Pick the grade that survives your application, then machine it. We run 127 CNC machines across aluminum, stainless, titanium, steel, copper and Inconel, holding ±0.005 mm and inspecting every part before it ships.
A 6061 bracket goes onto a marine deck and pits within a season. Aluminum is fine until chloride and water meet it. The material choice has to start from the service environment, not the stock list.
A stainless housing with 0.8 mm walls gets roughed out in one pass and bows 0.15 mm by final inspection. Residual stress releases when you remove metal. Sequence and stock allowance decide whether the part stays flat.
Titanium galls, stainless work-hardens, and a reamed bore drifts out of tolerance. These are cutting-parameter problems, not design problems. Wrong speeds and feeds scrap a part that was geometrically correct.
Ra, anodize type, and which dimensions are critical get left to the shop. Then the first article passes and the production lot does not, because nobody agreed on what to measure.
Two decisions drive every metal part: which grade, and which process holds the tolerance.
Ferrous metals contain iron: carbon steel, alloy steel, tool steel, stainless, Inconel. They give you stiffness and wear resistance, and they will rust or oxidize unless the grade or the coating says otherwise. Non-ferrous grades, aluminum, copper, brass, titanium, magnesium, skip the iron. They are lighter, conduct heat and current well, and generally cut faster.
We keep the common grades in stock and machine the rest on order. Aluminum 6061-T6 and 7075 for structural work, 5052 and 5083 where formability or corrosion matters. Stainless 303 for free machining, 304 and 316L for corrosion, 17-4PH when you need strength plus corrosion resistance. Titanium Ti-6Al-4V for low weight with high strength. Inconel when the part runs hot.
CNC machining removes metal from solid stock. It suits tight tolerances, complex 3D forms, threads, bores and pockets, and it needs no tooling. One prototype and ten thousand parts use the same program, so there is no jump in setup cost between them.
Sheet metal fabrication bends and forms flat stock. It is the cheaper route for enclosures, brackets and chassis with uniform wall thickness, and it scales well past a few hundred units. Metal 3D printing builds the part layer by layer, which is what you use for internal channels and lattice structures that no cutter can reach. It is slower per part, so it fits low volumes and geometries that cannot be milled.
Starting points only. The final call depends on your load case, environment and finish.
| Material | Typical use | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Aluminum 6061-T6 | Brackets, housings, fixtures | Softens above 150 °C, needs coating outdoors |
| Aluminum 7075 | Aerospace structures, high-stress parts | Poor weldability, higher cost |
| Stainless 303 | Shafts, fittings, high-volume turning | Lower corrosion resistance than 304 |
| Stainless 316L | Medical, marine, food equipment | Work-hardens, slower to cut |
| 17-4PH (SUS630) | Valve bodies, pump parts, tooling | Needs heat treatment for full strength |
| Titanium Ti-6Al-4V | Aerospace, implants, racing | Galls easily, low thermal conductivity |
| Mild steel 1018 | Plates, jigs, welded frames | Rusts without plating or paint |
| Alloy steel 4140 | Shafts, gears, high-load parts | Hard to machine after hardening |
| Inconel | Exhaust, turbine, high-temperature parts | Very slow cutting, high tool wear |
| Brass C36000 | Fittings, connectors, valves | Not for high-strength structural use |
| Copper C110 | Busbars, heat sinks, RF parts | Gums up tooling without correct feeds |
| Magnesium AZ31B | Lightweight housings, brackets | Flammable chips, needs special handling |
| Invar | Precision instruments, optical mounts | Expensive, limited stock sizes |
16 simultaneous 5-axis centers cut complex contours in one setup, which removes the repositioning error that shows up when a part is flipped between operations.
27 three-axis and 12 four-axis mills handle prismatic parts, plates and housings where 5-axis would only add cost.
16 mill-turn centers combine turning and milling, so shafts with cross-holes and flats come off one machine.
Laser cutting, bending and forming for enclosures and chassis, with the flat pattern checked before the first cut.
Layer-by-layer builds for internal channels and lattice parts that cannot be reached by a cutter.
