GreatLight machines nylon, POM, PC, PEEK, PTFE and other engineering plastics to ±0.005 mm. Send a 3D file and get a quote with free DFM analysis within 12 hours, from one prototype to 10,000+ parts.
Plastic cutting behaves differently. Most rejected parts trace back to one of these four mistakes.
High spindle speed and slow feed push heat into the chip instead of out of it. Acrylic, PC and nylon smear, then chip at the edge. The fix is sharp tooling, a high positive rake and air blast, not coolant that thermal-shocks the part.
Machining releases internal stress that was locked in during extrusion. A wall thins, a flat face bows, a bore closes. Stress-relieving the stock before the finish pass costs one extra setup and prevents a returned batch.
Standard twist drills grab at breakthrough on brittle filled plastics such as Garolite G-10. Step drilling, a slow peck cycle and a backing plate keep the exit clean. The wrong call here scraps a nearly finished part.
Plastics move with humidity and temperature. Holding ±0.02 mm on a nylon part that lives in a wet environment buys nothing. We flag callouts that the material cannot hold in service and propose a workable band.
Plastic has a low modulus and a high thermal expansion. Every cutting decision follows from that.
PEEK and POM cut cleanly with sharp carbide at moderate speed. PMMA and PC need higher rake angles and air blast to keep the chip clear. We set the parameters from the material lot, not from a generic table, because unfilled and 30% glass-filled grades behave nothing alike.
For thin walls we take light radial cuts and leave an even allowance, then finish in one continuous pass. That keeps cutting pressure low and the wall straight.
Nylon and PC absorb moisture from the air. A soaked blank machines oversized and then shrinks as it dries, so a bore that gauged on the machine no longer fits a week later. We dry hygroscopic stock to a set moisture level and keep it dry through the run.
Fixturing matters as much as the cutter. Soft jaws, vacuum plates and low-clamp-force vises hold the part without crushing it. On a 4,000 mm bed we can machine long plastic profiles in one setup, which removes the joint alignment error of two shorter operations.
Use this as a starting point. Send the application and we will confirm the grade.
| Material | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| POM (Delrin) | Gears, bushings, sliding parts | Poor bond for adhesives |
| PA / Nylon | Wear strips, rollers, snap fits | Absorbs moisture, swells |
| PC | Impact guards, clear covers | Stress cracks near sharp corners |
| PEEK | High-temp seals, medical parts | Higher material cost |
| PTFE | Chemical seals, low-friction faces | Cold flow under load |
| PMMA | Displays, light guides | Brittle, chips easily |
| HDPE | Tanks, liners, low-cost guides | Low stiffness, creep |
| ABS | Housings, brackets, enclosures | Low solvent resistance |
Turning, milling, drilling, tapping and sawing under one roof.
Bushings, spacers, rollers and threaded inserts turned to ±0.005 mm. Live tooling allows cross-holes and flats in the same cycle, so the part keeps its concentricity.
Housings, manifolds, brackets and covers. 3-axis for flat work, 4-axis and 5-axis for contoured faces and angled features that would otherwise need two fixtures.
Step drilling, peck cycles and reaming for bores that must hold size in filled plastics. Backing plates control exit burrs on brittle grades.
Form taps for plastics where possible, since they cold-form the thread and avoid chip nesting. Threaded inserts fitted when the joint will be opened more than a few times.
Sheet and bar cut to length, plus routing of flat profiles from Garolite G-10, PC and acrylic sheet with clean edges and no delamination.
Vapor polishing, bead blasting, laser marking with a 1.5 mm minimum character height, plus insert pressing and light assembly before shipment.
| Item | Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tolerance | ±0.005 mm (±0.0002 in) | Confirmed against the material |
| Surface finish | Ra 1.6–3.2 μm as machined | Ra 0.8–1.6 μm on request |
| Maximum part size | 4,000 mm | Single setup on long profiles |
| Lot size | One prototype to 10,000+ | No minimum order quantity |
| Lead time | Parts ship in 3–5 days | Production can start in 24 hours |
| Inspection | 100% before shipment | Reports on request |
Tight machining tolerance is easy to promise on metal and hard to hold on a hygroscopic polymer. We control drying, temperature and fixturing so the number survives the week after machining.
Send a STEP or STL file and you get a price plus a written note on wall thickness, callouts the material cannot hold, and features that would be cheaper as two parts.
Once the file and material are confirmed, machining can begin within 24 hours. Stock grades such as POM, PC, PA, PEEK and PTFE are kept on site.
One part is a normal order here. The same program and fixture move straight into a 10,000-part run, so the prototype and the production part are made the same way.
Long plastic profiles, rails and liners machined in one setup on a 4,000 × 400 × 150 mm travel machine, avoiding the alignment error of joining two short cuts.
Raw material checked on arrival, in-process monitoring during the run, final inspection on every part. Dimensional reports and material certificates available on request.
PEEK and PC components where the bore must stay round after sterilization. We dry the stock, control the finish pass and inspect every part.
Nylon and POM brackets, clips and insulator parts in low and mid volume. Tighter bands held where the joint actually needs them.
Insulating spacers, jigs and fixture plates from Garolite G-10 and PTFE. Flat profiles routed from sheet with clean, non-delaminated edges.
Wear pads, end-effector jaws and low-friction guides. POM and PTFE chosen where sliding contact would otherwise wear a metal face.
We machine ABS, PC, PMMA, POM, PA (nylon), PEEK, PP, HDPE and carbon fibre composite, plus Garolite G-10 and PTFE on request.
If your grade is not on that list, send the data sheet and we will tell you whether we can hold your tolerance in it.
Our general machining tolerance is ±0.005 mm, and we confirm the achievable band per material before quoting.
Unfilled nylon and HDPE move with moisture and temperature, so a ±0.02 mm band may be the honest call for a part that lives in a wet environment. We say so up front instead of quoting a number the material cannot keep.
As-machined plastic usually lands at Ra 1.6–3.2 μm. A finer Ra 0.8–1.6 μm is available with additional finishing passes.
On transparent grades such as PMMA and PC, the tool marks matter more than the Ra number. Vapor polishing or a dedicated finishing pass gives the clarity you want.
Yes. There is no minimum order quantity, so one part is a normal order. We machine from your STEP or STL file and can start production within 24 hours of confirmation.
The same program and fixture carry into larger runs, so the prototype and the production parts match.
Three things: stress-relieved stock, light radial cuts, and an even allowance removed in one continuous finishing pass.
Soft jaws or a vacuum plate hold the part with low clamp force. That combination keeps clamping and cutting pressure low enough that the wall stays straight after it leaves the machine.
Hygroscopic grades such as PA and PC are dried to a set moisture level before the first cut, and kept dry through the run.
Machining soaked stock produces a part that gauges correctly and then shrinks as it dries. Drying first removes that failure mode.
Quotation and DFM analysis come back within 12 hours. Parts typically ship in 3–5 days, and runs go from one prototype to 10,000+ parts.
We do not promise a fixed delivery date before the drawing is reviewed, because the setup depends on the features.
Uploads are treated as confidential and kept secure. A non-disclosure agreement is available on request before you send anything.
If your project needs it, we can also restrict the file to the engineers who program the job.
Upload a STEP or STL file. You get a price and a written DFM note within 12 hours.
12-hour quote100% inspectionNo minimum order
Trusted by engineers and manufacturers worldwide
Upload your 3D model or 2D drawing and get a quotation with a free DFM analysis. Maximum processing size 4,000 mm.
CNC Metals 13 grades
CNC Plastics 10 grades
Machines & processes 12 options
Surface & post-processing 10 options
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