PLASTICS MACHINING PROCESS FAQs

Yes! We machine NEMA Grades GPO-1, -2 and -3 made by Rochling-Glastic, Haysite, and others. We also work with the higher temperature-rated materials such as Glastic's SG-200 (rated to 200° C) and Haysite's HST-II (up to 220°). Many plastics job shops do not work with these products as they are tough on tools and require superior dust-collection. At K&E, we consistently evaluate our tools for maximum productivity. All machines have dust collection to ensure clean air throughout the shop floor.

Yes! Along with sheets, we machine rod, tube, channels, angles, and any other existing shape that can be fixtured. Many of our electric-generation customers have parts that start off as GPO-3 angles or channels.

This group of materials falls into the thermoset plastics family. Phenolic resins are laminated with paper or fabric to produce materials known for their strength and electrical, mechanical, and wear properties. Paper-based laminates are the most economical of the phenolics and provide excellent electrical and mechanical properties. Cotton fabric-based laminates provide greater strength and machining versatility.

Glass fabric laminates are a group of thermoset plastics that combine glass fabric with different resins. Some of the grades available in this class include, but are not limited to: G-7, G-9, G-10, FR-4, and FR-5. Each grade provides different mechanical & electrical properties to suit different applications. FR-4 combines woven glass fabric with epoxy resin and is used for circuit boards and other electrical parts. It has excellent electrical, mechanical, and flame retardant properties as FR-4 contains bromine to make it fire-retardant. NEMA Grade G9 combines glass fabric with melamine resin to produce a very hard, flame-resistant material. It also has excellent electrical properties. G-7 is a glass-silicon laminate with excellent insulating properties.

Yes, we can! These material types are thermoplastics and our equipment, tooling, and coolants will ensure that these materials are machined correctly. Some of the brand names are very well known like Plexiglas®, which is a brand of acrylic, Lexan®, which is the polycarbonate family produced by Polymershapes and Delrin®, which is a brand of acetal. Generally, thermoplastics machine very well and are much easier on tools than the thermosets. K&E works with all of these grades as well as the high-end engineering plastics.

We provide specific certifications to meet your material requirements. Some of the certifications that we can provide include: RoHS, Reach, ASTM, and Military. If traceability is required we can provide batch and lot numbers on the manufacturer’s material certification.

No! As a contract custom plastics machining manufacturer, we are set up to run parts in quantities from 1 to thousands of pieces. Every quote is evaluated to make sure the customer is getting the best possible price. One general rule-of-thumb does apply: the more parts being made the more cost-effective it is for the customer. That’s because we amortize our labor costs over the quantity ordered. For that reason, we except blanket orders or other stock programs to provide the customer with the best piece price.

Yes we do! The most common secondary services that we provide include: Inserts, printing, assembly, coatings, engraving, polishing, sand blasting, and annealing. Contact us with any specific requirements you may have.

K&E uses MasterCam and Solid Works. We are able to work with the following file extensions:
ACIS Kernal SAT Files (*.SAT; *.SAB)
Alibre Design Files (*.AD_PRT; *.AD_SMP)
All Mastercam Files (*.MCX-5; *.MCX; *.MC9; *.MC8)
ASCII files (*.TXT; *.CSV; *.DOC)
AutoCAD Files (*.DWG; *.DXF; .*DWF)
Autodesk Inventor Drawing Files (*.IDW)
Autodesk Inventor Files (*.IPT; *.IAM)
Cadkey CDL Files (*.CDL)
Catia V4 Files (*.MODEL; *.EXP)
Catia V5 Files (*.CATPART; *.CATProduct)
HPGL Plotter Files (*.PLT)
IGES Files (*.IGS; *.IGES)
Key Creator Files (*.CKD)
Mastercam pre-X5 Files (*.MCX)
Mastercam V8 Files (*.MC8)
Mastercam V9 Files (*.MC9)
Mastercam X5 Files (*.MCX-5)
Parasolid Files (*.X_T; *.X_B; *.XMT_TXT)
PostScript Files (*.EPS; *.AI; *.PS)
Rhino 3D Files (*.3DM)
Solid Edge files (*.PAR; *.PSM; *.ASM)
SolidWorks Drawing Files (*.SLDDRW)
SolidWorks Files (*.SLDPRT; *.SLDASM)
SpaceClaim Files (*.SCDOC)
STEP Files (*.STP; *.STEP)
StereoLithography Files (*.STL)
Unigraphics/NX Files (*.PRT)
VDA Files (*.VDA)