Skip to content 
What is Prototype Machining?
Prototype machining is an efficient method of creating high-quality prototypes in small batches using CNC machines. Product designers and engineers often create prototypes with the intention of future production runs. The CNC machining process helps to create a physical and functional representation of the final parts. As such, prototype machining shows how a digital design would come out physically.
Manufacturers can easily detect and eliminate design flaws with prototype machining before large-volume manufacturing begins. Moreover, production becomes more cost-effective when you eliminate design defects at the prototyping stage.
Why is CNC machining the Gold Standard for Prototyping Process?
There are various reasons why CNC machining is the ideal prototyping process with the most reliable results. First of all, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines use high-end technology that allows them to deliver high accuracy and precision.
Thus, the computer program controls the cutting tools’ and workpiece’s movement and interaction. These CNC machines consider each angle on your prototype design, ensuring they meet the final product specifications.
Moreover, the machining process offers adequate speed, unlike most traditional methods. For instance, manufacturers and product engineers must wait some time to prepare the tolerances and mold for injection molding prototypes.
CNC machining prototyping begins with drafting the final product’s 3D CAM model, which you must convert to a CAD file. The Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) files consist of the G-Code and M-code. These codes guide the operation of the CNC machines when machining prototypes. However, these machines understand the CAD file directly since it contains machining commands.
Different CNC Prototyping Operations
Engineers in different industries use various types of CNC prototyping processes to achieve desired results. However, factors like the material used and design specifications determine the ideal machining operation for your model. Below are the common CNC prototyping operations:
Multi-axis Machining
The multi-axis machining is an efficient rapid prototyping operation suitable for producing prototypes with intricate specifications. This machined tooling uses more axes than traditional machining operations. It uses modern CNC machines with 4-axis, 5-axis, and as many as 9-axis to 12-axis.
Besides, the machining centers can deliver tighter tolerances depending on the number of axes involved. The higher the axes, the higher the machining capabilities.
Milling
The CNC milling process is a subtractive manufacturing process that uses milling machines with multipoint cutting tools to create prototypes. Each cutting point delivers sharp cuts, consistently removing material from a workpiece to make CNC machine prototypes of varying shapes and sizes.
However, the prototype complexity dictates the depth and type of cut that the cutting tool makes on the workpiece material. However, the CNC milling machine features additional axes that improve its cutting for high precision machining.
Turning
The CNC turning process uses a turning machine with a lathe tool to create prototypes that meet specifications. This machine tool is perfect for creating CNC machined prototypes and end-products with round or cylindrical properties. The workpiece material rotates close to the stationary lathe’s cutting tool in this operation.
The turning machine removes material from the rotating workpiece with a single-point cutting tool to produce cylindrical components. The CNC turning technique makes linear features on a prototype’s exterior. Likewise, it is suitable for creating threads, slots, and tapers on the internal edges.
Advantages of CNC Prototype Machining
This section discusses the benefits of CNC prototype machining, which may help you decide whether to make your prototypes using CNC machining processes. Below are these advantages:
Cost-Effectiveness
Manufacturers often machine CNC prototypes in small or single batches to access the parts’ visually and functionally. Small batch production is a fail-safe that prevents financial losses in manufacturing. As a result, any loss would be minimal if you detect any design flaws during these assessments rather than after mass production.
High Accuracy and Precision
CNC machining offers the high precision, accuracy, and tight tolerances that your prototypes require. This manufacturing process uses computerized controls to determine the cutting tools’ movement, ensuring high precision and accuracy. However, defects or errors in CNC machined prototypes are often traceable to the design since the machining process is precise and accurate.
Material Versatility
Prototype machining is more compatible with extensive materials than other manufacturing methods like 3D printing. Although not all machining methods are compatible with sheet metal forming, CNC prototyping machining allows you to use various types of metals and even other materials like wood, plastics, or any other material.
Typical plastic materials suitable for CNC prototype machining include ABS, PS, POM, PCGF, LDPE, PAGF, PP, HDPE, PMMA, PC, and Teflon. On the other hand, common metals and metal alloys suitable for this process include aluminum, brass, bronze, copper, stainless steel, steel, magnesium, zinc, and titanium.
Consistency and Repeatability
CNC prototype machining allows higher levels of repeatability. As a result, you can use the same design and process used to develop a specific finished product to create a replica of the product with exact specifications.
