Design Guide

CNC
Machining
Design Guide

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 Contents

Introduction ………………………… 3
Drilling ……………………………….... 4
Milling ………………………………….. 8
Turning ………………………………... 10
Advanced Tips ………………….….. 11
Resources ………………………….… 14

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 Introduction
CNC machining is one of the most widely
used prototyping and manufacturing
methods today, especially for metal parts.

Most of the details, such as tooling, spindle

speed, cutter type, and depth of cut, are
taken care of at the machine shop, but there
are some things you can do while designing
your product to not only make sure it can be
made, but also to create a lean product that
doesn’t break the bank.

We’ve gathered some best practices for you

to keep in mind while designing your
product, separated into 4 sections: drilling,
milling, turning, and advanced tips.

For additional questions, you can always

reach a Fictiv Manufacturing Engineer at
help@fictiv.com or through our online chat
system.

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 Drilling
Drilling refers to the operation of creating
holes in a piece of material. Drilling tools are
designed for vertical cutting and have a
conical tip, allowing them to plunge deep
into a material.

Through Holes
vs Blind Holes

A through hole goes through the entire part,

whereas a blind hole does not. Through
holes have the benefit of being easier to
clean out, but are sometimes conflicting to
requirements, for instance on the external
shell of a vacuum-sealed chamber.

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 Drilling

Avoid Partial Holes

Partial holes should be avoided because

there is a high chance of tip wander,
especially when the drill axis is close to the
edge of the material.

Keep Drill Axis Perpendicular

to the Surface

The drill axis should be perpendicular to the

surface so that tip wander does not occur. In
a lot of cases, a shallow, flat bottomed
pocket can be milled onto the surface of a
round part so that the drill enters
perpendicular to the surface.

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 Drilling

Use Standard Drill Sizes

Use standard drill sizes. This can be applied

to all cutting operations: designing your part
to be cut by standard, common tools will
save you lots of money! Machine shops can
create new tools of unusual size, but this is a
costly process and chances are you can
tolerate a standard .125” hole instead of a
.123” one.

Print out a chart like this and keep it handy.

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Fictiv’s Auto Thread Detection feature
Example of a 2D drawing to call out
custom threaded holes
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Drilling
Threaded Holes
Threaded holes should have between 1-1.5D
thread engagement. For instance, a ¼-20
machine screw should have a thread
engagement between .25” and .375”.
Depending on the application of your
product, you may want even more thread
engagement, but 1.5D is comfy.
The Fictiv platform makes it easy to add
threaded holes to CNC milled and turned
parts, with our Auto Thread Detection
feature. After uploading your 3D model, our
software will automatically identify possible
threaded holes and allow you to specify
thread types from a simple drop-down list of
options—no drawing required. For more info
on how to use this feature, check out this
article in our Help Center.
Custom Holes
For threaded holes with custom dimensions,
you can easily upload a 2D drawing to the
platform instead of using the Auto Thread
Detection feature.
Avoid Deep Taps
Deep taps should be avoided because
long tools have a tendency to vibrate and
wander, resulting in a flawed tap.
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 Milling
Milling refers to the machining process of
quickly subtracting material from raw stock
until the desired shape is achieved. Milling is
performed by round cutters (most
commonly endmills) which chip away
material laterally with shallow depths of cut.

Avoid Sharp Internal Corners

Because milling is done with round tools,

sharp internal corners cannot be achieved.
Radiused corners are required, and must be
larger than the cutter to be used. For
instance, a ¼ ” cutter can be used for fillets
larger than ⅛ ”.

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 Milling

Avoid Deep, Narrow Slots

The final depth of cut of an endmill should

be not greater than 15 times the diameter
for plastics 10 times the diameter for
aluminum, and 5 times the diameter for
steel.

This is because long tools tend to deflect and

vibrate, resulting in bad surface finishes. For
example, a slot for a machined steel part
that is .55” wide (which will be cut using a .5”
endmill) should be no deeper than 2.75”.
Internal fillet radius, the above point, is also
dependent on this, meaning that any
internal radii for this example should be
greater than .25”.

Design with Largest Possible

Internal Radii
The larger the cutter, the more material can
be removed at one time, meaning less
machining time and less cost. Always design
with the largest allowable internal radii.
Avoid radii less than 0.8mm whenever
possible.

Pro Tip: Make your fillets slightly larger than

the radius of the endmill, for example, a
radius of .130” (3.3mm) instead of .125”
(3.175mm). This will produce a smoother
path for the mill to take, resulting in a nicer
finish.

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 Turning
Turning refers to parts created on a lathe,
generally with circular symmetry.

Avoid Sharp Internal Corners

Avoid sharp corners, both internal and

external. Internal corners should be radiused
so that the tool doesn’t run up to a large
surface. Think about smooth tool paths.

Avoid Long, Thin Parts

Avoid long, thin turned parts as there is

more of a chance of them spinning unstably,
causing them to chatter against the tool. If a
long part must be made, try to
accommodate a center drill on the free end
and use a center to keep the part spinning
straight.

Feature Symmetry

In general, any feature that is added to a

turned part should be symmetric about the
turn axis.

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 Advanced Tips
Once you have a good understanding of the
design practices we’ve covered so far, you
can start to apply the follow advanced tips to
really solidify your lean design process. The
first few tips are about increasing the speed
of machining and minimizing the
start-to-finish fabrication time, thereby
reducing cost.

Create Easy Setups

Create easy setups for your machine shop.

Think about how your part will be held
during the machining process. The easiest
setup is a vise, meaning your part will have
straight, parallel outer edges. Curved edges
(other than perfect cylindrical profiles)
require custom fixtures, costing extra time
and money. Thin parts are difficult to hold
and are prone to warping.

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 Advanced Tips

Harder Materials = Increased

Machine Time

Steel, Stainless Steel, and other hard

materials are also slow to machine. Materials
like this exponentially increase the time
required to machine because every
operation is slowed. Substituting a strong,
softer material like 6061 Aluminum can save
you a lot of time and money in the long run.

Non-planar and Draft Angle

Surfaces Increase Cost

Non-planar and draft angle surfaces are slow

to machine, resulting in more time per part
on the CNC machine, and more cost.

Minimize Tool Changes

A tool change is when the CNC machine

swaps out cutting tools for a new operation.
If you can minimize these tool changes, it will
cut down on production time. One example
of this is using the same hole size or internal
corner radius wherever you can.

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 Advanced Tips

Inside Fillets vs Chamfers

Inside chamfers are time consuming and

difficult to create. Inside fillets are easier to
make because round tipped endmills can be
used.

Pro Tip: Place a note on your drawing saying

“break all edges” instead of building lots of
tiny chamfers on your modeled part. Fictiv
will break sharp edges unless otherwise
instructed by the customer.

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 Resources
About Fictiv

Fictiv is a one-stop online manufacturing

platform for access to hundreds of machines
and materials across a variety of manufacturing
processes.

Simply upload a 3D model and get an instant

quote and live DFM feedback, saving you time
and hassle.

Visit fictiv.com to get started.

Resources

Email: help@fictiv.com

Phone: (415) 580-2509

Get a Quote: fictiv.com/estimates

Materials: fictiv.com/capabilities/materials

Processes: fictiv.com/capabilities/processes

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