ITAR Registered · MIL-PRF-8625F Finishing On Site · Aluminum Only
CNC Aluminum Machining, One Part or a Production Release
120 IN
Cutting envelope, and the anodizing tanks match it
One METAL
Metal we buy in volume, and it is aluminum
Aluminum Only
120 Inch Envelope
Anodized On Site
Masked And Marked
The direct answer
Section 02 / 09
What can you actually make?
Aluminum parts, from a single prototype through a repeating production release, up to 120 inches long, anodized and marked before they ship.
That is a narrower answer than most shops give, and the narrowness is the point. Aluminum is the only metal we buy in volume, so the alloy is usually on the shelf, the fixturing already exists, and the anodizing line at the same address was built for the same part. Depth in one material instead of a little of five.
If your part is aluminum and it fits inside 120 inches, the answer is almost always yes.
The specification
Section 03 / 09
The Specification
The short version
Aluminum, and it is the only metal we buy in volume
The alloy your job calls for is usually on the shelf, not on a lead time
120 inches of X travel
The largest thing we can cut is the largest thing we can anodize
Anodizing to MIL-PRF-8625F, in our own tanks at the same address
Your part does not leave the address between the last cut and the coating
One-off work through production releases
The same shop quotes your prototype and your release, so the process does not change between them
Standardized across the floor
Your job is not tied to one machine or one operator
Masking and laser marking
Marked and masked parts ship finished, not part finished
Already have a print in hand?
One material
Section 04 / 09
01
Why aluminum is the only metal we machine in quantity
It started as a decision about finishing. Anodizing only works on aluminum, so once the tanks went in, every aluminum part in the building became a part we could take from bar stock to finished coating without a purchase order leaving the site.
Then the second-order effects showed up, and they are the ones that reach your schedule.
- The alloy is on the shelf Buying in volume means the common alloys and tempers are stocked here rather than quoted to you with a lead time attached.
- The tooling is already paid for The same cutters get bought again and again instead of one of these and two of those, which is what makes a small run economical.
- The process is proven Aluminum behaves the way we expect it to because it is what runs here every day. Your first article is not our first attempt.
That is what specialization buys.
Not a shorter list of things we can do. A shorter list of things that can surprise us.
02
Where your job lands: a thousand of the same part, or one hard one
Two kinds of work run through this shop, and they want opposite things from it.
A production release wants repeatability. Same fixture, same program, same operator sequence, same result on part nine hundred as on part nine. That work gets set up once, proven, and then left alone, and it is the work we would rather have.
The other end is a single part with a feature somebody has to think about. A deep pocket with a small internal detail at the bottom of it. A wall that will move when you unclamp it. That work goes to an experienced technician and it gets quoted with the difficulty in the number rather than discovered halfway through.
Tell us which one you have when you send the print. It changes who picks the job up.
03
Standard work for efficient processing
Every job here runs to standard work. That sounds like an internal housekeeping detail until the week it matters.
The operator who knows your job calls in sick. Your part moves to another machine and somebody else picks it up that morning, because the control is the same control and the process is written the same way. Your delivery date does not move.
Most of what a buyer worries about with a small shop is not capability. It is what happens on the bad day.
Dimensions and questions
Section 05 / 09
The Problem Nobody Owns
Anodizing changes the size of your part, and somebody has to own that
Anodizing is not a coating laid on top of the metal. It converts the surface, and the finished part comes out larger than the one that came off the machine.
MIL-PRF-8625F is specific about it. The coating grows the part by roughly half its thickness on every coated surface, and the allowance is the machinist's responsibility rather than the finisher's.
The specification is also clear that anodizing happens after the machining is finished. So the allowance has to be decided before the first chip comes off, by somebody who knows exactly what the finish is going to do.
Here that is one calculation, made once, by people who will also run the tank. The print, the toolpath and the finish are read by the same shop before anything is cut.
½ ×
On every coated surface, the part grows by about half the coating thickness
2 ×
On a bore, the diameter closes by about twice the per-surface growth
4 ×
On a 60 degree thread, the pitch diameter moves about four times it
Owning both steps means the size change is planned before the part is cut, not discovered at inspection.
Questions buyers ask before they send a print
What is the largest part you can machine?
120 inches of X travel, and the anodizing tanks are the same 120 inches. There is no part we can cut here that then has to go somewhere else to be coated.
Do you take one-off parts, or only production runs?
Both, and they are quoted differently. A one-off with a difficult feature gets an experienced technician and a number that reflects the difficulty. A repeating release gets set up once, proven, and left alone.
Can machining and anodizing go on one purchase order?
Yes. Both happen at the same address under the same quality system, so the part is machined, finished, marked and shipped against one order, with one schedule and one place to call.
Do parts ship with material certification?
Yes. Material is traceable to the mill lot, with certified mill test reports tied to the job that consumed it. What else arrives in the box is on our quality page.
The Straight Answer
Can you machine my part in steel?
No. We machine and anodize aluminum.
Proof
Section 07 / 09
120 inches, twice, on purpose
The large machining center came first, back when 120 inches of X travel looked like more part than anyone here would ever need. Years later, when the anodizing line went in, the tanks were sized to the same 120 inches.
Nothing about that was an accident, and it is the reason the shortest sentence on this site is also the most useful one. If we can cut it, we can finish it.
What to send
Section 08 / 09
What to send, and what comes back
A 3D model, STEP or Parasolid, and a dimensioned drawing if the tolerances matter.
Quantity, and whether this is a one-off or the first release of something that repeats.
The alloy and temper. If that is still open, say so and we will recommend one.
The finish callout if the drawing carries one, including color.
Any feature you expect to drive cost. Pointing it out early saves time on both sides.
What comes back is a quote, and on anything complicated a short note about what is driving the number. Moving a feature a tenth of an inch sometimes takes a whole operation out of the part. That conversation is worth having before the first article rather than after it.
After the chips, the part goes to the anodizing line at the same address. What ships with it is set out in full on the quality page.
Anodizing to MIL-PRF-8625F
In our own tanks, at the same address, on the same order.
See the finishing lineThe Ask
Send us the hard one.
Need parts in a hurry? Send the print and we will tell you what we can do.