Casting for larger volumes, plus anodizing, plating, powder coating, bead blasting and laser marking in house.
| Item | Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum part size | 4,000 mm | Largest travel 4,000 × 400 × 150 mm |
| Standard milling envelope | 750 × 1,150 × 550 mm | Also 600 × 600 × 600 mm |
| Compact machining | 500 × 500 × 450 mm | And 500 × 310 × 200 mm |
| Achievable tolerance | ±0.005 mm | ±0.0002 in on critical features |
| Fine surface finish | Ra 0.2–0.8 μm | Ground or polished surfaces |
| Standard machined finish | Ra 1.6–3.2 μm | As-machined default |
| Rotary capacity | Ø400 mm table | For 4-axis and 5-axis work |
| Inspection | 100% before shipment | Reports on request |
Three wholly-owned plants and 7,600 m² of floor space in Dongguan, plus a factory in Singapore. Long enough to have seen which grade choices fail in the field.
Checked on the machine and again at final inspection. If a feature cannot hold ±0.005 mm, we say so before cutting.
Send a STEP file and a drawing. You get pricing plus a manufacturability note on wall thickness, tolerances and features we would change.
Once the drawing is locked and material is confirmed, machining can begin the next working day. Parts usually ship in 3–5 days.
One prototype or a 10,000+ part run. Same program, same fixtures, no tooling step in between.
ISO 9001:2015, IATF 16949:2016, ISO 13485:2016 and ISO 27001:2022 cover general, automotive, medical and information security work.
Stainless 316L and titanium, passivated, with traceable material and documented inspection.
Aluminum 7075 and titanium structural parts, thin walls, controlled distortion, full dimensional reports.
Battery housings, brackets and busbars in aluminum and copper, with IATF process control.
Joints, housings and mounts where stiffness and repeatable fit decide whether the assembly moves cleanly.
6061-T6 is the default for brackets, housings and fixtures. It machines well, welds, anodizes cleanly and costs less. Use it unless you have a specific reason not to.
7075 has roughly double the yield strength, so it fits high-stress structural parts and aerospace work. It costs more and does not weld well. If your part is stiffness-limited rather than strength-limited, 6061 with a thicker section is often the better answer.
When the part sees chloride: marine, medical, food processing, or anything washed with saline. 316L adds molybdenum, which resists pitting where 304 will not.
For dry indoor use with no chemical exposure, 304 does the same job for less. Both work-harden, so plan for slower cutting and more tool wear than aluminum.
Titanium Ti-6Al-4V gives high strength at about 60% of the density of steel, plus corrosion resistance without coating. Aerospace, implants and racing parts justify it.
It is not a general-purpose upgrade. It galls, conducts heat poorly, and machines several times slower than aluminum. If weight is not the constraint, stainless or alloy steel will cost less and hold the same tolerances.
As a working rule, keep unsupported walls at 1 mm or thicker. Below that, residual stress and cutting forces tend to move the part, and holding ±0.005 mm becomes a fixture problem rather than a cutting problem.
If the design needs thinner walls, send the drawing. We will tell you whether the geometry is machinable and what support or stress relief it needs.
Rough the part, let it relax, then finish. Removing metal releases stress, so a plate roughed and finished in one pass will not stay flat.
For plates up to 4,000 mm we use the large-travel machines and can add a stress-relief step between operations. Flatness callouts should be on the drawing so they get measured.
Anodizing in clear, color, hardcoat and conductive types, plus powder coating, bead blasting, brushing, polishing, electroless nickel, zinc, silver and gold plating. Laser marking is available with a minimum character height of 1.5 mm.
The finish and the alloy interact. Hardcoat anodize builds a thicker oxide layer and changes dimensions, so specify it before we set the pre-plate size.
We prefer a STEP file plus a 2D drawing. The model defines geometry; the drawing carries tolerances, surface finish, thread class and which dimensions are critical.
If you only have a model, send it. We will flag the features where the tolerance assumption needs confirming before quoting.
Yes. Uploads are secure and confidential, and we sign an NDA on request before reviewing files.
Our information security management follows ISO 27001:2022, which covers how drawings and customer data are stored and accessed.
Upload a STEP file and drawing. You get pricing, a free DFM note, and a clear answer on grade and process. No minimum order quantity, from one part up.
12-hour quote100% inspectionNo MOQNDA 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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