Materials
The material decides the process, not the other way round
A drawing that calls for duplex is a different job from the same drawing in EN8, and pricing it as though it were not is how a supplier ends up delivering late. What follows is what each material actually demands on the machine.
Carbon and alloy steels
Shafts, spindles, gear blanks, fasteners, brackets and general machined work.
- Grades worked
- EN8, EN8D, EN19, EN24, case hardening grades, free cutting steels
- What it demands
- Most of it is routine until the part needs hardening. Then the order of operations decides everything: machine, harden the journal, then finish, because a hardened surface will not forgive a later cut. Induction hardening happens here and the hardness is checked here.
Stainless steels
Valve stems and trim, food and pharmaceutical fittings, marine parts, anything that has to stay clean or stay put in a wet environment.
- Grades worked
- 304, 316, 316L, 410, 431, 17-4 PH
- What it demands
- Stainless work hardens if you dwell in the cut, so it punishes a light finishing pass and a worn insert. It also holds heat, which is why a sealing face can look right and measure wrong once it cools. Finishes on sealing faces are measured rather than judged.
Duplex and super duplex
Valve bodies, stems and seats for chloride-bearing or sour service, offshore and process equipment, seawater handling.
- Grades worked
- 2205, 2507 and equivalents
- What it demands
- Roughly twice the strength of 316 and far less forgiving. Cutting forces are high, tool life is short, and the material will not tolerate the feeds that suit ordinary stainless. Rigid setups and fewer, heavier cuts, with the geometry proved on the CMM rather than assumed.
Nickel alloys and titanium
Specialty fasteners, valve trim for high temperature or aggressive service, instrument components where corrosion resistance decides service life.
- Grades worked
- Inconel, Monel, titanium alloys
- What it demands
- The expensive end, in material and in time. Inconel work hardens ahead of the tool and holds heat in the cut rather than in the chip, so speeds come down and rigidity matters more than anything. Titanium adds a fire risk with fine chips. These run in small quantities, slowly, with the setup planned before the bar is cut, because scrapping the material costs more than the machining.
Brass, bronze and gunmetal
Couplers, fittings, bushes, wear rings, worm wheels, valve trim.
- Grades worked
- Free cutting and naval brass, leaded and phosphor bronze, gunmetal, aluminium bronze
- What it demands
- Cuts fast and free, then marks if you look at it wrongly. The real risk is a burr left in a cross hole that a pressure test finds later, so bores are deburred and cleaned rather than declared clean.
Cast iron and castings
Housings, brackets, hubs, pump bodies, machine bases.
- Grades worked
- Grey iron, ductile iron, shell moulded and sand castings
- What it demands
- Castings arrive carrying stock that moves the moment it is cut. The first operation establishes a datum the rest of the part is built from, rather than chasing as-cast surfaces and hoping the hole pattern lands. A horizontal spindle helps, because the chips fall clear instead of packing against the tool.
Aluminium alloys
Instrument housings, optical and sensor mounts, light brackets, tooling and core boxes.
- Grades worked
- 6061, 6082, 7075, medical grade alloys
- What it demands
- Fast to cut and easy to mark. On instrument work the finish and the cleanliness of a bore matter more than the tolerance on the outside, and handling between operations does more damage than the cutting does.
Traceability
Where the material came from, in writing
On specialty alloys and on anything going into medical or process service, the certificate matters as much as the part.
- Mill and foundry certificates
- Supplied with the batch on request, tied to the heat or cast number.
- Material sourcing
- Bar, castings and forgings pulled in through a qualified vendor base of over 700 suppliers, so the grade is bought to the drawing rather than substituted.
- Positive identification
- Where a job calls for it, say so at enquiry stage and it is planned in rather than added afterwards.
- Batch records
- Retained, which is what a medical or instrument customer usually asks for two years later.
If your drawing calls for a grade that is not listed, ask anyway. Most of what matters is whether the form and the quantity suit the machines, not whether we have cut that exact grade before.
Worth being straight about
Where the certificates stop
Anicon holds ISO 9001:2015, and work requiring IATF 16949 is supplied through Versatile Equipments Pvt Ltd, which carries it. That covers industrial, fluid power, automotive and powertrain work.
It does not cover aerospace. Flight hardware needs AS9100, which is a different standard that neither company holds today, and IATF does not substitute for it. Ground support equipment, tooling and fixtures are a different matter, and specialty alloy work for oil, gas and process service needs no aerospace approval at all. If you are working to AS9100 yourself and want a sub-tier supplier for non-flight items, that is a conversation worth having.
Send the drawing
A straight answer inside a working day
A 2D or 3D file, the quantity and the date you need it. You will get a considered reply within one working day, including the reply that we are not the right shop for the part, which is worth knowing early. A mutual NDA goes out first if you would rather.