--- title: "Milling" description: "Milling for custom fasteners: what the process suits, what it does not, and which parts it produces. Samples in 7 days, MOQ from 2,000 pieces." url: https://engineeringhardware.com/custom/milling/ source: Engineering Hardware & Fasteners --- # Milling Milling · Fastener manufacturing process Send a drawing, a sample or a photograph. Samples follow within 7 days of the drawing being approved. Request a quotation One business day for a reply. Taper-Keys Milling is used at Engineering Hardware to make custom general components, keys, supports, clamps & brackets to a customer drawing. Cutting with a rotating tool against a fixed workpiece — flats, slots, pockets and non-round features. The minimum order is 2,000–5,000 pieces and samples follow within 7 days of the drawing being approved. Cutting with a rotating tool against a fixed workpiece — flats, slots, pockets and non-round features. Milling is what turns a cylindrical part into a non-cylindrical one: wrench flats on a round body, a slot for a screwdriver, a cross hole, a keyway, a machined head form that no die produces. On a multi-axis machine the part is cut from several directions in one setting, which matters for tolerance because every re-fixturing is an opportunity to lose position. ## What Milling is the right choice for - Flats, slots, keyways and pockets - Non-round head forms and special drives - Features on more than one face ## Where it is the wrong choice - Each additional setting costs time and risks position - Not a volume process for simple round parts ## Parts produced this way - [Custom Machined Component](https://engineeringhardware.com/custom/components/) — [11 standard parts in the catalog](https://engineeringhardware.com/fasteners/components/) - [Custom Machine Key](https://engineeringhardware.com/custom/keys/) — [5 standard parts in the catalog](https://engineeringhardware.com/fasteners/keys/) - [Custom Support & Bracket](https://engineeringhardware.com/custom/supports/) — [14 standard parts in the catalog](https://engineeringhardware.com/fasteners/supports/) ## Usually combined with Milling is rarely the only operation on a part. On most jobs it sits in a sequence with: - [CNC Machining](https://engineeringhardware.com/custom/cnc-machining/) - [Broaching & Serration](https://engineeringhardware.com/custom/broaching/) - [Drilling](https://engineeringhardware.com/custom/drilling/) ## Order terms - **Minimum order:** 2,000–5,000 pieces. The exact figure depends on the part: it is set by the tooling the drawing calls for, and is confirmed when the drawing has been reviewed. - **Samples:** Within 7 days of drawing approval. - **Drawing:** Preferred, but not required — a sample, photographs or a sketch is enough to start. ## What a quotation needs Nine things, and a drawing settles most of them at once. Where a field is unknown, say so — an assumption stated is better than a blank, and several of these can be recommended rather than specified. - **Drawing:** A 2D drawing (PDF or DWG) or a 3D model settles almost every other question on this list at once. - **Dimensions:** Diameter, length, head size and any features — enough to know what is being made. - **Tolerance:** Tolerance is the single biggest cost driver. Tell us which dimensions are critical and which are not — holding everything tight costs money on features nobody measures. - **Material:** Carbon steel, alloy steel, stainless, brass, aluminium, titanium — or the application, and we will suggest one. - **Strength grade:** Property class to ISO 898-1 (8.8, 10.9, 12.9) or stainless class to ISO 3506 (A2-70, A4-80). This decides the material and the heat treatment together. - **Thread standard:** Metric coarse, metric fine, UNC, UNF, BSW or a pipe thread — and the tolerance class if it is specified. - **Surface finish:** Zinc, hot-dip galvanised, black oxide, Dacromet, Geomet, nickel, passivation, or plain. Salt-spray hours if you have a requirement. - **Quantity:** Annual volume and first-order quantity. Volume changes which process is the right one, so it changes the price more than most buyers expect. - **Application & environment:** What the part holds together, and what it has to survive — temperature, vibration, chemicals, salt. This is what lets us catch a specification that will not work before it is made. ## Draw it here No CAD, no account, nothing to install. Draw the part in your browser, generate a real ISO metric thread from M1 to M100 with the end treatment it needs, dimension it, and export a PDF or a DXF to attach below. Sheets run to two metres for long studs and threaded rod. Open the drawing builder ## Questions ### What is the minimum order quantity for a custom part? Between 2,000 and 5,000 pieces for most parts. The exact figure depends on the part: it is set by the tooling the drawing calls for, and is confirmed when the drawing has been reviewed. ### How long does a sample take? Within 7 days once the drawing has been approved. The drawing stage comes first, and for a part being reverse-engineered from a sample it is where most of the time goes. ### Can you make a part without a drawing? Yes. A physical sample, photographs against a scale, or a dimensioned sketch are all workable starting points. A drawing is produced from whichever of those you have and sent back for approval before anything is made. ### When is Milling not the right process? Each additional setting costs time and risks position. Not a volume process for simple round parts. ### Which fasteners are made by milling? In this catalog: machined component, machine key, support & bracket. Whether it is the right process for a particular part depends on the drawing and the quantity. ## Drawing builder Draw the part, dimension it, and export a PDF or a DXF to attach to the form below. FASTENER **DRAWING** CMD Fastener drawing builder [https://engineeringhardware.com/](https://engineeringhardware.com/) Nothing you draw is uploaded until you send it, and the drawing lives in your own browser — export it before you close the tab. ## Send the part A drawing answers most of this at once. If you do not have one, fill in what you know and attach a photograph — samples follow within 7 days of the drawing being approved.