The Best PEEK CNC Machining | Servise Cost & Advantages & Guidelines

What is peek material?

Polyether ether ketone （peek）is an enhanced thermoplastic polymer, PEEK’s has shown relatively high temperature endurance and compatible processing .

At temperatures as high as 500°F (260°C) and those that are above 500°F and still retain functionality, albeit with reduced efficiency, at the compound’s self-contained environment thus preserving the mechanical characteristics as well as the chemical composition.
PEEK is an injectable thermoplastic material that can be worked using injection molding, extrusion, 3D printing as well as CNC machining among other methods The most preferred method when it comes to PEEK CNC machining is through the usage of computer numerical control or peek CNC machining technology; this tool has the capability of offering complex and accurate shape work being desirable in aerospace and medical industries that require tight tolerance standards.

Forms usually applicable to the processing of PEEK materials are: Rod(moulding)，Sheet(plate), Pipes(tube)，Block etc.

PEEK material grade

• Virgin Grade peek:100% pure PEEK, without any filler or modification.

• Glass Fiber Filled peek:PEEK filled with fiber glass, generally in the proportion of 10%, 20%, 30% increase, compared with pure resin has a stronger physical tensile strength and rigidity.

• Carbon Fiber Filled peek: PEEK is filled with carbon fibers, generally in the proportion of 10%, 20%, 30% increase, compared to the glass fiber resin has a stronger physical tensile strength and rigidity, almost 3 times the strength of glass fiber.

What are the types of peek machinability?

• CNC Milling Machine : CNC Milling Machine is one of the most common PEEK CNC machining equipment for milling, drilling, cutting and other machining operations on Peek materials. CNC Milling Machines usually have different axial movements and automatic tool change functions for high precision parts machining.

• CNC Lathe: CNC lathes are used to perform cutting operations on rotating workpieces and are suitable for machining rotating parts such as Peek rods. CNC lathe can realize high precision turning, boring, tapping and other operations.

• Laser Cutting Machine: The laser cutting machine uses a high-energy laser beam for cutting, and is suitable for high-speed, high-precision cutting operations on Peek materials. Laser cutting can realize complex shapes of parts processing, but also can avoid material damage and deformation.

• Waterjet Cutting Machine: Waterjet cutting machines use a high-pressure stream of water to cut, and are suitable for cutting operations on Peek materials. Waterjet cutting allows for cold working, avoiding thermal influences and deformation of the material.

• Electric Discharge Machines (EDM Machines): EDM Machines use an electric spark discharge to process metal materials and are suitable for electrical discharge machining on Peek materials. EDM can realize fine and complex shapes, and is suitable for special shapes or parts with high precision requirements.

Why choose PEEK CNC machining?

• When designing parts with many engineering plastics,they can't be printed with 3d technology,such as pvc,pom,pei,peek,these plastics don't have reliable and affordable printing formula,but by cnc machining plastics processing you can easily design any type of plastics according to customer's specification.

• Specialized materials for 3d printing are more expensive and the cost of manufacturing is priced based on the amount of material used, so the cost is very high.And cnc machining plastics is a more convenient and cost effective process

• 3d printing process will leave delamination marks on the plastic parts, it will be very difficult to remove, when the customer needs high quality, surface finish parts when 3d printing is not suitable, and cnc machining process to ensure that the parts have a high-quality surface and can be used at any time.

• The peek cnc machining can provide higher dimensional accuracy, 5-axis cnc milling machine can be more complex parts for high precision machining.

PEEK CNC machining method

When PEEK CNC machining medical-grade and industrial-grade Peek materials, it is important to choose the right tool to ensure quality and efficiency. Below are some common types of tools used for machining Peek materials:

• Carbide Tools: Carbide tools are a common choice for machining Peek, a relatively hard material that requires high wear resistance. Carbide tools typically have excellent wear resistance and cutting performance and are suitable for high speed cutting and long machining times.

• Drill Bits: tips for drilling peek are used to make holes in Peek materials. For medical-grade and industrial-grade Peek materials, carbide drills are often chosen to ensure hole accuracy and surface quality.

• End Mills: End mills are used to plane and contour Peek materials. Usually choose carbide milling cutter, according to the specific processing needs to choose different types of milling cutters, such as flat milling cutter, ball milling cutter and so on.

• Cutting Tools: Cutting tools are used for profiling on Peek materials. Carbide cutting tools have excellent cutting performance and wear resistance, and are suitable for efficient machining of Peek materials.

PEEK Machining Guide: Guidelines

• Selection of appropriate tools: Selection of appropriate tool type, size and geometry according to the machining task and material properties.

• Control cutting parameters: This includes parameters such as cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut. Ensure that the cutting parameters match the properties of the Peek material to achieve efficient machining while avoiding tool wear and material damage.

