Acetal cuts clean, holds tolerance, and slides without lubrication. We machine it on 127 CNC machines in Dongguan and Singapore, from one prototype to 10,000+ parts, with DFM feedback inside 12 hours.
Acetal is easy to cut and hard to cut well. Most scrap comes from heat, stress, and clamping.
Acetal relaxes after the tool leaves. Cut a Ø20 mm bore to nominal and it can measure 15–30 μm undersize the next morning. The fix is roughing with stock left on, a stress-relief pause, then a finishing pass with a sharp, polished cutter and light depth of cut. We hold ±0.005 mm on critical diameters when the drawing calls for it.
POM sheet has internal stress from extrusion. Machine both faces in one setup without balancing the cuts and the part warps into a banana. The cure is symmetrical material removal, sharp tools, and no dwell. If the part is thin, we may ask to flip it twice instead of taking one heavy pass.
Acetal has a low melting point. A dull end mill at high rpm rubs instead of cutting, and you get a smeared, fuzzy edge. We run POM with high rake geometry, generous coolant or air blast, and feed rates that keep the chip load up. As-machined finish lands around Ra 1.6–3.2 μm; a fine pass reaches Ra 0.2–0.8 μm.
Some drawings ask for ±0.002 mm on a 100 mm acetal part. That is not a machining problem. Thermal expansion of POM is roughly ten times that of steel, so a 5 °C shop swing moves the part more than the tolerance. We mark these features in DFM and propose a realistic band or a different material.
Three things matter more than spindle speed: cutter geometry, heat control, and how the part is held.
Acetal cuts best with sharp, polished carbide and high rake angles. We keep POM tooling separate from the cutters we run on aluminium and steel, because a slightly dull edge that is fine on 6061 will smear acetal.
Feeds and speeds are set to keep the chip load up and the rpm down. That pulls heat into the chip instead of the part. Air blast or flood coolant carries the rest away, so the finished face stays clean and the edge does not feather.
Acetal is soft. Clamp it hard and you dent it, then the dent springs back after unclamping and the part is out of flat. We use soft jaws, vacuum chucks, or sacrificial tabs, and we keep clamping pressure just high enough to stop chatter.
For flat and thin parts, we balance material removal across both faces and take light finishing passes. On long parts we may rough, let the part sit, then finish. That pause lets internal stress move before the final cut, not after it.
Pick the material by the load, the temperature, and the chemical exposure, not by habit.
| Condition | POM or acetal | Better choice |
|---|---|---|
| Sliding wear, no lubrication | Good fit | POM or PA |
| Continuous service above 90 °C | Not suitable | PEEK or metal |
| Strong acids or oxidizers | Not suitable | PTFE or PVDF |
| Tight tolerance, stable shop | Good fit | POM with DFM review |
| High impact at low temperature | Marginal | PC or PA |
| Food or medical contact | Grade dependent | Compliant POM grade |
| Thin walls under 1 mm | Machinable | Watch stress, may need PA |
| Outdoor UV exposure | Degrades | UV-stabilized grade |
One shop for the plastic part, the metal parts around it, and the finish.
Plates, housings, brackets, and covers. 27 three-axis machines with travels from 500 × 310 × 200 mm up to 750 × 1,150 × 550 mm.
Multi-face parts in one setup. 12 four-axis mills and 16 simultaneous 5-axis centers cut down handling and re-fixturing error.
Bushings, rollers, spacers, and threaded inserts. 16 mill-turn centers handle turning and cross-features without a second setup.
One-off acetal prototypes to check fit and function before you commit to a run. No minimum order quantity, from a single part up.
Bead blasting, tumbling, and polishing. Laser marking for part numbers and traceability, minimum character height 1.5 mm.
Raw material check, in-process monitoring, and 100% inspection before shipment. Dimensional reports on request.
