Alloys
Which aluminum to put on the drawing, and what the temper after the number means.
7075-T6 vs 7075-T73: Stress Corrosion and When to Switch
7075-T6 against 7075-T73 for machined parts: typical strength, stress corrosion cracking, conductivity check, T651 and T7351 plate and when the drawing should name T73.
7050 vs 7075 Aluminum: Thick Plate and Through-Hardening
7050 against 7075 for machined parts: quench sensitivity, strength in thick plate, T7451 temper, cost, availability and when a drawing justifies the switch.
2011 Aluminum Machining: Free-Cutting Chips and Limits
2011 free-machining aluminum for turned and milled parts: chip behaviour, thread quality, typical strength, lead and bismuth content, corrosion limits and alternatives.
1100 and 3003 Aluminum: Soft Alloys on a Machining Drawing
1100 and 3003 aluminum on a machined part: typical strength, H14 and O tempers, gummy chips, burrs, anodize look, conductivity and when a harder alloy is the better pick.
6063 vs 6061 Aluminum: Extrusion Alloy on a Machining Drawing
6063-T5/T6 against 6061-T6 for CNC work: machinability, strength, anodize response and thermal conductivity. When 6063 is the right call and when it is not.
2024-T351 Aluminum: When Fatigue Life Beats Strength
Why 2024-T351 is specified for parts under repeated load, what its copper content does to corrosion resistance, how it machines and when 7075 is the better answer.
6061 vs 7075 for Machined Parts: Strength, Cost and Anodizing
6061-T6 against 7075-T6 for CNC machined parts: yield strength, price per kilo, weldability, corrosion, anodize appearance and when the upgrade is worth paying for.
6082 vs 6061: Specifying Aluminum for a European Shop
6082-T6 against 6061-T6: strength, machinability, anodizing and corrosion. When the European equivalent is a safe substitution and when it is not.
Aluminum Tempers Explained: T6, T651, T4 and O on a Drawing
What T6, T651, T4, T73 and O mean on an aluminum drawing, why T651 matters on plate, and what happens to your part when the temper is left off the print.
Marine Aluminum: 5052, 5083 and What Salt Water Does
Why 5052 and 5083 survive marine service where 6061 and 7075 struggle, what happens when you mix aluminum with stainless fasteners, and how the alloys machine.
MIC-6 vs 6061 Plate: Which Aluminum Stays Flat
MIC-6 cast tooling plate against 6061-T651 rolled plate: flatness, internal stress, thread strength, cost and how to decide which one your part needs.
Design
Tolerances, wall thickness, threads and the geometry decisions that set the price.
Aluminum Machining Tolerances: Which Ones Are Worth Paying For
Standard, precision and tight tolerance bands on machined aluminum, what each one costs in machine and inspection time, and how to tolerance a drawing properly.
Why Aluminum Parts Warp After Machining, and How to Stop It
Where residual stress in aluminum comes from, why parts bow when material is removed, and the material, sequencing and design choices that keep a part true.
Thin Wall Aluminum Machining: Where Parts Start to Chatter
Height to thickness ratios, chatter, deflection and springback in thin wall aluminum parts, plus the design changes that keep a light part machinable.
Threads in Aluminum: Tapped Holes, Helicoils and Inserts
How deep to tap aluminum, when a coil insert or a solid bushing is worth it, thread repair options, and what anodizing does to a tapped hole.
Finishing
Anodizing, chem film and surface finish, including what coating does to your fits.
Surface Finish on Aluminum: What Each Ra Value Costs
What Ra values mean on a machined aluminum part, which ones come off the machine for nothing, which need an extra operation, and how finish interacts with anodizing.
Why Anodized Parts Do Not Match Each Other
Why anodized aluminum parts vary in colour between batches and between alloys, what actually controls the shade, and how to specify a finish that matches.
How Anodizing Changes the Size of an Aluminum Part
The 50/50 rule explained: how much an anodized surface grows, what it does to bores, threads and slip fits, and the three ways to specify around it.
Type II vs Type III Anodizing for Machined Aluminum Parts
Type II and Type III anodizing compared: coating thickness, hardness, colour options, electrical insulation, cost and which one your machined aluminum part needs.
Chem Film vs Anodize: Choosing a Conductive Finish
Chem film to MIL-DTL-5541 against anodizing: electrical conductivity, thickness, corrosion protection, cost and when each finish belongs on an aluminum part.
Cost
Where the money goes in a quote, and the lines on your drawing that move it.
Aluminum Machining Cost: Setup, Cycle Time, Material and Finish
A breakdown of what you pay for in a machined aluminum part: programming and fixturing, cycle time, stock size, alloy premium, coating minimums and quantity.
Plate, Bar or Extrusion: The Stock Your Part Starts From
How stock form drives the price of a machined aluminum part, standard plate and bar sizes worth designing to, and when an extrusion beats machining from solid.
Buying
Comparing suppliers, reading quotes and knowing what the metal actually is.
CNC Machining vs Die Casting Aluminum: Which One Actually Fits
CNC machining and die casting solve different problems in aluminum. Tooling cost, volume break-even, alloy differences and what a cast part cannot do that a machined one can.
Mill Certs and Traceability on Machined Aluminum Parts
What a mill certificate actually proves, the difference between a cert, CoC and full traceability, when to require them and what they add to a machined part price.
How to Compare Quotes From Aluminum Machining Suppliers
Three shops, three prices, three different assumptions. How to normalise aluminum machining quotes on stock, tolerance, finish, inspection, certs and lead time.
Aluminum CNC Parts: A Practical Guide for First-Time Buyers
A first buyer's guide to machined aluminum parts: picking the alloy, writing tolerances a shop can price, choosing a finish and knowing what drives the quote.
Shops
For the machine shops on the other side of the request: quoting, capability and when to decline.
Writing a Machine Shop Capability Profile That Wins Work
How to describe a machine shop so buyers and matching services can route the right aluminum work to you: envelope, tolerance, batch size, finishing and what to leave out.
Quoting Aluminum Work Faster Without Guessing
How to estimate aluminum jobs quickly and consistently: reading stock from the model, counting setups, pricing tolerance and inspection, and where estimates go wrong.
RFQ Red Flags: When a Machine Shop Should Decline
How to spot an aluminum RFQ that will lose money or a customer: missing drawings, impossible tolerances, unpriced coating, vague flatness and quote shopping.
How Machine Shops Win More Aluminum Work
Buyers rarely pick the cheapest aluminum quote. What they compare, why the fastest reply usually wins, and the quoting habits that lose work before price is read.