Buyer’s Guide to CNC

Machined Parts
UNDERSTAND CNC MACHINING COSTS AND SAVINGS OPPORTUNITIES

By:

Basilius Inc.
Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Finding a Supplier & Establishing a Relationship .......................................................................................... 4
Finding Suppliers ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Evaluation of Capabilities & Equipment ................................................................................................... 4
Site Visit .................................................................................................................................................... 4
Understanding Manufacturing Brokers .................................................................................................... 5
Long Term Relationships ............................................................................................................................... 6
Simplification Equals Savings ........................................................................................................................ 7
Contours.................................................................................................................................................... 7
Fillets / Radii / Chamfers ........................................................................................................................... 8
Limiting Setups ........................................................................................................................................ 10
Depth and Size ........................................................................................................................................ 10
Work Holding .......................................................................................................................................... 10
Design Tips & Tricks .................................................................................................................................... 11
Eliminating a Corner Radius .................................................................................................................... 11
Turning Threads ...................................................................................................................................... 12
Zero Inside Radius on a Turned Component .......................................................................................... 13
Non-Standard Fillets ............................................................................................................................... 13
Think Big .................................................................................................................................................. 15
About Basilius.............................................................................................................................................. 16
It’s Personal............................................................................................................................................. 16
Quality Reassurance................................................................................................................................ 16
A Simple Source, A Simple Solution ........................................................................................................ 16
From Specialized Assistance to Turn-Key Solutions................................................................................ 16
Introduction
You’ve got your part designed, and your prints are ready to send out for a quote. The next step is finding a
supplier and establishing a trusting relationship. Whether you need one part or hundreds of parts, you need
to find a capable supplier that will make your parts exactly how you want them. In the first section of this
ebook, we’ll discuss finding a supplier and establishing a relationship. After that, we’ll discuss how to create
long-term relationships.

Finally, we’ll cover some areas of supplier relationships that don’t always get enough attention. We’ll look at
how to eliminate assumptions in order to facilitate a clear understanding of the project, how to establish a
long-term relationship built on honesty and integrity, and how feedback and communication can help you
maintain that relationship.
Finding a Supplier & Establishing a Relationship
There’s a good chance you’ve already hopped on the internet and searched for a CNC machining service
provider. You’ve likely seen some ads, clicked on a few sites, and maybe even contacted a couple places. How
are you finding, evaluating, and comparing these suppliers? Do their equipment capabilities match your part?
Can you see their facility or are they a manufacturing broker?

Finding Suppliers
The internet is a great resource for finding suppliers, but unfortunately doing a quick Google search usually
doesn't cut it. Though Google is designed to find the best matches for your search, they also give top ad spots
to those companies who are willing to pay for them. The same is true for for industrial directories like
ThomasNet. These companies make money by selling ranked positions to manufacturers. Just keep in mind
that the company with the biggest ad budget may not be the best fit for you!

Maybe it’s old-school, but asking around and finding local suppliers is always a good starting point. At
Basilius, we require several suppliers to keep our business going. As such, we end up going through the same
type of processes that you do in order to find suppliers. Over the years, we’ve discovered some local
companies that are barely even on the google radar but provide excellent service and support.

Evaluation of Capabilities & Equipment

Your CNC machining service provider needs to be able to provide you with parts with the quality, delivery,
and cost you expect. To do this, they need to have the people and equipment to match the part
requirements. There are a lot of machine shops that could manufacture your part, but some shops could
make your project easier than others. For example, some shops equip themselves for high annual volume,
precision work, while others are better suited for lower volume work.

The term “high volume” is not primarily about the number of units, but rather, it has more to do with
machine time and systems variable. Machine shops that are a set up for high-volume applications will likely
have more equipment, run multiple shifts, and possibly have robotics. Because CNC machining is such a
broad category, high-volume shops are not necessarily looking for a high number of parts per year (such as,
“5,000 parts per year or more.”) Instead, they are looking at the machine time requirements, the type and
number of operations necessary, personnel requirements, etc. That said, a high-volume shop could have one
machine, making one part, producing 10,000 parts per year;or they could have five machines in a row,
connected by robotics, making a complicated aerospace part, producing a few hundred parts per year.

Shops geared for lower volume work will likely have a broader array of equipment in both size and capability,
yielding the capability of more diverse work. The broader array of capability may seem like a lack in
specialization but is ultimately an advantage. These shops are able to do several different operations and
take complicated, low volume projects from start to finish. Calling a few shops, sharing your prints, and
discussing your project will go a long way here.

Site Visit
If possible, it’s a good idea to see your manufacturer in person and see the people and equipment that will be
supporting you and your project. Often, you’ll have a gut feeling after that site visit if the facility and people
are the right fit for you. In the best scenario, you’ll get to see other projects (or even your project) in action
and you might even see potential for other projects. In other cases, you might see some areas of concern that
need to be addressed.

