1. The ‘Hole’ Truth
Anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes in a shop knows what a drill bit looks like and what it does. For the most part, however, holes at Protolabs are interpolated with an endmill rather than drilled. This machining method provides great flexibility in terms of the hole sizes available with a given tool, and offers better surface finish than that obtainable with a drill. It also allows us to use the same tool for machining slots and pockets, reducing cycle time and part cost. The only downside is that holes much more than six diameters deep become a challenge due to an endmill’s limited length, and may require machining from both sides of the part.
2. Threading Right
Drilling and thread-making go hand in hand. Many shops use “taps” to cut internal threads. Taps look like a screw with teeth, and are “threaded” into a previously drilled hole. We take a more modern approach to thread making, using a tool called a thread mill to interpolate the thread profile. This creates an accurate thread, and a single milling tool can be used to cut any thread size that shares that pitch (the number of threads per inch), saving production and setup time. Because of this, UNC and UNF threads from #2 up to 1/2 in., and metric threads from M2 to M12 are possible, all within a single toolset.
3. Be Careful Texting
Want to have a part number, description, or logo milled on your parts? The toolsets at Protolabs are capable of machining most any text required, provided the spacing between individual characters and the stroke used to “write” them measures at least 0.020 in. (0.5mm). Also, text should be recessed rather than raised, and it is suggested 20-point or larger fonts such as Arial, Verdana, or similar Sans-Serif fonts be used.
4. Tall Walls and Tiny Features
All of our toolsets are comprised of carbide cutting tools. This super rigid material offers maximum tool life and productivity with minimal deflection. Yet even the strongest tools deflect, as do the metals and especially plastics being machined. Because of this, wall heights and feature sizes are very dependent on the individual part geometry as well as the toolset being used. For instance, the minimum feature thickness at Protolabs is 0.020 in. (0.5mm) and the maximum feature depth is 2 in. (51mm), but that doesn’t mean you can design a ribbed heatsink using those dimensions.
5. Live Tool Lathes
Aside from extensive milling capabilities, we offer live-tool CNC turning. The toolsets used on these machines are similar to the ones on our machining centers, except we do not turn plastic parts at this time. That means off-center holes, slots, flats, and other features can be machined parallel or perpendicular (axial or radial) to the “long” axis of the turned workpiece (its Z-axis), and will typically follow the same design rules as those applied to the orthogonal parts made on our machining centers. The difference here is in the shape of the raw material rather than the toolset itself. Turned parts such as shafts and pistons start out as round stock, while milled parts—manifolds, instrument cases, and valve covers, for example—typically don’t, using square or rectangular blocks instead. As you’ll see in a moment, however, we’ve broken these rules as well.
