CNC Milling
CipherFab offers a high-quality CNC milling service for custom metal and plastic components — from one-off prototypes to production runs — with instant quoting, DFM feedback on every upload, and lead times from 1 business day.
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CNC Milling Service
CipherFab offers a high-quality CNC milling service for custom metal and plastic components — from one-off prototypes to production runs — with instant quoting, DFM feedback on every upload, and lead times from 1 business day. Our CNC milling service uses 3-axis and 4-axis vertical and horizontal machining centres to remove material from a workpiece using rotating multi-point cutting tools, producing prismatic components, enclosures, brackets, manifolds, housings, and complex structural components to precise dimensional tolerances. CipherFab provides instant quotes on CNC milled components with DFM feedback on every uploaded file.
Recommended Materials for CNC Milling
Materials supported for this capability.
CNC Milling
- Aluminium Aluminium 6061-T6
- Aluminium 7075-T6
- Aluminium 2024-T3
- Aluminium 5052-H32
- Aluminium 6082-T6
- Aluminium MIC-6 Cast Tooling Plate
- Stainless Steel Stainless Steel 303
- Stainless Steel 304
- Stainless Steel 316/316L
- Stainless Steel 17-4PH
- Stainless Steel 15-5PH
- Stainless Steel 410
- Stainless Steel 440C
- Steel Cold Rolled Steel 1018
- Steel 1045
- Alloy Steel 4140
- Alloy Steel 4340
- Tool Steel A2
- Tool Steel D2
- Tool Steel H13
- Tool Steel O1
- Titanium Titanium Grade 2
- Titanium Ti-6Al-4V (Grade 5)
- Titanium Ti-6Al-4V ELI (Grade 23)
- Nickel Alloys Inconel 625
- Inconel 718
- Hastelloy C-276
- Copper & Brass C110 Copper
- C360 Brass
- C932 Bearing Bronze
- Engineering Plastics PEEK
- Delrin (POM)
- Nylon 6
- Nylon 6/6
- UHMW-PE
- PTFE
- Ultem 1010
- Polycarbonate
- ABS
- HDPE
- Garolite G-10
Tolerance Standards for CNC Milling
General tolerance information for this capability.
CNC Milling
| Description | General Tolerance |
|---|---|
| Standard Tolerance (Metal) | ±0.005″ (±0.127 mm) |
| Standard Tolerance (Plastic) | ±0.010″ (±0.254 mm) |
| Auto-Quotable Tight Tolerance | ±0.001″ (±0.025 mm) for most materials |
| Sub-Tight Tolerance | < ±0.001″ available after manual engineering review |
| ISO Standard (default) | ISO 2768 medium — applied when no tolerance is specified |
| Angular Tolerance | ±0.5° standard |
| As-Machined Surface Finish | Ra 3.2 µm (125 µin) or better — tool marks may leave swirl-like pattern |
| Edge Treatment | Sharp edges broken and deburred by default — note sharp edges that must be retained |
| Minimum Feature Size | 0.020″ (0.5 mm) — limited by minimum end mill diameter |
| Maximum Part Envelope | 64″ × 32″ × 38″ (1,625 × 812 × 965 mm) |
| Wall Thickness (minimum) | 0.030″ (0.76 mm) metal; 0.060″ (1.52 mm) plastic |
| Flatness | Not guaranteed on large parts after heat treatment without additional specification |
| Clear/Transparent Plastics | Matte finish or translucent swirl marks on machined faces; bead blasting gives frosted finish |
| CNC Milling — Tolerance Standards Reference | Tolerance Class |
| ISO 2768 | Typical Application |
| General (default) | ISO 2768-m (medium) |
| Standard machined components | Fine |
| ISO 2768-f (fine) | Precision components on request |
| Coarse | ISO 2768-c (coarse) |
| Non-critical features, bulk stock removal | GD&T |
| ASME Y14.5 | True position, profile, runout per drawing callout |
| Hole Fits | ISO 286 H7/h6, H8/f7 etc. |
Design Guide: CNC Milling
We have compiled our best tips into this guide to help you understand CNC milling processes, how to prepare your CAD files and 2D drawings, design considerations for internal corner radii, pocket depth-to-width ratios, thin wall features, undercuts, thread accessibility, surface finish specifications, and how to specify tolerances and GD&T callouts effectively to avoid unnecessary cost and lead time increases.
Advantages of CNC Milling
CNC milling is the most versatile subtractive manufacturing process available — capable of producing virtually any prismatic geometry in any machinable metal or engineering plastic, from a single CAD file, with no tooling investment and no minimum order quantity. Unlike injection moulding or die casting, CNC milling requires no upfront tooling cost — the first prototype and the ten-thousandth production unit are made the same way, from the same digital file, with the same dimensional accuracy. Standard tolerances of ±0.005″ are achievable across most metal geometries, with auto-quotable tolerances as tight as ±0.001″ available for most materials — making CNC milling the definitive process for components requiring precision fits, tight bore tolerances, and GD&T callouts that additive processes cannot reliably achieve. CipherFab's CNC milling service covers 3-axis and 4-axis machining across the full material range from aluminium through Inconel, with instant online pricing and DFM feedback on every upload
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