Inconel is a nickel superalloy that work-hardens fast and holds heat at the cutting edge. We machine it on 16 simultaneous five-axis centers with ceramic and carbide tooling, controlled ramp entries and heavy coolant. Prototype to 10,000+ parts, ±0.005 mm.
If any of these are familiar, the problem is usually the process, not the drawing.
Inconel 718 work-hardens the moment the cutter rubs instead of bites. A light feed, a dwell in the cut, or a worn insert raises the surface hardness and the next pass destroys the edge. Ten inserts per part is a feed and speed problem, not a material problem.
Nickel alloys push back about twice as hard as 4140. A 1.5 mm wall on a turbine bracket will sing at the wrong radial engagement, and the finish turns into a witness-mark map. Most shops slow the spindle down, which makes it worse.
Inconel holds heat in the chip and in the part. A hole milled to nominal size while hot can close up 0.02–0.03 mm once it reaches room temperature. If your gauge says the bore is small, the inspection may have happened too early.
Many shops avoid nickel alloys because of the cycle time. You send a drawing, wait a week, and get a number with no explanation of how it was built. Ten days lost before a single chip is cut.
Three things decide whether an Inconel part comes off the machine on size: heat, tool engagement, and how the part is held.
Inconel conducts heat poorly, so most of the cutting temperature stays in the tool and the workpiece. We run high-pressure coolant directly at the insert, use positive rake geometry with a real edge hone, and take a deep enough axial cut to stay under the hardened layer left by the previous pass.
That combination is why insert changes are measured per shift rather than per part. On a 718 housing we hold the same edge through a full batch instead of stopping every few pieces.
A turbine bracket or a manifold boss usually needs features on four or five faces. Splitting that across three-axis machines means three fixtures, three datums, and three chances to stack error. On a simultaneous five-axis center the part is located once and the tool reaches the rest.
The rotary table is Ø400 mm, and the large-format machines take work up to 4,000 × 400 × 150 mm. For long thin parts, we support the middle and cut in two stages so the released stress does not pull the part out of tolerance after unclamping.
Pick the grade from the service temperature and the corrosion environment, not from what is in stock.
| Grade | Typical service | Machining note |
|---|---|---|
| Inconel 625 | Marine, chemical, exhaust | Tougher, gummier chips, lower speeds |
| Inconel 718 | Turbine, high-stress hot parts | Age-hardenable, best strength at 700 °C |
| Inconel 600 | Furnace and heat-treat fixtures | Softer, but still work-hardens quickly |
| Inconel 800 | Boiler and process tubing | Machines closer to stainless than 718 |
Same shop, same inspection route, whether the order is one prototype or a production run.
16 simultaneous five-axis centers for impellers, brackets and housings with features on multiple faces. One setup carries the datum through the whole part.
12 four-axis mills and 27 three-axis machines handle prismatic work, plates and fixtures where 5-axis reach is not needed. Lower cost per hour.
16 mill-turn centers cut shafts, bushings and valve bodies. Turn and mill in one cycle so concentricity is held between the bore and the outside diameter.
Single-piece Inconel prototypes for fit checks and hot-fire trials. No minimum order quantity, so a one-off is a normal job here.
Bead blasting, tumbling, brushing and polishing. Laser marking with a minimum character height of 1.5 mm for traceability.
100% inspection before shipment. Raw material check, in-process monitoring, final inspection, with dimensional reports on request.
Numbers you can hold us to.
| Item | Specification | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| General tolerance | ±0.005 mm / ±0.0002 in | Grade and feature dependent |
| Fine finish | Ra 0.2–0.8 μm | Adds cycle time on nickel alloys |
| High finish | Ra 0.8–1.6 μm | Standard for sealing faces |
| As-machined | Ra 1.6–3.2 μm | Non-critical surfaces |
| Max part size | 4,000 mm | Long shafts and exhaust sections |
| Rotary table | Ø400 mm | Indexing on 5-axis centers |
Capacity, process control and paperwork.
Fifteen years of cutting high-temperature alloys, stainless and titanium. The speeds and feeds are not new to us.
127 machines across three wholly-owned plants in Dongguan and Singapore. Capacity is not the constraint on your lead time.
±0.005 mm on critical features, verified by in-process monitoring and final inspection before anything ships.
Quote and free DFM analysis within 12 hours. Production can start within 24 hours of approval.
Measured across shipped orders. Reportable on request for your quality file.
Late delivery probability kept below 2% across past orders. Parts typically ship in 3–5 days.
Turbine brackets and hot-side hardware.
Exhaust and thermal-shield components.
Furnace fixtures and high-temp valve bodies.
High-temperature process hardware.
Yes. Both grades run regularly on the five-axis and mill-turn centers. We also machine 600 and 800.
Send the grade with the drawing. Speed and feed differ enough between 625 and 718 that the quote changes if the grade is left open.
±0.005 mm (±0.0002 in) on critical features, with Ra 0.8–1.6 μm as the standard machined finish.
Inconel moves after cutting because of residual stress and heat. We hold the tight tolerance by leaving stock, letting the part stabilize, and finishing in a separate pass.
No. One prototype and a 10,000-part run go through the same process route.
That matters for nickel work, where the first article usually proves the fixture and the tool path before volume starts.
Quote and free DFM analysis come back within 12 hours. Production can start within 24 hours of approval.
Typical parts ship in 3–5 days. Cycle time on thick Inconel sections is longer than aluminum, so we flag that in the quote rather than after the fact.
Roughing leaves stock, the part is allowed to cool and relax, and finishing cuts the remaining material with lighter radial engagement.
On long or thin sections we support the middle and may cut in two stages so unclamping does not pull the part out of tolerance.
Bead blasting, tumbling, brushing and polishing, plus laser marking and engraving with a minimum character height of 1.5 mm.
Electroless nickel and other plating can be arranged where the service environment calls for it. Anodizing does not apply to nickel alloys.
Raw material is checked on receipt, milling is monitored in process, and every part is inspected before shipment.
Mill certificates and dimensional reports are available on request for your quality file.
Yes. Uploads are handled as confidential and an NDA is available on request before you send drawings.
For aerospace and medical programs we can route the job through the ISO 27001:2022 information-security process.
Upload a STEP file and get a quote with free DFM analysis within 12 hours. No minimum order quantity, and every part is inspected before it ships.
12-hour quote100% inspectionNo minimum orderNDA on request
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