What plastic is best for machining?

1. ABS

ABS is one of the most common thermoplastic materials with good mechanical properties, excellent impact strength, high heat resistance and good machinability.

ABS has a low density and is ideal for lightweight applications. CNC machined ABS parts are often used as prototypes before injection molding for mass production.

Material properties:

Density: 1.00-1.05 g/cm3

2. Nylon

Nylon, also known as polyamide (PA), is a thermoplastic often used in engineering applications because of its excellent mechanical properties, good impact strength, and high chemical and abrasion resistance. But it absorbs water and moisture easily.

Nylon 6 and Nylon 66 are the most commonly used grades in CNC machining.

Material properties:

Density: 1.14 g/cm3

3. Polycarbonate

Polycarbonate is a thermoplastic with high toughness, good machinability and excellent impact strength (better than ABS). It can be tinted, but is usually optically clear, making it ideal for a wide range of applications including fluidic devices or automotive glass.

Material properties:

Density: 1.20-1.22 g/cm3

4. POM

Commonly known by the trade name Delrin, POM is the engineering thermoplastic with the highest machinability of any plastic.

POM (Delrin) is generally the best choice when CNC machining plastic parts that require high precision, high stiffness, low friction, excellent high temperature dimensional stability and very low water absorption.

Material properties:

Density: 1.40-1.42 g/cm3

5. PTFE (Teflon)

Commonly referred to as Teflon, PTFE is an engineering thermoplastic with excellent chemical and thermal resistance and the lowest coefficient of friction of any known solid.

Teflon is one of the few plastics that can withstand operating temperatures above 200°C and is an excellent electrical insulator. However, it has purely mechanical properties and is often used as a lining or insert in components.

Material properties:

Density: 2.2 g/cm3

6. PEEK

PEEK is a high-performance engineering thermoplastic with excellent mechanical properties, thermal stability over a very wide temperature range, and excellent resistance to most chemicals.

PEEK is often used to replace metal parts due to its high strength-to-weight ratio. Medical grades are also available, making PEEK suitable for biomedical applications as well.

Material properties:

Density: 1.32 g/cm 3