Estimating Reference

CNC Machining Cost Calculator

Your machine rate, cycle time, setup, material, and margin. The per-part arithmetic every machining quote runs on, with setup amortized over the batch.

Quote breakdown, per part
0.00 price / part
machining 0.00 · setup 0.00 · material 0.00
batch of 1: cost 0.00 · price 0.00
machining = rate × cycle/60 · setup and tooling amortized over the batch · values in your own currency

The arithmetic of a machining quote

Every machining quote reduces to the same structure: machining time × loaded machine rate, plus setup spread over the batch, plus material, plus tooling, then margin. The number that dominates small batches is setup: two hours of setup on a single part can cost more than the machining itself, which is why per-part price falls so steeply with quantity and why quotes carry quantity breaks.

The loaded rate is the number shops get wrong most often, it must carry the machine (depreciation or lease), the operator fully burdened, power, consumables, maintenance, floor space, and a share of overhead, divided by realistic billable hours, not theoretical ones. And it is per work center: the 5-axis cell and the saw do not share a rate.

This calculator is deliberately your-numbers-in, your-numbers-out: it applies no cost models of its own, the same philosophy behind Mavlon's AI estimating, where AI reads the RFQ package and your own pricing logic produces the quote.

The arithmetic takes seconds. Reading the RFQ takes the day.

Mavlon reads the drawings, specs, and emails, structures every requirement, and drafts the quote from your existing rates and rules.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate machining cost per part?
Rate × cycle time (in hours) for machining, plus rate × setup hours ÷ quantity, plus material per part, plus tooling ÷ quantity. Multiply the sum by one plus margin for the quoted price.
Why does quantity change price per part so much?
Setup and tooling are fixed for the batch. A setup worth 150 costs 150 per part at quantity one, 3 at fifty, 0.30 at five hundred. That amortization curve is the whole story of quantity breaks.
What goes into a machine hourly rate?
Machine depreciation or lease, burdened operator labor, power, consumables, maintenance, floor space, and overhead share, divided by realistic billable hours, kept per work center, not shop-wide.
Is this how quoting software works?
This is the pricing half, and it should run on your rates, not a vendor's cost model. The slow half is upstream: reading drawings and specs and structuring the data. That is the part AI estimating automates before applying exactly this logic with your numbers.