Originally Posted by
joeavaerage
Hi,
tolerance is not really the right question. I would guess that even hobby machines could do 0.05mm repeatably......until you start cutting!
The problem is that the machine flexes, all machines do, but small hobby machines are notorious for it. If you cut very slowly and with light cuts
you would probably get 0.1mm or better.....but how long would it take? A bigger more rigid machine will do the same job faster but with vastly less flexure and
therefore more accuracy.
A second thing you may not have considered is flush cooling. Polycarbonate and acrylic are actually quite hard to cut, it's not that they are hard but
the chips get hot and weld themselves back together or worse weld themselves to the tool. All plastics tend to do this but polycarbonate and acrylic are amongst
the worst for it.
I ALWAYS use flood cooling when I do plastics, all plastics, but polycarbonates and acrylic especially need good flood cooling and chip removal or you will
get chips welding to the tool and wreck the job.
If you want to use flood cooling you'll need some sort of enclosure or you'll spend all day cleaning up the mess. Been there, done that!
Craig