We machine turned and milled brass components on 127 CNC machines in Dongguan, holding ±0.005 mm on critical features. Free DFM feedback comes back in 12 hours, and no minimum order quantity stands between your prototype and a 10,000-part run.
Most failures are not machining failures. They are sourcing decisions made too early.
The drawing called out C36000, but the bar stock arrived as a leaded substitute with lower yield strength. Threads cut clean on the bench and fail under torque. You find out during final assembly, not at incoming inspection.
A turned surface left at Ra 3.2 μm traps polishing compound and cutting fluid. Nickel plates over the contamination and looks fine on the dock. In the field, the coating lifts at the edges and the part is scrap.
A thin-wall bushing held in a three-jaw chuck deforms under clamping pressure. The OD measures true on the bench and out of round in the bore. Your mating shaft binds, and you bleed the clearance you designed in.
A shop without in-process monitoring drifts across a long run. Part 1 fits, part 500 does not. You spend a week on a sorting operation instead of shipping, and the cost lands on your side of the PO.
Two things decide whether a run comes back clean: the alloy you buy and the way you clamp it.
C36000 machines fast and leaves a good finish, but its lead content makes it a poor choice for potable water or medical contact surfaces. C27400 and C28000 machine slower and hold up better where the part has to survive torque or repeated cycles. C110 gives you the highest conductivity of the group, which matters for busbars and RF housings.
Bar stock arrives with a mill certificate. We check chemistry and hardness before the first cut, because a substitution three steps upstream is the most common cause of a run that passes inspection and fails in the field.
Brass cuts easily, so the risk is rarely the tool. It is the workholding. A bushing with a 1 mm wall will ovalize in a standard three-jaw chuck long before the cutter touches it. We build soft jaws or a collet matched to the OD, and on mill-turn centers we cut the bore and the outside face in one setup so concentricity does not depend on a second op.
For features that have to hit ±0.005 mm, we leave stock and take a finishing pass after the part has cooled. Brass moves with temperature, and a dimension taken hot will measure differently on the bench. Our 16 simultaneous 5-axis centers cover the angled ports and cross-holes that would otherwise need three fixtures and three chances to lose position.
Match the alloy to the environment first, then to the machining cost.
| Grade | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| C36000 | High-volume turned fittings, connectors | Lead content; not for potable water |
| C27400 / C28000 | Valve bodies, threaded hardware | Slower feeds than C36000 |
| C110 | Busbars, RF housings, terminals | Soft; needs light finishing passes |
| Beryllium copper | Spring contacts, non-sparking tools | Requires controlled dust handling |
One supplier from bar stock to packed part.
Mill-turn centers handle threaded fittings, bushings and connectors with bore and OD cut in one setup.
Three and four-axis mills cover flats, slots and pockets on housings and manifolds up to 4,000 mm.
Angled ports and cross-holes cut without re-fixturing, so position stays inside one tolerance stack.
First articles in 3–5 days from your STEP file, with DFM notes before the spindle starts.
Nickel, silver and gold plating, tumbling, brushing and laser marking down to 1.5 mm characters.
100% inspection before shipment with dimensional reports on request.
| Item | Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tolerance | ±0.005 mm | On critical turned and milled features |
| Surface finish | Ra 0.2–0.8 μm | Finest achievable on brass |
| Maximum size | 4,000 mm | Larger travel on selected machines |
| Order quantity | 1 to 10,000+ | No minimum order quantity |
| Lead time | Ship in 3–5 days | After drawing release and DFM sign-off |
Six things that decide whether your run ships clean.
Fifteen years on non-ferrous and stainless work, across three wholly-owned plants.
Held on turned and milled features, verified with calibrated instruments before shipment.
Across production runs. Every part is inspected, not sampled.
Drawing review with manufacturability notes comes back inside half a day.
Material on the floor and the spindle running within a day of approval.
ISO 9001:2015, IATF 16949:2016, ISO 13485:2016 and ISO 27001:2022.
Brass bushings and pivot inserts need tight bore-to-OD concentricity so joints do not develop play.
RF housings and terminals need conductivity plus a flat mating face that seals against a gasket.
Threaded fittings and sensor bodies must survive torque cycles and vibration without stripping.
Non-leaded grades and documented traceability for parts that touch the patient path.
C36000 is a leaded free-machining brass. It cuts fast and finishes well, but the lead content makes it a poor fit for potable water lines, food contact surfaces or long-term skin contact.
For those applications we switch to C27400 or C28000 and accept the slower cycle time. Tell us the end use on the RFQ and we will flag the substitution before we quote.
On a wall above roughly 1.5 mm we hold ±0.005 mm on the bore and OD. Below that, clamping force and cutting heat start to move the part, and the realistic band widens.
The fix is usually geometric, not a tighter number. We build a collet or soft jaw matched to the OD so the wall is supported through the cut.
There is no minimum order quantity, so a single prototype is a normal job for us. Setup is quoted as part of the piece price or as a line item, depending on how much fixturing the part needs.
A simple turned part usually needs no dedicated fixture. A thin-wall or multi-face part may, and we will say so in the DFM notes.
We keep the program, the fixture and the tooling records tied to the part number. On a repeat order the same setup is loaded rather than re-created from the drawing.
In-process monitoring catches drift on long runs before the parts reach final inspection.
Ra 0.8–1.6 μm is a normal machined finish and covers most functional surfaces. Ra 0.2–0.8 μm is achievable where a seal or a bearing surface needs it.
If the part will be plated, do not leave the surface at Ra 1.6–3.2 μm. The rougher profile traps compound and the coating can lift later.
Yes, on the 16 simultaneous 5-axis centers. Angled ports, cross-holes and contoured faces come off in one setup, which keeps them inside a single tolerance stack.
That usually removes two or three re-fixturing steps and the position error that comes with each one.
Quotation and DFM feedback come back within 12 hours. Production can start within 24 hours of sign-off, and parts ship in 3–5 days.
Timing assumes the material is a standard grade. A special alloy or a plating step adds to the schedule, and we state that in the quote rather than after the order.
Yes. Uploads are handled as confidential, and we sign an NDA on request before any file changes hands.
Our information security management is certified to ISO 27001:2022, which covers how drawings and production records are stored and who can reach them.
Upload a STEP or PDF drawing and we will return a quote with DFM notes within 12 hours. No minimum order quantity, and every part is inspected before it ships.
12-hour quote100% inspectionNo minimum order quantityNDA on request
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Upload your 3D model or 2D drawing and get a quotation with a free DFM analysis. Maximum processing size 4,000 mm.
CNC Metals 13 grades
CNC Plastics 10 grades
Machines & processes 12 options
Surface & post-processing 10 options
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