[skjoldr]

It's because plastic injection molding has different constraints and trade-offs in parts design compared to metal machining. E.g. injection molding, after the mold is done, doesn't really care about machine time, complexity, or the availability of specific cutters and drills. So sometimes the geometry and tolerances of an injection molded part is a pain in the arse to replicate manually -- it's just not made to do it, unlike metal machining, which at scale is still a rough approximation of the manual process.

[s1artibartfast]

I get the manufacturing Tradeoffs. What I was responding to was not an issue with part complexity, but part material.

They said "I can work with metal. I can't work with plastic."

Sure, nobody is going to machine a plastic replacement complex injection molded housing. You probably werent going to re-create a complex press-formed metal part either.

IT seems like it is more of a design complaint than a material issue.

[ElevenLathe]

How often do you encounter mass-produced consumer goods that include parts made of machined engineering plastics?