Moreover, CNC prototyping machines use cutting tools that deliver consistent cuts, offering replicas of the original design regardless of the amount produced. This procedure is unlike other prototyping strategies like injection molding, where the mold depreciates after several repetitions. These discrepancies result in unavoidable changes to the design of injection-molded prototypes.
Saves Time
Making CNC-machined prototypes saves time. You don’t have to consider factors like mold creation or other time-consuming conditions. More so, you can modify your designs easily by making changes to the CAM and CAD files and creating the prototypes again using the CNC machine.
Limitations of Prototyping with CNC Machining
There are various setbacks to prototyping with CNC machining, despite its enormous benefits as one of the best strategies for producing prototypes. These limitations include:
Technical Expertise
Before you can produce CNC machining prototypes, it would be best to have the technical know-how of designing CAD files and how to generate a CAM file from them. Installing and programming CNC machines require certain technical expertise.
More importantly, the knowledge of testing procedures, innovative approaches, creative vision, and experience is essential in CNC prototyping. In addition, it would help to know that not all CNC machining service providers can create CNC prototypes without prior training.
Material Wastage
CNC prototype machining is a subtractive process that cuts material from a bar stock during prototyping or manufacturing. As a result, the material cost increases due to increased material usage during the prototyping operation.
Moreover, you will likely incur additional costs and waste more material since it is not certain that a prototype will be perfect on the first attempt. Likewise, even if the small batch of prototypes meets all technical requirements, there is little-to-no likelihood of selling them. Hence, they increase the amount of material wasted.
Geometrical Restrictions
The inability of the CNC prototyping process to machine interior geometries is one of its major setbacks. CNC machines primarily work only on the exterior of a workpiece. As a result, developing prototypes with internal components may be challenging using CNC prototype machining.
However, you may choose alternative prototyping processes like 3D printing to make prototypes with internal components. 3D printing is ideal for manufacturing internal geometries of prototypes since it can work from the interior to the exterior area of a workpiece.
More Expensive than 3D Printing
The CNC prototype machining costs more than SLS 3D printing process due to the incurred material costs. Besides, the cost of prototyping increases significantly sometimes because the focus is usually on the details instead of cost optimization. However, prototype machining makes up for its price with microscopic precision, high accuracy, and material versatility.
Applications of CNC Prototype Machining
CNC prototype machining is a widely utilized prototyping method across all manufacturing industries. Here are some of the industries that use CNC machining prototypes:
Aerospace Industry
The aerospace industry is one of the industries with high use for CNC prototype technology. Machinists in the aerospace sector use this process to develop functional prototypes with high levels of precision and accuracy.
Additionally, engineers use this prototyping technology to test the functionality of the machined components and other innovations within the aerospace industry. It helps to ensure the dependability of these parts, preventing malfunction when the aircraft is airborne. Typical components of aircraft made with the CNC prototyping technology are airfoils, bushings, manifolds, etc.
Medical Industry
The medical sector has a high demand for parts and medical equipment with tight tolerances and precision. The medical industry benefits from CNC prototype machining as it is compatible with various CNC machining materials.
Besides, there are demands for medical components with the tightest tolerances, such as prosthetics, implant holders, surgical scissors, biopsy tubes, etc., following medical technology’s evolution. The CNC machines produce superior quality functional prototypes with excellent precision and accuracy for the medical industry.
Architecture and Construction Industry
Manufacturers use CNC machining extensively in the architectural and construction sector to create interior and exterior elements. Although injection molding is the common process used in the early days, it takes longer and incurs higher costs.
However, CNC prototype machining has made manufacturing functional prototypes for this sector much cheaper and faster.
Automotive Industry
This sector is one of the top industries with high use for CNC machining prototypes with tighter tolerances and high precision. Gears, wheels, brakes, and suspension components are typical examples of CNC parts machined with CNC prototype machining. Besides, these auto parts require the tightest tolerances to ensure vehicles’ peak performance and safety.
The automotive industry develops prototypes and tests their functionality by fitting them in vehicles to ensure they meet the intended purposes. However, creating automotive prototypes that serve the intended purposes and specifications may be challenging without CNC prototype machining.
Oil and Energy Industry
The oil sector has a high demand for parts with excellent strength capable of mining great depths in the earth’s surface to extract resources. Engineers often use CNC milling prototyping or other custom CNC machining processes to create these parts to meet the requirements.