Understanding Manufacturing Brokers

Manufacturing brokers are in the business of finding you the best price, the fastest delivery, and the highest
quality for your parts. These companies, like any other brokers, have a list of suppliers that have been pre-
qualified in different areas. When you provide the broker with an RFQ, they shop their suppliers, mark it up
the price they recieve, and sell you the finished goods.

For some companies, using a manufacturing broker could be an excellent choice. At the same time, you
should understand the long-term costs associated with having another company between you and the actual
manufacturer. If you have a quality issue, how quickly can you get answers? How does information get
conveyed between you and the manufacturer? Are you really getting the best price?

From the manufacturer’s perspective, using a broker is a race to the bottom. It’s a price game of who can do
work for the lowest price. It’s a game that creates winners and losers. And that game is the complete
opposite of a long-term win-win, relationship-building connection between people and businesses. As a
manufacturer, we get a deep satisfaction out of solving our customer’s problems and coming through for
them when they need us. At Basilius, we believe that building long-term relationships with your suppliers
over time will get you better service at better prices than you would get if you use a broker.
Long Term Relationships
Personal experiences and conversations with others have taught us that some of the best relationships in
business are the ones that are focused on the long term. It’s nice to know that you can reach out to your
supplier when you're in a jam and know that they won’t gouge you on price just because they can. So how
are those relationships built?

To start with, honesty is critical for both sides. When both sides are honest and transparent about their
intentions, operations, and procedures, long term success is much more likely.. Let’s consider an example to
illustrate the importance of honesty.

In terms of CNC machining, there are (basically) two variables: time and materials. To produce a part, it takes
a certain amount of machine time and a certain amount of raw material. It’s not always economical for
manufacturers to test run jobs to get the exact amount of machine time it will take. Sometimes, the
manufacturer will have to make an educated guess or possibly do some quick software processing. When the
exact machine time is unknown, they will often err on the safe side when quoting. Understanding that, if you
intend to give them the work, you should communicate that up front. Not only is this honest, it also allows
them to spend a little extra time eliminating the unknowns and give you the best price.

Feedback on projects also helps refine relationships over time, and it works in both directions. If there are
issues, even small ones, it’s essential to provide that feedback to the manufacturer as soon as possible. If
their quote is high or low, let them know. Sometimes, you’ll even find that one manufacturer missed
something or made an incorrect assumption.
Simplification Equals Savings
Contours
Contours are easy to create in CNC operations, but they require longer cycle times to produce. Unless a
contour is needed for the part to function correctly, it is best to simplify the surfaces to save on machine time
(part cost). The images below show the before and after of a part with and without a contour. Eliminating
this contour could drastically reduce the cost of the component. You see the pocket on the underside of the
part is simplified as well.
Fillets / Radii / Chamfers
Fillets and radii are good design features for increasing strength and resisting cracking. They also make parts
easier to handle and more aesthetically pleasing. Depending on the CNC process, fillets and radii may be
inevitable; but in other cases, they may cause unnecessary complications. As an example, since milling
operations use a rotating bit, inside corner radii are inevitable. The image below shows an example part with
an inside corner radius.
The Image below shows a common tooling insert for a lathe (gold color). Nearly all of these types of inserts
have a rounded (radiused) end. The radius helps to cut away material more efficiently but will also generate a
fillet on inside corners during CNC operations. If an inside corner for a turned component needs to be sharp,
special “zero radius” tooling inserts will need to be used, which results in an added operation and tool setup.
As a general rule, it is best to allow for fillets on turned parts in order to avoid the added operation. In a later
section, we’ll show you some design tricks to help you avoid the added operation.
Limiting Setups
Setups are required any time a component needs to be put into a fixture or clamped into a machine. Each
setup adds to machine time in the worst way. That is, the machine is on but not cutting material. Thus,
moving parts around opens up room for error and wastes machine time. This is why multi-axis machines and
pallet changers are such a huge advantage. Multi-axis machines can access more sides of a part, which
reduces setups. Pallet changers allow an operator to set up the next set of parts while another set is cutting.

Depth and Size

The length to diameter ratio (L:D ratio) discussed earlier also applies to CNC milling. Designing small features
that are hard to reach is likely to increase the cost of a component. An example is a thin and deep pocket. For
CNC milling, deep and narrow areas require specialized tooling and are time-consuming to produce. They
may even require the use of EDM equipment, requiring more setup time and an additional process.

