CNC Machining Service

Quick to machine
If you ask any CNC machining manufacturer then they would point out how easy it is to machine. Aluminium is very dimensionally stable so you can cut a lot of it away and still keep residual stress in check. Using carbide tooling and modern coolants you will get a great finish and it can be bead blasted for a matt finish or anodized for a consistent aesthetic finish and additional corrosion resistance.
And best of all this machineability will help keep the cost of your CNC machined parts down.

Great strength to weight ratio
Aluminium is lighter than most metals, so if you are looking to save weight it's a great option. While pure aluminium has a tensile strength of less than 100Mpa, it can be hardened as follows:
Alloying, mixing with other elements improves the grain structure.
Heat treatment, heating and then cooling at a specific rate to create ideally sized crystals.
Work hardening, deliberately deforming the metal to change its grain structure. This is normally done whilst heat treating (rolling for example) but it can be done afterwards (forging).
A “temper” designation shows the exact condition, or strength, of the resulting material, H for “hardened” and T for “thermal”.
It's worth noting that most aluminium alloys have a higher strength to weight ratio, or specific strength, than stainless steel 316L.

Wide choice of alloys and material properties
In fact, because aluminium is such a great base material to work with, there are a lot of alloys available, each of which have different properties and uses to meet your needs.
These are grouped into nine different series with each series numbered by a thousand, so for example 6000 series. This is then further subdivided by a number. Generally, the closer the number of the aluminium grade to another the more similar they are, so 5082 and 5083 are nearly identical.

High corrosion resistance
While corrosion resistance will vary between grades, aluminium is an excellent choice if you need this from your material. The metal and its alloys have an ideal affinity for oxygen – metals that are too reactive like magnesium will oxidise easily, while less reactive metals form a loose oxide layer such as rust on iron and steel.
In contrast when aluminium is exposed it forms a passivating layer of aluminium oxide that seals the surface preventing further oxidisation and erosion. This layer is “self-repairing” even if scratched, so the material may not need painting or surface treatments, giving you a cost saving on manufacturing and life-time service costs.

High conductivity
While copper is often the go to material for conductivity, electrical components often use aluminium since it is much cheaper and lighter. In fact, it is often used for busbars, battery cables and connectors, particularly in automotive and EV applications.
It's good thermal conductivity also means that it commonly used for heat sinks and heat dissipation.

Recyclable
With sustainability high on most people's agendas, it is great to hear that an estimated 75% of all aluminium produced is still in use. Recycling aluminium uses much less energy than producing it and as long as we can keep impurities in check, it can be used time and time again.
We've already touched upon how machining this material can give you a great finish and how aluminium is naturally corrosion resistant, but for added aesthetics you can even have it in a number of different colours by anodising it. This is a surface finishing procedure that not only increases the wear and corrosion resistance of a material, but it makes it easy to add colour.