Likewise, the energy industries use CNC prototypes to explore green energy resources that mitigate environmental impact.
Military Industry
The research and development department benefits from using the CNC prototype machining process in the military sector. Military R&D utilizes this fabrication technique in developing aircraft, warfare vehicles, and other CNC machined parts.
Engineers and product developers in this industry depend on prototype CNC machining since it allows rapid prototyping and part manufacturing irrespective of the material’s hardness.
Essential Factors and Tips for Effective CNC Prototyping
Since manufacturers depend on CNC prototype machining to produce parts according to specifications and requirements, there are certain pivotal factors that you must consider for successful CNC prototyping. Here are some of them:
Choose the Ideal CAD Software
The extensive application of CAD in machining various parts has resulted in the development of several CAD software for custom prototypes across industries. However, some are good for specific applications, while others are too limited or unnecessarily complex. Therefore, choosing the perfect CAD application for your intended applications or industry is best.
Use Default Tolerances
Tighter tolerances cause significant increases in production costs since it often requires specialized cutting tools and extra fixtures. Therefore, using default tolerances is arguably the best machining practice. However, it would be best to seek professional assistance from the CNC services expert handling your parts design to determine the ideal tolerance level for your prototypes.
Reduce the Complexity of Prototype Design
The complexity of your prototype is another critical factor to consider in CNC prototype machining. It would help to note that the CNC machining cost increases depending on the complexity of your prototype design.
Besides, setting up the machine for a model that requires various angles and undercuts takes longer, resulting in extended development time. Therefore, reducing your prototype complexity is advisable since the complexity hikes production costs and increases time to market.
Consider Tool Geometry When Drafting Prototype Design
Examine the cutting tools’ axial properties during prototype CNC machining since the cutting process is rotary. Most cutting tools used in this process are round and have restricted cutting lengths. Thus, the tools’ geometry influences the cutting operations.
Ideal Wall Thickness
Consider the minimum wall thickness for your prototype when drafting your design. This is because your CNC machined prototype or part may exhibit poor mechanical stability and fail due to thin wall thickness.
However, maintain a minimum wall thickness of 0.8mm in your metal parts as a general rule of thumb. On the other hand, the ideal wall thickness for plastic components should be more than 1.5mm.
Partner with a CNC Prototype Manufacturing Expert
Partnering with a seasoned CNC machining expert is essential to the success of your CNC prototyping project. Manufacturing specialists focus on making the machining processes more efficient to produce superior-quality prototypes.
Your manufacturing specialist considers the geometric restrictions of the machining method required to create the preferred prototype design. However, it would be challenging to benefit from the vast benefits of machining prototypes with CNC machines without the assistance of a seasoned prototype manufacturer.
How to Choose Your CNC Prototype Machining Partner
Prototypes contribute significantly to the manufacturing process in different industries. CNC machining prototype for your project helps to prevent long-term issues while saving costs. CNC machining is perfect for producing parts in the prototyping stages. It is fast and offers precise prototypes.
Meanwhile, this guide has discussed everything you need to know about CNC prototype machining. Therefore, you can produce high-quality prototypes for your products. However, if you need quality prototypes that meet the intended purpose without spending too much, AT Machining is your best partner!
AT Machining is your one-stop machine shop for reliable CNC machining services and production runs. We rely on our advanced CNC technology and good years of CNC prototyping expertise as we bring your CAD models to life.
Our team of engineering specialists has adequate industry machining experience that enables us to create high-quality prototypes that meet stringent quality standards for various industries. We offer competitive pricing as we provide finished products with the highest quality. Kindly upload your CAD files on our platform today; we offer reliable DfM and quotations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CNC Machining the Best the Best Choice for Making Prototypes?
CNC prototype machining is the best choice when material versatility, fast production, or precision are primary factors in producing your prototypes.
What Are the Common Factors That Influence CNC Machined Prototypes Costs?
The choice of material, tolerances, and design complexity of your prototype are various factors that can affect your CNC machined prototype cost. Additionally, CNC machines and surface finishing options are other factors that may affect the cost of your project.
Is CNC Prototype Machining Cheaper than Injection Molding?
The injection molding process is more expensive for making prototypes, even though you can divide the mold cost over a large volume. However, prototypes are produced in small batches, rendering injection molding unsuitable for prototyping. Therefore, CNC prototype machining is cost-effective because it makes recyclable waste material.
