Materials We Machine

Materials We Machine

We stock a range of metal and engineering plastic materials for different part applications and industries. Below are the grades we machine most often, with the properties that usually drive the selection.

Aluminum

Lightweight, corrosion resistant and highly machinable — the default choice for housings, brackets, heat sinks and prototype work.

  • 6061-T6 — the general-purpose alloy. Good strength, excellent machinability, welds well and anodizes cleanly.
  • 7075-T6 — significantly higher strength, common in aerospace structures and high-load components. Less corrosion resistant than 6061.
  • 2024 — high fatigue resistance for aerospace skins and structural parts.

Stainless Steel

Corrosion resistant and strong, used in medical, food-contact, marine and chemical environments.

  • 304 / 304L — the workhorse grade, with good corrosion resistance and formability.
  • 316 / 316L — added molybdenum for resistance to chlorides and marine atmospheres.
  • 17-4 PH — precipitation-hardening grade with high strength and hardness, for shafts and valves.

Carbon Steel and Steel Alloys

High strength at lower cost, for structural and load-bearing parts where corrosion resistance is handled by coating.

  • 1045 — medium carbon steel, good for shafts, gears and studs.
  • 4140 — chrome-moly alloy with high fatigue strength for heavy machinery.

Brass

Excellent machinability, natural corrosion resistance, good electrical conductivity, and a fine surface finish straight off the machine.

  • C360 (free-cutting brass) — fittings, connectors, valves and precision hardware.
  • C377 — higher strength for threaded and structural hardware.

Copper

Outstanding electrical and thermal conductivity. Used for busbars, heat sinks, electrodes and RF components. Machined with sharp tooling and controlled feeds to avoid work hardening.

Titanium

High strength-to-weight ratio, excellent corrosion resistance and biocompatibility — for aerospace brackets, medical implants and instruments, and high-performance fasteners.

  • Grade 2 (commercially pure) — formable and corrosion resistant, used in chemical and medical applications.
  • Grade 5 (Ti-6Al-4V) — the aerospace and medical workhorse, roughly twice the strength of Grade 2.

Engineering Plastics

  • ABS — tough and low cost, good for enclosures and non-critical housings.
  • POM (Delrin / acetal) — high stiffness and dimensional stability, excellent for gears, bushings and precision mechanical parts.
  • Nylon (PA6 / PA66) — wear resistant and impact tolerant, for rollers, guides and wear pads.
  • PEEK — high temperature and chemical resistance, for aerospace, medical and semiconductor parts.
  • Acrylic (PMMA) — optical clarity for light guides, windows and display parts.
  • PTFE — the lowest friction of any common plastic, for seals, bearings and chemical-resistant components.

Surface Finishes

Anodizing (clear, black and colour), zinc plating, nickel plating, powder coating, bead blasting, brushing, polishing and passivation. Put the finish callout on your drawing, or ask us to recommend one for the environment the part will see.

Need a Material Recommendation?

If you are unsure which grade suits your application, send us the drawing together with the operating conditions — load, temperature, environment and required service life. We will recommend a material and finish combination and quote it. Request a Quote