Equipment
Which machine will run your part
Buyers ask this in almost every RFQ, and it deserves a straight answer. Below is the working envelope we quote against, the limits we will tell you about before you spend on tooling, and how to check whether your part fits without a phone call.
Milling · Turning · Laser · Press brake · Stamping
01 Envelope
Capability envelope by process
Ranges below describe what we quote week to week. Machine lists change as equipment is upgraded, so treat the numbers as a screening filter—not a specification sheet.
| Process | Typical envelope | Best suited to | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-axis CNC milling | 800 × 500 × 500 mm | Prismatic parts, pockets, mounting faces, tooling plates. | Undercuts and features on five faces in one setup. |
| 4-axis CNC milling | 600 × 400 × 400 mm | Parts needing indexed features on several sides without re-fixturing. | Simultaneous five-axis contouring. |
| CNC turning | Ø 300 × 500 mm | Shafts, bushings, spacers, threaded round parts. | Long slender parts that need a steady rest and special setup. |
| Laser cutting | 3000 × 1500 mm bed | Flat blanks, brackets, enclosures, nested production sheets. | Thickness beyond the range quoted per material; thick plate is referred out. |
| Press brake forming | 100 t × 2500 mm | Enclosures, channels, brackets, parts with a few bends. | Very long parts, or bend radii tighter than the tooling allows. |
| Stamping press | 25–160 t | Pilot, stage, and progressive dies at repeat volumes. | Volumes too low to amortise a die—we route those to CNC instead. |
| Surface grinding | 600 × 300 mm | Finishing flat faces and parallelism after machining or heat treat. | Large weldments and parts outside the chuck capacity. |
Envelopes are indicative. If your RFQ hinges on a specific bed size, spindle, or tonnage, ask and we will confirm against the current floor before quoting.
02 Limits
What we do not run
Saying no early is cheaper for both sides than discovering the limit after tooling is ordered. These are the requests we refer elsewhere rather than stretch a process past its sensible range.
- Simultaneous five-axis contouring and impeller-style geometry.
- Large gantry work—frames and weldments beyond our table sizes.
- Wire and sinker EDM, and hard-die insert grinding.
- Heavy plate cutting and rolling above the quoted thickness range.
- High-volume automotive stamping in the millions of pieces per year.
- In-house heat treat and plating—coordinated through partners, quoted as a line item.
How we decide the route
Geometry first, then annual volume, then tolerance. A part that needs 500 pieces and a ±0.05 mm pocket goes to CNC; the same profile at 50,000 pieces is a conversation about a die.
Scheduling reality
We quote windows against current load, not against a best-case empty shop. If your need-by date cannot be held, you hear it in the quote rather than the week before shipping.
Prototype to production
The same team carries the program from soft tooling or machined pilots through to hard tooling, so the drawing history does not have to be re-learned at each step.
03 Fit check
Check your part in four steps
You can usually tell from the drawing whether a part is routine, tight, or outside our envelope. These are the four things we look at first.
Bounding box and mass
Overall dimensions tell us which machine family can hold the part. Add the blank size—not just the finished size—because fixturing needs clearance.
Feature access
Pockets, holes, and faces that can be reached from one or two directions are straightforward. Features on four or five sides mean extra setups, or a different process.
Tolerance and finish callouts
A handful of tight dimensions is normal. A drawing where everything is ±0.01 mm is a signal to talk about what the assembly actually needs.
Volume and repeat pattern
One-off, pilot, or recurring annual volume decides whether we quote machining hours or tooling amortisation. Tell us the number even if it is a guess.
Next step
Send the drawing and we will name the machine
The quote states the process route: which mill, lathe, laser, brake, or press—and what that means for your lead time.