Machining this material is a thermal problem before it is a tolerance problem. We cut C101 and C110 with sharp tooling, climb milling and flood coolant to hold ±0.005 mm and surfaces down to Ra 0.8 μm. Free DFM in 12 hours.
Most copper failures are process failures, not material failures. These are the ones that show up on the bench.
Copper is soft and gummy. A dull cutter or a slow surface speed lets material weld to the cutting edge, so the surface comes off smeared instead of sheared. What should read Ra 0.8 μm arrives at Ra 3.2 μm with visible drag marks.
Thermal conductivity around 390 W/m·K pulls heat straight into the workpiece. Thin walls and small bores grow during roughing and shrink back after cooling. Parts that measured in tolerance on the machine fail on the CMM two hours later.
Copper burrs roll instead of breaking clean. A 0.1 mm lip on a sealing face or a waveguide flange will not seat. Hand deburring scratches the adjacent finish, and rework on a finished part risks the whole lot.
At 60 HV to 100 HV, copper dents under normal vise pressure. Clamp marks on a visible face mean scrap or a secondary polishing step that changes the dimension you just held. Two setups are where most of the cost hides.
Three decisions drive every red copper job we quote: tooling geometry, heat path, and how the part is held.
Copper rewards an aggressive approach. We run uncoated carbide and PCD inserts with high positive rake and polished flutes, then push surface speed higher than most shops dare. Chips leave the zone before they can weld.
Roughing removes the bulk with air blast and high-pressure flood coolant. Finishing takes light radial cuts at Ra 0.8–1.6 μm, and we reach Ra 0.2–0.8 μm with a diamond finish pass when the drawing calls for it. No coolant starvation, no recutting.
A copper part at 45 °C is not the part you ship. We rough, then pause, then finish, so the workpiece returns to room temperature before the last pass. Fixtures and gauges sit in the same shop, at the same temperature.
For thin walls and long parts we leave stock on both sides and take the final cut after stress has moved. Features that need it get measured on a CMM with a temperature-compensated probe. You get numbers, not a feeling.
Conductivity and machinability pull in opposite directions. Pick by function, not by habit.
| Grade | Typical use | Machinability |
|---|---|---|
| C101 / C110 | Busbars, electrodes, RF shields | Gummy; needs sharp tooling |
| C103 | Welding tips, high-current contacts | Similar to C110, slightly tougher |
| Beryllium copper | Spring contacts, wear parts | Machines well; harden after cutting |
| C27400 / C28000 | Valve bodies, fittings, hardware | Free-cutting brass family |
| C36000 | High-volume turned fittings | Best machinability of the group |
One shop, one quality system, from a single prototype to a 10,000-part run.
Three-axis, four-axis and five-axis milling for pockets, flanges, waveguides and housings. Up to 4,000 mm on the large machines.
Mill-turn centers and Ø400 mm rotary table work for bushings, pins, contacts and threaded fittings with concentric callouts.
16 simultaneous five-axis centers cut angled ports and contoured faces in one setup, which matters when the part dents easily.
One to fifty pieces in 3–5 days. Useful for RF tuning, fit checks and thermal mock-ups before tooling is committed.
Nickel, silver and gold plating, bead blasting, brushing and laser marking. Each finish changes the dimension, so we plan for it.
Raw material check, in-process monitoring and 100% inspection before shipment. Dimensional reports on request.
Numbers you can put in a sourcing review.
| Item | Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tolerance | ±0.005 mm (±0.0002 in) | Feature-dependent; confirm on the drawing |
| Surface finish | Ra 0.2–3.2 μm | As-machined, fine and high grades |
| Max part size | 4,000 mm | Larger travel on selected machines |
| Order quantity | 1 to 10,000+ | No minimum order quantity |
| Lead time | 3–5 days | Production start within 24 hours |
| Quote turnaround | 12 hours | Includes free DFM analysis |
Six things engineers ask about before they send a PO.
Held across milling and turning. Tight features are verified on a CMM, not estimated from a hand tool.
Fifteen years of production work in Dongguan, with a second plant in Singapore serving regional customers.
Sixteen simultaneous five-axis centers, twelve four-axis mills, twenty-seven three-axis machines and sixteen mill-turn centers.
ISO 9001:2015, IATF 16949:2016, ISO 13485:2016 and ISO 27001:2022. Uploads stay confidential, NDA on request.
Raw material check, in-process monitoring and final inspection on every order. Reports when you need them.
Production can start within 24 hours of drawing release. Historical late-delivery probability is below 2%.
Busbars and current-carrying contacts need low resistance at the joint and flat mating faces. We hold flatness and deburr edges that would otherwise create hot spots.
Wear bushings and sliding contacts live or die on clearance. Turned bores are held concentric and measured cold, so the fit is right at operating temperature.
Compact copper conductors and heat-spreader plates for actuator and motor assemblies. Thin sections machined without clamp marks or distortion.
RF shields, waveguide sections and thermal pads where the finish affects performance. Diamond finishing is available when attenuation matters.
Start from the function. If the part carries current or heat, C101 or C110 give the highest conductivity but machine gummily. If it needs strength or spring, look at beryllium copper. If it is a fitting or a valve body, the C27400 and C28000 brass family machines far more freely.
Send the drawing and we will tell you where the grade creates a machining risk, usually on a thin wall or a deep bore.
Yes, on features that suit the process. The limit is set by geometry, not by the material. Long unsupported walls, deep small bores and thin webs move under cutting force no matter how good the machine is.
We review each tight callout during DFM and flag the ones that need a different strategy, a fixture change or a relaxation.
By not fighting the heat. We rough with plenty of stock, let the part equalize, then finish cold. Cutting pressure stays low on the final pass.
When the part is thin, we machine both sides in sequence and leave a sacrificial rib that comes off last. The dimension is checked after the part reaches room temperature.
Standard as-machined work lands at Ra 1.6–3.2 μm. A normal finishing pass gets Ra 0.8–1.6 μm, and a diamond pass reaches Ra 0.2–0.8 μm.
Tell us the finish callout on the drawing. Polishing a copper face by hand changes its dimension, so we prefer to cut it to size.
Every part. Copper burrs roll rather than break, so we use controlled edge breaks, tumbling or hand work depending on where the edge sits.
If a face is going to be plated or used as a seal, we deburr before finishing and inspect the edge under magnification.
Electroless nickel, silver and gold plating all bond well and are common on contacts and RF parts. Bead blasting and brushing give a matte look. Laser marking works down to a 1.5 mm character height.
Anodizing is for aluminum, not copper. If a drawing specifies it on a copper part, that is worth a conversation.
None. One prototype and a 10,000-part run go through the same process, the same inspection and the same documentation.
That matters on copper, where a first article often reveals a distortion problem that is cheaper to fix before tooling.
Quotation and DFM feedback come back within 12 hours. Production can start within 24 hours of release, and parts typically ship in 3–5 days.
Historical late-delivery probability is below 2%. We will tell you at quote stage if a feature needs more time.
Upload your CAD and we will come back with a quote, a DFM review and the machining risks we see in the geometry.
12-hour quote100% inspectionNo minimum order quantity
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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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