CNC plastic prototyping versus 3d printing

Quinster · 2016-05-22T16:22:02.000Z

Hi all

I was trying to compare cnc plastic prototyping against today’s modern high quality 3d printers. The information I was reading about the cnc machining was from Protolabs and they said their mills will manufacture at a tolerance of 0.13mm. Can today’s 3d printers make samples with a better tolerance and a can anyone tell me which machines these would be? thanks Quinny

SOC3D · 2016-05-22T20:00:38.000Z

Cnc machines and 3d printers (of varying technologies) can both reach higher precision and tolerance than 130 micron. The choice between cnc and 3d printer, subtractive vs additive prototyping is not generally decided based on machine precision. The choice is usual more based on materials, speeds and the types of models needed.