Why Stainless Steel CNC Machining is better

Stainless steel (SS) is a widely preferred material for industrial and commercial product manufacturing. Its properties like high ductility, lustrous surface finish, high strength, and high-temperature sustainability make it highly suitable for manufacturing industrial products. Earlier, stainless steel products were manufactured using stainless steel casting. The casting was preferred due to the high-temperature stainability and moldability of stainless steel material. Although stainless steel is still favored by industrial manufacturers, the casting technique is being replaced by stainless steel CNC machining. This is because casting produces dimensional defects and may involve long production cycles. What exactly makes CNC machining a good replacement for stainless steel casting? Or is CNC machining truly better than casting? This post answers all the questions for you.

Factors That Make CNC Machining Superior to Stainless Steel Casting
The following are some beneficial factors of stainless steel CNC machining that make it a better replacement for stainless steel casting.

No Cost of Mold:
Unlike casting, CNC machining does require a mold. The CNC machines use various cutting tools that are directed via a numeric computer code to shape a product. Therefore, CNC machining saves the cost of the mold.
Complex Production:
CNC machining can be used for a minute and complex part production. However, casting has a limitation that it is not suited for complex part production. Using casting for intricate products may give dimensional errors and a rough surface. However, CNC machining is performed over consistent feed, appropriate tooling, and low-tolerance dimensional coding, therefore the complex yet precise production can be efficiently performed using CNC machining for stainless steel products.

Faster Production Cycles:
Stainless steel CNC machining is a quicker manufacturing process compared to stainless steel casting. Mold setting is a time-consuming activity in casting followed by metal melting and cooling, and final product ejection from the mold. Against this, CNC machining includes generating a computer code, setting the workpiece, and post-production ejection of the stainless steel component.