Making Acrylic Prototype By 3D Printing,Vacuum Casting Or CNC Machining
For small batch production,if we need to make the plastic product with acrylic material,generally we will prefer to make them by 3D printing process,vacuum casting process or CNC machining process.We can make the acrylic product by all this three process,but there is much difference bewteen them,whatever the machining way or the finished product.
1.The difference of the machining way.
If make by 3d printing,we will obtain a acrylic product but not transparent after printing,and then polish and painting UV coating to make them transparent.
If make by vacuum casting,firstly we need to make a master mold of the product by CNC machining or 3D printing,and then we will polish the master mold to make them have a smooth surface,after that we will use the master mold to make a silicone mould,so that we can have a mold for casting.Finally we will remove the burr of acrylic parts and polish it to be total transparent.
If make by CNC machining,we will need to program firslty,and then milling or turning the acrylic parts by CNC machine,after that,we wtill need to polish the product to make it total clear.
2.The difference of the material.
If make by CNC machining,we can use pure acrylic sheet material or bar material,so the strength of the product that make by CNC machining will be better.
If make by vauum casting,the material we can use is similar acrylic,not pure acrylic,so the product that make by vauum casting is not strong as the product that make by CNC machining.
3.The difference of the processing time.
It will takes more processing time if make the product by CNC machining becase we need to make the product one by one on the CNC machine.
It will be more fast if make by vacuum casting because we can casting 8-10 pieces high quality product by using one mold.
It will be very fast if make by SLA 3D printing.
4.The difference of the product precision.
The product can have very high precision if make by CNC milling,so if the customer require high precision for the product,CNC machining process is a better option.
The precision of the product that make by vacuum casting is not so high as CNC machining,and the precision of the product that make by 3D printing is more low.
5.The difference of the price.
Generally,the cost of the product that make by CNC machining is more expensive,but the final cost depends on the product specification that customer require.