Straight answers to the questions engineers ask before they send a drawing. Tolerance, material, finish, tool wear, cost and lead time, written by the people who run the machines.
Four failure modes we see on incoming drawings. If one of them looks familiar, the fix is usually in the design review, not the machine.
A ±0.01 mm callout on a mounting hole that only locates a bracket drives extra passes, extra inspection and extra scrap. We check which dimensions actually control function, then tell you where a looser band is safe. Saving tolerance is often the cheapest cost reduction on the job.
A 90 mm deep pocket with a 12 mm wall looks fine on screen. On a 3-axis machine the tool deflects, the wall rings, and the finish comes out at Ra 3.2 μm instead of the Ra 1.6 μm you specified. Sometimes the fix is a 5-axis approach. Sometimes it is a drawing change.
17-4PH gives you corrosion resistance and strength, then eats tool life and adds cost. PEEK machines cleanly at a price most brackets cannot justify. Choosing the alloy before knowing the load path, the environment and the volume usually means a requote two weeks later.
A number with no breakdown tells you nothing about where to cut. Setup, fixturing, tool changes, inspection time and finishing are separate lines. When you can see them, you can decide whether to change the geometry, the batch size or the finish instead of guessing.
Every quote starts with a manufacturability check on your model, so the answer to your question is specific to your part.
On a clean setup we hold ±0.005 mm ( ±0.0002 in) on critical features, and that number shows up on the inspection report. Not every dimension on a part needs it. Tolerancing the whole drawing at ±0.005 mm multiplies cost because every feature needs a separate setup or a slower cutting strategy.
The practical split is simple. Datum features, bearing bores, mating faces and press-fit diameters get the tight band. Clearance holes, chamfers and non-critical contours get a standard band. We mark which is which during DFM review and let you approve before chips fly.
The answer is access. If a part has features on five faces, undercuts, or a compound angle that would need three separate fixtures on a 3-axis mill, one 5-axis setup is faster and more accurate. Fewer setups means fewer datum shifts, and datum shifts are where tolerance stacks go wrong.
5-axis is not automatically better. A flat plate with holes and a pocket runs cheaper on a 3-axis machine. We have 27 three-axis machines for exactly that work, plus 16 simultaneous 5-axis centers for the parts that need them. The right machine is a cost decision, not a prestige decision.
Match the part in front of you to the process before you request a quote.
| Part characteristic | Recommended process | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Features on 4–5 faces | 5-axis milling | One setup, no datum shift |
| Flat plate with pockets | 3-axis milling | Lower hourly rate, faster setup |
| Round part with milled flats | Mill-turn center | Turning and milling in one cycle |
| Thin wall under 1 mm | 5-axis with light passes | Controls deflection and chatter |
| Prototype, 1–50 parts | CNC from billet | No tooling cost, design can change |
| 10,000+ identical parts | Die casting plus CNC | Lower piece cost at volume |
| Complex internal channels | 3D printing plus finish | Machining cannot reach inside |
Six service lines that cover most hardware programs, from a single prototype to a production run.
16 simultaneous 5-axis centers handle multi-face parts in one setup. Best for aerospace brackets, automotive housings and any geometry that would need three fixtures on a 3-axis machine.
27 three-axis machines, 12 four-axis mills and 16 mill-turn centers. Shafts, bushings, housings and plates, with turning and milling in a single cycle where it saves a setup.
One-off parts machined from billet with no tooling cost. Quotation and free DFM analysis within 12 hours, and production can start within 24 hours after approval.
Anodizing, plating, powder coating, black oxide, bead blasting and laser marking. Finish options change dimensions, so we spec the process before the final cut, not after.
For enclosures and high-volume brackets, sheet metal fabrication and metal die casting reduce piece cost. We machine the critical interfaces after casting to hold tolerance.
Bridge tooling and low-volume duplicates in polyurethane, plus printed parts for internal channels. Both feed into a CNC finishing pass when the mating surfaces matter.
