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 — 11 standard parts in the catalog
- Custom Machine Key — 5 standard parts in the catalog
- Custom Support & Bracket — 14 standard parts in the catalog
Usually combined with
Milling is rarely the only operation on a part. On most jobs it sits in a sequence with:
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.
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.
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.