CNC Plastic Router Cutting

As demand increases for lower costs and faster lead times, equipment and capacity must improve in parallel. For over 60 years Hopkins Printing has been cutting nested components and graphics from plastic flat sheets into fully functional and ascetically pleasing shapes. In fact, to exceed client expectations, Hopkins Printing is home to some of the most state-of-the-art CNC router cutting machines in the industry offer the most competitive and professional router cutting services in the industry at the most affordable prices. We are fully dedicated to providing precision and quality 3 axis router cutting services to our clients.

What is CNC Router Cutting?

Router cutting is a fabrication method for cutting thick dense materials using a fast-spinning sharp bit similar to a milling press. They are versatile tools capable of producing simple and intricate shapes and cut outs but so much more with different cutting bits. Many routers are capable of radius corners, beveled edges, and counter sunk holes among other special cuts.

Routers and the tooling bits they run are designed to cut specific materials ranging from metals, wood, concrete, stone, but Hopkins Printing exclusively router cuts plastics including, acrylic, polystyrene, polycarbonate, expanded foam PVC, PETG, and Coroplast.

Router cutters can be hand-held tools used by carpenters but CNC routers are computer driven, where CNC stands for computer numeric controlled. CNC routers are programmed to move along a programmed path. At Hopkins Printing, we design our vector cutting paths in programs like Adobe Illustrator where the software assigns positional X, Y coordinates to every place along the path and you can visually see the design before processing. When outputted to the CNC router.

Once the initial and necessary parameters are set, our CNC router cutter starts operating and cutting on three axes. The X, Y coordinates in the file are converted to positional coordinates on the cutting table so the router head moves to precise locations. The Z dimension is the depth of cut and is programmed for each cutting path.

CNC Router Cutting Services

Simply put, the focus of the Hopkins cutting / finishing department is quality and efficiency through investments in our people, processes, and equipment. As proof of our focus, in 2016 was the 1st installation in North America of the revolutionary Zund D3 and is since added two more along with other capable units.

EMBED VIDEO TO ZUND D3 – https://www.hopkinsprinting.com/blog/videos/Hopkins -printing-focus-zund-d3/

Our Router Equipment Capabilities

  • Maximum material thickness = 2”
  • Maximum material dimension = 70” x 125” or 66” x 126”
  • Repeatability of ±0.001”
  • Maximum XY speeds of 6600” / min
  • Maximum RPM speeds of 60,000 rpm
  • Plastic materials of all kinds

At Hopkins, we have access to a wide range of router cutting tools, specifically optimized for cutting different types of plastic materials. Also, we can combine our router cutters with knife cutting heads to perform various operations to provide you with the finest edge finish and top-quality results.

Our equipment and staff treat each job with care and can always have the following capabilities at their disposal.

  • Fully staffed pre-press department with auto nesting software to minimize waste.
  • Optical camera registration to ensure positional accuracy and consistency between sheets.
  • Conveyor belt feeding to improve efficiency and minimize downtime.
  • Board feeders to reduce downtime, lower labor costs, and introduce more automation.
  • Multiple cutting tools capable of router cutting, special edge finishes, die cutting, creasing, drilling.
  • Dual independent cutting beams to finish projects at 2x speeds.
  • Compressed air cleaning to eliminate scratches during cleaning.

CNC router cutting machines offer many quality and speed advantages.

There are few limitations to what our CNC routers can do. CNC technology’s most significant advantages are that it is a time-saving, cost-efficient, and a repeatable method of achieving exact and precise cutting results. These advantages make this a commonly used fabrication technique for precision cut products used across a wide range of industries in the world.

At Hopkins Printing, we use 3-axis CNC router cutting equipment and use vector based files like Adobe Illustrator to create our cutting files. Our expertise in custom CNC router cutting allows us to produce and create top projects and precision cut products mainly in display retail graphics but also in many other industries.

The best examples of some of the most common 3-axis CNC router cutting uses include:

  • Precision Part making
  • Dimensional signage
  • Mold making
  • Engraving
  • Templates and jigs
  • Prototyping
  • Items that need radius, chamfer, or polished edges

Laser Cutting

Aside from top CNC router cutting services, we also provide laser cutting services at Hopkins Printing. Our laser cutters follow the same patterns as their CNC counterparts in that they follow a programmed path, set in advance.

However, the biggest difference between laser and CNC cutting is the cutting method. While CNC router cutters rely on a physical spinning bit to cut material to produce results, laser cutters use a high-powered laser for precision cutting through the material.

The process of cutting through the material with a laser involves directing the high-powered laser output through fine-tuned, sophisticated precision optics.

This is why CNC routers and laser cutters have a different range of unique areas where they excel. Compared to CNC router cutting, laser cutting tends to be a bit more costly, which is why CNC routing is a more popular option across a wide range of industries globally. However, we can safely conclude that laser cutting provides a higher quality finished edge that can appear polished on certain plastics like acrylic. Laser cutting also can achieve greater fine details, but takes longer to cut and is not a safe option for certain materials like PVC.

Contact Hopkins Print Today and Get a Quote

If you need precision router cutting services near your location, please get in touch with us today and get a free quote. We are at your disposal 24/7 and urge you to use our expertise to achieve the finest results in your business niche.

Looking For Router Cutting Services?
Request More Information:

"*" indicates required fields

Name*