The numbers below are the ones we hold ourselves to on every job.
| Item | Standard | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tolerance | ±0.005 mm | On critical features, drawing dependent |
| Fine finish | Ra 0.2–0.8 μm | Requires a dedicated finishing pass |
| As-machined finish | Ra 1.6–3.2 μm | Default for most acetal parts |
| Maximum part size | 4,000 mm | Largest travel on the long-bed machines |
| Order quantity | 1 to 10,000+ | No minimum order quantity |
| Quote turnaround | Within 12 hours | Includes free DFM analysis |
| Production start | Within 24 hours | After drawing and material release |
| Typical shipping | 3–5 days | After production, part and finish dependent |
Founded in 2011, three wholly-owned plants, 150 technicians, and a second site in Singapore.
Running since 2011, focused on tight-tolerance plastic and metal parts for engineers who check the numbers.
Micron-level work on acetal, aluminium, stainless, and titanium, verified with 100% inspection before shipment.
Complex geometry in one setup. Fewer re-fixtures means less error stacked into the part.
Milling, turning, and mill-turn under one roof, so a job does not wait on an outside vendor.
Across three wholly-owned plants, with room for prototype and production work side by side.
ISO 9001:2015, IATF 16949:2016, ISO 13485:2016, and ISO 27001:2022.
Wear pads, insulators, and fluid-handling parts. The requirement is repeatable dimensions across the run and material traceability. IATF 16949:2016 processes cover it.
Bushings, guides, and housings where the grade matters as much as the cut. ISO 13485:2016 process controls and full inspection reports on request.
Rollers, gears, and low-friction guides. The spec is usually flatness and bore alignment. We hold ±0.005 mm on the features that set the fit.
Insulating spacers, cam followers, and light structural parts. Below 2% historical late-delivery probability on jobs we schedule.
±0.005 mm on critical features is realistic in a temperature-controlled shop with sharp tooling and a finishing pass. On long or thin parts, that number tightens or loosens depending on geometry and how the part is held.
If a drawing asks for something tighter, we flag it in the DFM review and explain why. Acetal moves with temperature, so chasing microns on a 100 mm part usually creates scrap, not precision.
Delrin is a brand of homopolymer acetal. POM covers both homopolymer and copolymer grades, and they behave differently.
Homopolymer is stiffer and slightly stronger; copolymer resists hydrolysis better in warm, wet service. Tell us the service conditions and we will machine the grade that fits.
Yes, with the right process. We balance material removal across both faces, use light finishing passes, and hold the part with vacuum or soft jaws instead of hard clamps.
For very thin sections we may rough, let the part relax, then finish. That extra step costs a little time and saves the part.
Bead blasting, tumbling, and polishing all work. Laser marking is fine for part numbers and traceability, with a minimum character height of 1.5 mm.
Acetal does not anodize or take plating. If you need a conductive or metallic surface, the part should be metal, not POM.
POM absorbs little moisture compared to nylon, which is one reason it holds tolerance well in humid shops. We still store sheet and bar in a controlled area before machining.
For parts that will see wash-down or long-term wet service, tell us. We will discuss grade and whether a different material is the safer choice.
One part. There is no minimum order quantity, and we run from a single prototype up to 10,000+ part production runs.
Prototype and production work go through the same inspection routine, so the dimensions you approve on the first part carry into the run.
Quotation and free DFM analysis come back within 12 hours. Production can start within 24 hours after drawing and material release.
Parts typically ship in 3–5 days once production begins. That depends on part count, finish, and material availability, so we confirm dates in the quote.
Yes. Uploads are secure and confidential, and we can sign an NDA on request before you share any files.
If your project needs it, ask first and we will send the agreement. Nothing moves to the shop floor until the paperwork is settled.
Upload the STEP file and tolerances. We review the geometry for DFM, flag anything that will not hold, and quote from one part to 10,000+.
12-hour quote100% inspectionNo minimum order quantityNDA on request
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Upload your 3D model or 2D drawing and get a quotation with a free DFM analysis. Maximum processing size 4,000 mm.
CNC Metals 13 grades
CNC Plastics 10 grades
Machines & processes 12 options
Surface & post-processing 10 options
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