• Cutting Processes：

In general, the recommended parameters for PEEK polymers and reinforced PEEK composites differ between machining processes. Reinforced PEEK composites are machined at slightly lower speeds than pure PEEK polymers due to the addition of reinforcing materials (such as glass fibers or carbon fibers) in order to minimize heat and potential damage due to the machining process. In addition, reinforced compounds may require more careful feed control and specially selected tool materials to accommodate their enhanced physical properties, as shown in the following peek cnc machining speeds and feeds specific parameters。

Peek cnc machining speeds and feeds

(Courtesy of Invibio)

For the process of peek cnc machining further cooling may be required after the use of this particular thing.

Peek is always facing high heat and when processing Peek material there is always a tendency to generate more heat and this must always be controlled to minimize heat build-up on both the tool and the Peek material. The most commonly applied tool cooling methodologies as per the classification of requirements for cleanliness includes cutting fluid cooling and cold air cooling; the cutting fluid cooling is targeted at using conventional condensate, pure water, liquid nitrogen and other coolant medium.

Things that should be avoided include:

• Excessive cutting speed: If the value is too high, there will be more private cutting, more tool wear, more material damage and, in general, most operations made at this value will be of lower quality. Nevertheless, there can be proper match made when the cutting speeds selecting connected with hardness and properties of Peek material.

• Unstable cutting process: Fluttering cutting strategy can lead to a reduction in the quality of machining beside deforming the cutting tool. For that peek machining process to get rectified or say fixed, there must be certain fixity, tool stiffness and proper control of the cutting parameters.

• Lack of tool maintenance: Equipment is also classified as consumables when while in the process of using the equipment in the machining process, the equipment wears out, and to continue with the machining, it may be necessary to replace some of the equipments or tools with new ones to avoid spoiling the quality of the machining or the right tools for use in the machining process. As mentioned earlier, machining largely depends on the kind of tools being used; therefore, it would be advisable to have these tools well maintained and replaced when they are worn out to save time as well as improve on the quality of the entire job.

• Machining is a definitely Thus, it is needed for tools' maintenance and to take checks on which tools have badly worn out and which are needed to be replaced with the new ones.

PEEK cnc Machining Annealing Process

In order to ensure the smoothness of the process and the dimensional accuracy of the product, the supporting material treatment is also very necessary.

Processing mainly take heat treatment, different processing conditions, corresponding to different effects, and need to determine the optimal processing conditions according to the specific type of PEEK machining parts and the application requirements after processing.

Due to the size of the plate, plate, billet parts, the material from the surface and inside the density, stress difference is large, peek CNC machining at the same time also need to consider the depth of processing and excision, retention ratio, when the retained portion of the lesser, it should be processed in steps, for multiple rounds of heat treatment.

What is the pricing of CNC machining for Peek material?

PEEK CNC machining cost is usually the processing cost, material cost and equipment depreciation cost 3 separate quotes, calculated by the processing time, about $ 80 ~ 120 yuan / minute, reduce the tolerance to ± 0.005mm will be added $ 40 ~ $ 200 yuan, if the workpiece hardness is higher, the need for special cutting tools, the overall cost of basic machining will be more than 2 times.

• Material cost:Peek material price: about $100 to $500 per kg, depending on supplier, specification and quantity.

• Machining Time: peek CNC machining costs are typically calculated on an hourly basis. CNC machining harder materials like Peek can be time consuming, typically between $50 and $200 per hour, depending on the store's equipment and workmanship.

• Complexity:Increased complexity will result in increased machining time, and in general, the cost of machining can increase by 10% to 50% for each additional complex feature.

What is the damage rate for PEEK cnc machining & what causes it?

• Machining errors: usually account for a portion of scrap, which can range from 20% to 40%. Machining errors can be caused by program errors, operator errors, equipment problems, etc.

• Tool wear: Tool wear is a common cause of scrap and can account for 15% to 30% of scrap. Tool wear can be particularly severe with harder materials such as Peek.

• Material Damage: This can account for 10% to 25% of scrap, with brittle, hard materials such as Peek being susceptible to damage during machining, such as overcutting and vibration.

• Program Errors: Program errors can cause a percentage of scrap, which can range from 5% to 15%.

• Machine Failure: Machine failures can result in reduced part quality or complete scrap, which can range from 5% to 15%.

Peek material processing deformation

• Because the material itself with stress, the material removal margin is more, in contact with the stress concentration caused by deformation.

• The internal stress of the material is not completely clean at the beginning, and should be gathered at one point during processing, leading to deformation, which can be re-annealed to eliminate the stress.

• Clamping deformation, due to the clamping area is too small, the clamping density is not uniform, in the disassembly, the clamped part of the material deformation may be due to the deformation of the larger.

What can we offer from PEEK CNC machining manufacturer?

PEEK is a very expensive and difficult plastic material to process. Therefore PEEK cnc machining requires very specialized knowledge, experience, and machines, and we at BW happen to offer some perfect solutions, and we are particularly good at controlling scrap rates & cost, which we keep to a minimum and low cost cnc machining, so contact us to get the best access to PEEK CNC machining services.