are very suitable for milling. The maximum working range of our milling machines is 3000 x 2000 mm. With our machines, we can mill plastic sheets and blocks up to 100 mm thick. Sheets that are thicker than 100 mm can also be milled, this is on request.
With our extensive CNC machine park, we can offer various milling fabrications such as contour milling, engraving, groove milling, mitre milling and depth milling. Our milling machines are fully computer-controlled and can therefore easily read in digital files such as AutoCAD. With this digital file, the desired product can be milled to size with high accuracy. The edges of plastic sheets are semi-glossy after milling. There may also be a milling stroke in the material. We can polish these edges if desired, the edges are smooth and glossy after this fabrication. PyraSied ensures that the edges of the machined sheets are made burr-free. This means there are no sharp edges on the sheet anymore.
If corners are milled, there must always be a radius in the corners. The radius becomes larger as the material thickens. PyraSied can advise on this. We think along with you as soon as we receive a clear AutoCAD drawing. With our milling machines, we can mill straight or at an angle of 45 degrees (also known as mitre milling). Other angles are certainly possible, this is on request. In principle, PyraSied can easily mill any plastic. However, with plastics on which a foil is laminated, milling is somewhat more difficult. Acrylic mirror or PyraDiant, for example, can be milled, but this depends on the design.
PyraSied provides fabrications for all professional customers who use our materials in their idea or project. It is possible to request a personal quote through our sales department (sales@pyrasied.nl). To prepare a suitable offer, we need the following information:
Our sales staff will then proceed with the request. To speed up the process, we would like to receive what the wishes are as extensively as possible. Our sales department usually answers all incoming requests within 48 hours. Every customer receives a personal quote.
Our sales department usually answers within 48 hours on workdays.
The edges of milled sheets have a semi-glossy finish. This means that they are a little duller than normal. It is also possible that there is a milling stroke in the material. This can be easily restored by polishing the material.
We ensure that the material is always delivered burr-free. This means that the sheets are user-friendly and have no sharp edges.
Do you have any additional wishes regarding finishing? Let us know. We ensure that an end product is delivered that meets your wishes. Please note that there are additional costs associated with sanding and polishing the material.
Yes, we do that with our laser machine. At PyraSied we can laser engrave with high accuracy. Classic engraving such as texts and symbols is done at engraving companies. They specialize in this. We can, of course, put you in touch with them.
We recommend that you always have your material milled by someone who has experience with this. We can help you with that. It is important that you use equipment properly and that you take safety measures before you get started. For example, always wear protective glasses and gloves. It is recommended to cool the tool with compressed air. The tool must, of course, be stable and clean.
We have a number of additional tips for each type of milling operation:
CNC top and bottom milling
The best milling results are achieved with tools equipped with hard metal or specially coated inserts. The most professional millers clearly have individual preferences for the type of tool, feed rate and speed.
We generally recommend tools with two cutting edges, preferably HSS or HM with a clearance angle of 12 degrees or more. With a tool diameter of 6 to 12 diameter, the speed of around 2400 per minute is recommended.
The big difference between the top and bottom milling is in the thickness tolerance *. With a router, the material under the cutter is free from thickness tolerance. This means that you can calibrate with a router (apply a scale). With a router bit, the depth of a groove is always constant while what ‘remains standing’ has thickness tolerance.
Edge milling/profile milling
The same speeds are recommended here as with the above milling operations. Edge milling is usually used to clean rough surfaces or to profile them. A polishing cutter is a special form of edge milling. A flat disc with two diamond cutters comes along a clamped plastic sheet, resulting in a high-gloss and optically high-quality surface.
* Thickness tolerance is a difference in thickness within a sheet. With cast acrylic, the standard for A-quality is +/- 0.4 mm + 10% nominal thickness, so a 10 mm sheet runs from 8.6 to 11.4 mm. Within one sheet!
