Capabilities
Exotic alloy machining capabilities
What the shops in our managed network run for titanium, nickel superalloys, hardened steel and duplex, and what we will not take. Every figure on this page is typical. The figures that bind are the ones on your quote.
Alloys
Five alloy families as routine, others on availability
| Family | Grades | Specification | Where it belongs | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titanium | Ti-6Al-4V Grade 5, Grade 2, Ti-6Al-4V ELI Grade 23, Grade 9 | ASTM B348 / B265 bar and plate, AMS 4928 and ASTM F136 on request | Brackets, housings, fasteners, instrument and implant prototypes, marine fittings | Grade 5 annealed is the default when the drawing just says titanium. Grade 23 is bought with certificate traceability as part of the order. |
| Nickel superalloys | Inconel 625, Inconel 718, Hastelloy C-276, Monel 400 | AMS 5666 / 5663, ASTM B443 / B637 / B575 / B164 as called | High-temperature fixtures, process and subsea parts, seawater and acid service | Condition on the drawing (solution-treated or aged) changes the job. Quoted on material availability. |
| Hardened and tool steel | 17-4 PH, 4140, H13, D2, A2, M2, 52100 | AMS 5643, ASTM A681 / A295 as called, hardness and condition stated on the drawing | Die components, shafts, bearing seats, wear parts, fixtures | Machine-then-harden with grind stock, or buy hard and finish with CBN. The route is decided at drawing review. |
| Stainless and duplex | 316L, 321, 410, 2205 duplex, 2507 super duplex | ASTM A276 / A479 / A182 as called | Corrosion-first process parts, subsea and offshore hardware | Super duplex is never stress relieved in the sigma range. Chip control decides the finish. |
| Low-expansion and refractory | Invar 36, Kovar, molybdenum, tungsten alloy | ASTM F1684 / F15 and mill datasheets | Optical and metrology fixtures, glass-to-metal seals, furnace hardware | Quoted on availability. Process proving matters more than cycle time; we say so before quoting. |
Processes
Processes and the tolerances we plan around
Tolerances are what a shop that cuts these alloys every week holds on the right machine with sharp tooling. Tighter is possible on a feature-by-feature basis, and the quote says so when it is.
| Process | What it suits | Typical tolerance | Send this with it |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNC milling, 3-axis | Prismatic parts, brackets, plates, pockets and bosses | ±0.05 mm typical, ±0.02 mm on called-out features | STEP plus a PDF with datums and critical dimensions |
| CNC milling, 4 and 5-axis | Multi-face parts, compound angles, thin-wall housings, impeller-type geometry | ±0.05 mm typical, ±0.02 mm on called-out features | STEP, PDF, and tell us which faces mate |
| CNC turning and mill-turn | Shafts, pins, bushings, threaded fittings, fasteners | ±0.02 mm typical on diameters, tighter with confirmation | PDF with thread call-outs and surface finish |
| Hard turning and grinding | Hardened steel 45 to 62 HRC, bearing seats, die components, ground faces after heat treatment | ±0.01 mm typical, Ra 0.4 µm ground | Hardness, condition and grind stock on the drawing |
| Wire and sinker EDM | Sharp internal corners, thin slots, hardened profiles carbide will not survive | ±0.01 mm typical on profile | DXF or STEP with the profile and plate thickness |
| Heat treatment and finishing | Stress relief, ageing of 17-4 PH and 718, titanium anodising, passivation, bead blast, marking | Per specification on the drawing | The spec number, or the purpose if you do not have one |
Each process worked through for titanium, with starting data, failure modes and what to put on the drawing: titanium machining processes.
Size and features
Envelope
- Milled parts
- Up to about 500 x 400 x 200 mm as routine. Larger on request, where the shop with the right table is available.
- Turned parts
- Up to about Ø200 mm and 400 mm long as routine. Bar-fed small parts from Ø3 mm.
- Hard turning and grinding
- Up to about Ø150 mm and 300 mm long. Surface grinding to about 400 x 200 mm.
- Wire EDM
- Plate up to about 150 mm thick. Profile tolerance ±0.01 mm typical.
- Minimum feature
- Walls from 0.8 mm in Grade 5 with a stress-relief step. Holes from Ø1 mm. Threads from M2.
- Surface finish
- Ra 1.6 µm as machined typical, Ra 0.8 µm on specified faces, Ra 0.4 µm ground, polished on request.
Heat treatment and finishing
After machining
- Heat treatment
- Hardening and tempering of tool steel, ageing of 17-4 PH (H900 to H1150) and Inconel 718, with the hardness certificate. Grind stock is left where the drawing needs it.
- Stress relief
- Furnace stress relief between roughing and finishing for thin walls and long parts. We quote it where the geometry needs it. Never in the sigma range for super duplex.
- Colour anodise
- Titanium colour anodising for part identification or appearance. Colour matched to a sample, not to a code, unless a specification is given.
- Passivation
- Citric or nitric per the specification on the drawing. Common for medical prototypes, stainless and marine parts.
- Bead blast and polish
- Uniform matt finish with masking where a bore or a datum face must stay as machined. Polishing on request.
- Marking
- Laser marking of part number, heat number or your logo, position per drawing.
Scope
What we take and what we decline
Saying no early is cheaper for both sides than finding out at the first article.
We do
- Quote parts in titanium, nickel alloys, hardened steel and duplex from your drawing with a lead time and the DFM notes that change the price
- Buy the machining from an audited shop in our managed network and sell you the finished part on our paperwork
- Assign an engineer to your order who reviews the drawing, checks the material and follows the run on the floor
- Send a written progress update every week while your parts are being made
- Measure the parts against your drawing before packing and ship the inspection report with them
- Carry the order: if a part is wrong, we fix it with the shop, you do not chase anyone
We do not
- Own machines, or describe a shop in the network as if it were ours
- Name the shops we work with, or let a shop contact you directly
- Claim AS9100, ISO 13485 or NADCAP. We hold none of them and we say so
- Take flight-certified production, implantable production lots or controlled items we cannot lawfully receive
- Publish prices. Hard alloys are quoted per drawing because material, geometry and quantity move the number too much
- Promise a tolerance before the engineer has read the drawing. Figures on this site are typical, confirmed on each quote
- Large bar and billet
- Raw stock over about Ø150 mm, or parts that are mostly a forging with a skim cut. Material cost and machine time make these uneconomic through us.
- Forgings and castings
- We quote machining from bar and plate. If your part starts as a forging you need a forge house first, then us for the machining if it still makes sense.
- Welded fabrications
- Titanium and nickel alloy welding needs an inert chamber or trailing shields and its own qualification. Not in the network.
- Flight-certified production
- We hold no AS9100 or NADCAP and do not pretend to. Development and test hardware yes, certified flight production no.
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