CNC Machining vs. SLA vs. SLS: Which Is Better?

The emergence of CNC machining method additive manufacturing has added new possibilities for rapid prototyping, but CNC still provides plastic or metal prototypes with perfect surfaces and intricate details, which is the most efficient and popular way to manufacture prototypes. Turning lathe processing mainly uses turning tools to turn rotating workpieces. Lathes are mainly used for machining shafts, disks, sleeves and other workpieces with rotating surfaces. Milling Milling is to fix the blank, and use a high-speed rotating milling cutter to move on the blank to cut out the required shape and features. Traditional milling is mostly used for simple shape features such as milling contours and slots. . Grinding and Polishing We remove product surface burrs, production lines and adhesive marks and other product defects through efficient manual grinding. Part flatness will be improved and roughness will be reduced for a smooth and flawless appearance. The hand polishing process will be used for mirror polishing on common plastic, metal parts and clear acrylic parts, as well as fumigation polishing on PC to achieve the professional-grade gloss of hand polishing and enhance the clarity of clear parts. Whether your project needs machined surface treatment, matte surface treatment, transparent surface treatment, mirror polishing, brushed or sandblasting, Wo Neng will provide you with one-stop service. Advantages of CNC machining If you want to change the shape and size of the part, you only need to modify the programming steps of the part, which is suitable for the development and modification of new products. With stable quality, high precision, CNC machining can be widely used in many fields. In terms of small batch production, CNC machining has higher production efficiency and can reduce the time in the preparation stage, such as machine tool adjustment and process inspection. Even complex parts and some unobtrusive parts can be machined, which cannot be achieved by traditional methods. First introduced in the late 1980s, rapid prototyping is a high-tech manufacturing technique based on additive manufacturing, and over the past 20 years it has been considered a major achievement in manufacturing. The most common are SLA and SLS. SLASLA is a stereolithography device. Stereolithography is an additive manufacturing process that works by focusing an ultraviolet (UV) laser onto a vat of photosensitive polymer resin. With the help of computer-aided manufacturing or computer-aided design (CAM/CAD) software, a UV laser is used to draw pre-programmed designs or shapes on the surface of photopolymers. Photopolymers are sensitive to UV light, so the resin is cured photochemically to form a single layer of the desired 3D object. Repeat this process for each layer of the design until the 3D object is complete. SLA has the advantages of fast forming speed, high degree of automation, can form any complex shape and high dimensional accuracy, and is mainly used for rapid prototyping of complex, high-precision and fine workpieces. SLSSLS is Selective Laser Sintering. SLS involves the use of high-powered lasers, such as carbon dioxide lasers, to fuse small particles of plastic, metal, ceramic or glass powder into objects with the desired three-dimensional shape. The laser selectively melts powdered material by scanning cross-sections generated from a 3D digital description of the part (e.g., from a CAD file or scan data) on the surface of a powder bed. After each cross-section is scanned, the powder bed is lowered by one layer thickness, a new layer of material is applied on top of it, and the process is repeated until the part is complete. The method has the advantages of simple manufacturing process, wide selection range of materials, low cost and fast forming speed. Conclusion Compared with CNC machining, SLS and SLA have some disadvantages. SLA and SLS parts are not as strong and precise as CNC. Rapid prototyping is ideal for low-cost and high-efficiency prototyping, while the need for greater strength and precision should try CNC machining. It depends on the situation to find the best solution to create the best prototype. Woneng Rapid Prototyping provides a variety of rapid prototyping technologies, including SLA and SLS, vacuum complex molding, rapid injection molding and CNC machining of metal and plastic. Vowinprovides assistance to customers in all stages of product development.
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