Work Holding
When designing a part for CNC operations, it’s essential to think about work holding, or how a machine can
grip a component in various ways to complete the CNC operations. Secondarily, if your component requires
different set-ups, the machine operator will need to “locate” the part in the machine. Operators need to be
able to tell the machine where the part is. To do that, they need to locate something like a hole or a few
details of the part. If a part is heavily contoured with no straight or parallel edges, it may be difficult or
impossible to hold and locate. Below is a simple contoured part that could be easily CNC machined in a
vertical mill from the top of the part. However, holding the part to get to the other bottom would be difficult
for the part on the left. Adding two parallel faces (highlighted in blue on the right part) allows the part to be
gripped in a vice and located in the machine. There are tricks like custom fixturing, but this adds extra set-up
time that could otherwise be avoided.
Design Tips & Tricks
Eliminating a Corner Radius
As we mentioned earlier, the CNC milling operation automatically creates a radius on vertical inside corners.
If your assembly requires a sharp corner, there are a few options available. The lower two corners in the
image below show the corners drilled out. The diameter of the hole is large enough that the vertical and
horizontal walls are completely straight. The top two corners use a design feature that accomplishes a sharp
corner with a slightly different design.

These features are designed around allowing a mating component to have a sharp corner. That is, something
with sharp corners needs to fit into the pocket in the image above. If the mating component cannot be
modified and the above design features are not possible, the corners can be EDM’d to a much smaller radius.
As mentioned previously, this is an additional cost and set up that should be avoided.
Turning Threads
For CNC turning threads, it is common to have the threads end into a face. The challenge is that when CNC
turning threads, the tooling inserts cannot produce a thread that ends completely against a face. Meaning
that a mating component could possibly bind and stop against the end of a thread rather than against the
face. If the mating component cannot be modified, you can undercut the end of the thread to the root
diameter of the thread (see image below).

When designing threads, it is also important to add a proper lead into the thread by using a simple chamfer
(shown above). The small diameter of the chamfer should be smaller than the root diameter of the thread.
This will prevent a burr; it also provides a nice lead-in for mating parts.
Zero Inside Radius on a Turned Component
Most lathe tooling has a radius for performance and chip removal, as discussed earlier. However, the radius
may work against you if you need a sharp corner. You can design in a small undercut to make sure a mating
component with a sharp corner can fully engage into the CNC turned part. Below is a common example of a
pin (outlined in red) and a bushing (outlined in blue). The undercut on the pin allows the bushing to fully
engage into the face of the pin without interference.

Non-Standard Fillets
When designing radii on a part, it is best practice to make the radius a non-standard value. That is, instead of
having a .250 corner radius, make it slightly over (.260). Doing this ensures that CAM software generates the
radius with cutting equipment, rather than allowing a tool to engage fully in a corner. In the first image
below, a half inch cutter is fully engaged into a corner with a ¼ inch fillet. The excess contact area causes
chattering, which produces a rough finish and may cut the part slightly undersize. The second image is
zoomed in more and shows the difference in contact area when a corner radius .260. The difference in design
is small but makes the CNC process more robust. If a fillet is specified to be ¼ inch, an operator may program
it to use a smaller tool to avoid full engagement. Doing so adds another setup and another operation
(increasing cost slightly).
Think Big
In general, smaller features take more time to make. For example, since a CNC milled pocket will generate an
inside radius, it is better to have a radius at .260 than .100. In the example part shown below, the corner radii
are highlighted in blue. The corner radius is .260 and therefore, can be produced by a half inch mill. That
same tooling bit would likely be able to cut this entire part as well. If these radii were reduced to.135 , a 3/16
mill would be largest diameter tool able to produce the radius. The smaller tooling may not serve much of a
purpose beyond cutting the smaller radius. Therefore, the smaller radius would require the setup of another
tool, a tool change, and additional programming. Keep in mind that design features like these are relative to
the part design as a whole. If the part is small, then small features are unavoidable. The basic premise is that
having lots of different design features that require several different types of tooling should be avoided when
possible. It is also advantageous to keep sizes consistent throughout the part design.
About Basilius
It’s Personal
Basilius Inc. is a family-owned business that has been in operation since 1952. You’ll find hands-on ownership
in every key operation and process. We work as an extension of your team to ensure
absolute quality and efficiency. We are driven by a commitment to customer satisfaction rooted in
accountability, responsiveness, and service excellence.

Quality Reassurance
Basilius Inc. meets international standards for quality and performance. In-house validation processes ensure
that the tooling and parts will meet or exceed your quality standards.

A Simple Source, A Simple Solution

Our centralized facility makes it possible for us to handle every step of the process under one roof,
ensuring consistent quality, continuity, and conformity to your part specifications. Our integrated approach
streamlines solutions to get your parts to market faster.

From Specialized Assistance to Turn-Key Solutions

Basilius Inc. is a full-service plastics part supplier, which can support as much or as little of your project
development as you choose. If you need technical assistance for part design, we have the equipment and
expertise to assist you from step one through project completion. If your design is complete, we can build
molds directly from your part design. If you need machine time for short-term production runs or are looking
for a permanent home for your existing tools, we will meet your injection molding needs. Basilius, Inc. is truly
a one-stop-shop.

Basilius Inc.
4338 South Ave
Toledo Ohio, 43615
419-536-5810
Contact@basilius.com
https://www.basilius.com/contact