Plastic milling to size

On this page, you can read how we mill plastic sheets to size in our own production facility in Wijster: which materials and thicknesses we mill, what professionals use our milled parts for, how we work with your DXF file and what you can expect from the dimensions and cut edge.

Which materials and thicknesses do we mill?

Whether we mill, saw or laser cut depends on the material and sheet thickness. We laser cut acrylic sheets up to and including 15 mm. For all other materials, you can see below which thicknesses we mill and which we only saw straight to size.

Material	Milling (any shape)	Sawing (rectangles only)
Acrylic	20 mm (we laser cut 2-15 mm)	25 and 30 mm
Polycarbonate	2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10 mm	12 and 15 mm
HPL / Trespa®	3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10 mm	12, 15 and 20 mm
Foam PVC	2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10 mm	13 and 19 mm
Solid PVC	2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10 mm	12, 15 and 20 mm
ACP/Dibond®	2, 3, 4 and 6 mm	-
HDPE	3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 12 mm	15 and 20 mm
HMPE	4, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 12 mm	15 and 20 mm

Milling to size

How CNC milling works

With CNC milling, a computer controlled cutter mills your part out of the sheet. This happens in our own production facility in Wijster. Choose a standard shape in the sheet calculator, like a circle, triangle or rounded rectangle, or upload your own design as a DXF file. The machine reads the shape and follows it line by line.

From shape to part
On the outer contour, the cutter runs along the outside of the line, and on holes and cut-outs along the inside. This way, the width of the cutter falls outside your part, and your part comes out at exactly the size you ordered.

What this means for your part
A milling cutter is round. That’s why every inside corner gets a small radius, because a cutter cannot make a sharp inside corner. After milling, the cut edge is matt with a white haze. We deburr the edges, so there are no sharp bits left. You’ll find the exact dimensions and tolerances below under ‘Dimensions and finish’.

Milling or laser cutting?
The process we use depends on the material and sheet thickness. We laser cut acrylic sheets up to and including 15 mm, which gives a clear, smooth edge. We mill all other materials and thicknesses.

Uploading your own DXF file?

Our drawing rules for professionals explain the requirements for your file, so we can produce your part correctly.

Dimensions and finish

These are the specifications every milled part meets, whether you design it in the sheet calculator or upload it as a DXF file. Here you’ll find the dimensions, the minimum and maximum sizes and what the cut edge looks like.

Dimensions
Dimensional tolerance	approx. 0.2 mm per cut edge, up to approx. 0.4 mm over the full width or length.
Smallest shape	100 x 100 mm
Largest shape	The sheet size minus 2 cm.
Inside corners	A radius of at least 2 mm. A round cutter cannot make a sharp inside corner, and the radius prevents stress on the corner. If the radius is missing from your DXF file, we add it.
Holes and cut-outs	The smallest diameter depends on the material and sheet thickness (see the table in the drawing rules). Keep at least 2× the sheet thickness between a hole and the edge, and between two holes.
Finish
Cut edge	Matt, with a white haze. Milling marks may be visible.
Deburred	We deburr the edges, so there are no sharp bits on your part.
Not (yet) possible	Line engraving, surface engraving, countersinking, thread tapping and bevelled edges.