What are the advantages of CNC machining aluminum 6061 alloy prototype and what is processing?

We all know that after company complete the design of a new products, they will choose to make a prototypew first to see the effect, mainly to test whether the products design meets the usage requirements. The main materials used for CNC metal prototype processing include: aluminum, aluminum alloy, stainless steel, copper, brass, steel etc. Among them, aluminum alloy is widely used in prototyping processing. So let’s talk about the advantages and processing procedures of aluminum alloy prototypes.
1） Advantages of aluminum alloy prototypes
1. Aluminum 6061 prototypes not only have the characteristics of light weight and good strength, but also have better appearance after oxidation treatment.
2. Aluminum alloy has low density but relatively high strength, close to or exceeding high-quality steel. It has good plasticity and can be processed into various profiles. It has excellent electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and corrosion resistance. It is widely used in industry, and its usage is second only to aluminum alloy. steel.
3. The aluminum alloy prototype can very accurately reflect the information expressed in the drawings, and the surface quality of the CNC prototype is high, especially after surface painting and silk screen printing, it is even better than the injection molding plastic parts.
2） CNC machining Aluminum prototype processing 
1. Programming: Write the processing program based on the 3D drawings provided by the customer.
2. CNC processing: CNC processing equipment is used to process according to the program written by the programmer, and the material is milled out into the prototype of the product.
3. Polishing: The surface of the prototype that has just been processed by the machine will have many cnc milling marks and burrs and needs to be polished with sandpaper.
4. Sandblasting: Spray a layer of sand-like effect on the surface of the prototype to make the prototype samples look more high-end and perfect, and remove machining marks and oil stains.
5. Anodized: Let the surface of the prototype undergo an oxidation reaction to form a film, making the product less likely to scratch.
6. Quality inspection: After the aluminum alloy box prototype has been inspected by the QC department and there are no problems, it can be packaged and shipped.
The above is an introduction to matters related to aluminum alloy prototypes. I hope it will be helpful to everyone. Most companies will choose CNC prototypes when choosing prototypes. As a type of CNC prototype, aluminum alloy prototypes have many advantages of CNC prototypes. In addition to the advantages of aluminum alloy itself, they are a very good choice.