Numbers you can design against.
| Item | Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum part size | 4,000 mm | Largest travel 4,000 × 400 × 150 mm |
| Mid-size envelope | 750 × 1,150 × 550 mm | Also 600 × 600 × 600 mm |
| Rotary table | Ø400 mm | For 4-axis and 5-axis work |
| Aluminium | 6061-T6, 7075, 2024 | Plus 5052, 5083, 6082, ADC12 |
| Stainless | 303, 304, 316L, 17-4PH | Also 420, 440C, 430, 431 |
| Steel | 1018, 1045, 4140, 4340 | Plus 4130, A36, tool steel |
| Titanium & special | TC4 (Ti-6Al-4V), Inconel | Plus TA1, TA2, magnesium AZ31B |
| Plastics | POM, PEEK, PC, ABS | Plus PA, PP, PMMA, HDPE |
Six facts that decide whether a job ships on time and in spec.
15 years in Dongguan with 3 wholly-owned plants and 7,600 m² of manufacturing space. The process knowledge is in-house, not outsourced to a broker.
Critical features held to ±0.005 mm, with inspection reports on request. Raw material check, in-process monitoring and final inspection are separate steps.
Quotation and free DFM analysis within 12 hours. Send a STEP file in the morning and you can be reviewing manufacturability notes the same day.
Every part is inspected before it leaves. That is why the historical late-delivery probability sits below 2% and the qualification rate is 99.99%.
From one prototype to 10,000+ part runs on the same process. You can validate the design at quantity one and scale without changing suppliers.
ISO 9001:2015, IATF 16949:2016, ISO 13485:2016 and ISO 27001:2022. The last one covers how your drawings and files are handled.
Housings, brackets and drivetrain parts machined to drawing, with IATF 16949 process control behind the run.
Joint housings, end-effector plates and gearbox components where bore alignment controls backlash.
Instrument parts and implant tooling in 316L and titanium, with cleaning-friendly finishes and traceable inspection.
Heat sinks, chassis plates and fixture bodies in aluminium, anodized and laser marked to your layout.
We hold ±0.005 mm ( ±0.0002 in) on critical features. That is not the right callout for every dimension on the drawing.
Tighten datums, bores, mating faces and press fits. Leave clearance holes, chamfers and cosmetic contours at a standard band. Every tight dimension adds inspection time and a slower cutting strategy, so a blanket tight tolerance raises cost without improving function.
Start with the load path, the environment and the volume, then pick the alloy. 6061-T6 aluminium is the default for brackets, housings and heat sinks: light, stable and fast to cut.
Choose 7075 or 2024 when you need higher strength in the same envelope. Move to 17-4PH or 316L for corrosion resistance. PEEK and POM suit insulating or low-friction parts, but both cost more per kilo than aluminium and cut more slowly.
As-machined surfaces run Ra 1.6–3.2 μm with a standard cutter path. A high-finish band of Ra 0.8–1.6 μm needs finer stepovers and more time. Fine finishing at Ra 0.2–0.8 μm can require a separate pass or hand polishing.
Specify a finish only on the surfaces that touch something or show. Polishing a hidden mounting face adds cost with no functional gain.
Abrasive alloys and hard inclusions wear the cutting edge first; titanium and Inconel also hold heat at the tip. The result is rising cutting force, then a dimension that drifts out of tolerance.
We watch spindle load and chip color, replace edges on a counted cycle rather than on failure, and re-check the first part after every tool change. On long runs that check is scheduled, not improvised.
Setup, fixturing, cutting time, tool changes, inspection and finishing. Cutting time is usually the smallest of those on a small batch.
Two changes reduce cost fastest: loosen tolerances that do not control function, and simplify features that force an extra setup. Increasing batch size spreads setup across more parts, which is why 10,000+ runs often move to die casting plus finish machining.
Quotation and free DFM analysis within 12 hours. Production can start within 24 hours after you approve the DFM notes, and parts typically ship in 3–5 days.
Complex geometry, special material or a certified finish may add time. We tell you the window in the quote rather than after the order.
No minimum order quantity. We machine one prototype or a 10,000+ part run on the same process, so you can validate the design at quantity one and scale without changing suppliers.
For a one-off, expect the setup cost to sit entirely on that single part. That is normal, and it is still usually cheaper than tooling for a low-volume program.
All uploads are secure and confidential, and we sign an NDA on request before files are exchanged. Our information security management system is certified to ISO 27001:2022.
Access to customer files is limited to the engineers who need it for the DFM review and programming.
Upload a STEP file and we return a quotation with free DFM analysis within 12 hours. From one prototype to 10,000+ parts, no minimum order quantity.
12-hour quoteFree DFM analysis100% inspectionNo MOQNDA on request
Trusted by engineers and manufacturers worldwide
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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