Reference material for cutting, finishing and material selection, written by people who run the machines. Where your part fits our process, we say so. Where it does not, we say that too.
Most scrap on a first run traces back to a decision made on paper, not at the spindle.
Dimensions stack off three faces and nothing ties them together. The machinist picks one datum, the inspector picks another, and the first article fails on a feature that was never in tolerance. Rework lands on the shop.
6061-T6 gets swapped for another temper to save a week of lead time. Yield strength moves, chip behavior changes, and a thin wall that held on the prototype starts walking during the finish pass.
A drawing says polished or smooth with no Ra value. Two vendors interpret it two ways. One bills extra hours at the bench, the other ships a part that fails the visual check at incoming inspection.
Pitch diameter, thread class and counterbore depth live in a spreadsheet instead of on the print. The CAM programmer guesses, and a mating bracket will not seat flush on the assembly line.
The same questions come up on every quote. Here is how we answer them.
A guide is only useful if it changes what you do on the next drawing. When we review a part, the first question is which features drive the cost. Deep pockets, thin ribs, cross-drilled holes and tight corner radii each push the job toward a different machine.
Aluminum brackets with open geometry run fine on a 3-axis mill. Parts with undercuts, compound angles or five-sided access move to one of our 16 simultaneous 5-axis centers and usually lose two setups.
Alloy charts list yield strength and call it a day. In the shop, temper matters just as much. 6061-T6 cuts clean and holds a thread; the same alloy in a softer temper will smear on a tap and need a re-cut.
For wear surfaces we suggest 7075 or 17-4PH depending on corrosion exposure. For parts that need to stay light, magnesium AZ31B is available, though it needs chip control and a different coolant strategy.
Use this as a first pass before you send a drawing.
| Part trait | Process we pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Open pockets, 3 sides | 3-axis milling | Fewest setups, lowest hourly rate |
| Undercuts, 5 sides | 5-axis machining | One setup, no re-fixture error |
| Shaft with cross holes | Mill-turn | Turning and milling in one cycle |
| Thin sheet, bends | Sheet metal fabrication | Forming beats hogging out |
| Complex internal voids | 3D printing | Additive only, no tool access needed |
| High volume, simple shape | Die casting | Tooling pays back at volume |
Every guide on this site maps to a process we run in-house.
Simultaneous 5-axis work for undercuts, compound angles and parts that would need three fixtures otherwise.
3-axis and 4-axis milling, plus mill-turn centers for round parts with cross features.
One-off parts from your CAD file, no minimum order quantity, shipped in 3–5 days.
Laser cutting, bending and forming for brackets, panels and enclosures.
Anodizing, plating, bead blasting, brushing, polishing and laser marking.
Additive for complex geometry, plus vacuum casting and die casting for volume.
| Item | Specification | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tolerance | ±0.005 mm (±0.0002 in) | On critical features, quoted per part |
| Surface finish | Ra 0.2–0.8 μm fine | Ra 1.6–3.2 μm as machined |
| Max part size | 4,000 mm | Larger travel: 4,000 × 400 × 150 mm |
| Rotary work | Ø400 mm table | 4th-axis indexing and contouring |
| Inspection | 100% before shipment | Reports on request |
| Order size | 1 to 10,000+ parts | No minimum order quantity |
Fifteen years, three plants and one quality system across all of them.
Three wholly-owned plants in Dongguan and Singapore, 7,600 m² of floor space and 150 technicians.
Tolerance is quoted per feature. If a dimension cannot hold, we tell you before the run starts.
Send a STEP file and we return pricing plus manufacturability notes within 12 hours.
Once the drawing is released, machines can be scheduled within a day.
Raw material check, in-process monitoring and final inspection on every batch.
One prototype or 10,000 parts. The process changes, the paperwork does not.
Thin-wall aluminum and titanium housings, traceable material, tight flatness.
Brackets, busbars and motor mounts that hold up to vibration and thermal cycling.
Stainless and titanium components with deburred edges and clean passivation.
End-effector plates and gearbox housings where hole position drives assembly fit.
Count the setups first. If the part can be reached from three directions and has no undercuts, 3-axis milling is cheaper and faster to program.
Move to 5-axis when you need four or five faces, compound angles or a feature that would need a custom fixture. One setup usually removes more cost than the higher hourly rate adds.
As-machined surfaces land around Ra 1.6–3.2 μm. A controlled finish pass gets Ra 0.8–1.6 μm on most aluminum and steel parts.
Below Ra 0.8 μm needs a specific strategy: finer stepover, sharper tooling, sometimes a finishing operation after heat treat. Tell us the Ra number on the print and we quote it as a separate line.
6061-T6 covers most brackets. It machines well, welds acceptably and holds a tapped thread.
Step up to 7075 when strength or wear resistance matters more than corrosion resistance. For marine or chemical exposure, 5083 or 5052 resist corrosion better but are softer.
No. Send a STEP or IGES file and we return a quotation plus manufacturability notes within 12 hours.
The notes usually cover wall thickness, tool reach, tolerance stack and whether a different process would cost less.
There is no minimum order quantity. We run single prototypes and repeat orders above 10,000 parts on the same quality system.
For one-off parts the quote reflects setup time; for volume runs it reflects cycle time and tooling.
We flag it in the DFM notes rather than guessing. Thread class, pitch and counterbore depth change the tool path and the inspection plan.
If the mating part is available, sending it shortens the back-and-forth considerably.
Raw material check, in-process monitoring and final inspection run on every batch, and reports are issued on request.
If your quality team has a first-article format, send the template with the drawing and we will fill it out.
Yes. An NDA is available on request, and uploads stay secure and confidential.
We can sign your document or provide ours, whichever moves faster for your legal team.
Upload your CAD file and we return pricing, lead time and DFM notes. No minimum order quantity, 100% inspection before shipment.
12-hour quote100% inspectionNo minimum orderNDA on request
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Upload your 3D model or 2D drawing and get a quotation with a free DFM analysis. Maximum processing size 4,000 mm.
CNC Metals 13 grades
CNC Plastics 10 grades
Machines & processes 12 options
Surface & post-processing 10 options
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