Whether you’re a long-time metalworking machinist looking into machining plastics, or a maybe you have been working with plastics for awhile and simply can’t find the secret to achieving consistent performance; the key to plastic machining is trial and error. 

Just because your equipment and machining techniques are easily adaptive to machining plastic stock, According to the Larry Phippen, owner of Adapt Plastics in Loves Park, Ill., (www.adaptplastics.com) you’ll find that machining plastics require experimentation between different materials, different feed rates, and even different seasons.

“Most plastics have a high coefficient of thermal expansion and if your shop is not airconditioned a plastic will not cut the same way in summer that it does in winter. The data sheets usually have information on machining and that’s a good place to start, but the best way to really learn the material is to use it and experiment with it.” said Phippen.

Ultimately, it’s up to every individual operator to find what works for their machine depending on the job they are doing. So don’t be afraid of scrap, achieving perfect surface finish will require finding a perfect marriage between machine, material and cutting tool.