CNC Machining worked example

CNC Machine Hour Cost with machine ownership and depreciation of 110 $ / hr: a worked example

Push machine ownership and depreciation up to 110 $ / hr and the picture changes. This example computes every intermediate figure at that operating point. building or checking the hourly CNC rate used in quoting, routing, capacity planning, or make-versus-buy decisions

The inputs for this scenario

  • Machine ownership and depreciation: 110 $ / hr (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 42)
  • Operator labor and supervision: 55 $ / hr (unchanged)
  • Shop overhead, energy, and floor space: 38 $ / hr (unchanged)
  • Maintenance, tooling support, and software: 18 $ / hr (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (CNC machine-hour cost = machine ownership and depreciation + operator labor and supervision + shop overhead, energy, and floor space + maintenance, tooling support, and software) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 221 $ / hr for cnc machine-hour cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 110 $ / hr for element 1.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 55 $ / hr for element 2.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 56 $ / hr for element 3 + 4.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where machine ownership and depreciation sits at 42 $ / hr and the headline result is 153 $ / hr, this scenario comes in 44.44% above the baseline at 221 $ / hr.
  • It sums the four hourly cost buckets — depreciation, labor, overhead, and maintenance/software — into a single fully-burdened machine-hour rate. The value of this scenario is the size of the gap it exposes: that gap, priced out over a year, is the budget you can justify spending to close it.

Results at a glance

  • CNC machine-hour cost: 221 $ / hr (headline result)
  • Element 1: 110 $ / hr
  • Element 2: 55 $ / hr
  • Element 3 + 4: 56 $ / hr

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live CNC Machine Hour Cost calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.