Materials & Heat Treatment
Material selection and heat-treatment guidance for machined and fabricated parts: aluminum and stainless grades, mechanical properties, and how processing changes real-world performance.
Magnesium vs Aluminum: Choosing the Lightest Metal for Your Part
Magnesium vs aluminium compared - density, strength-to-weight, stiffness, corrosion, machinability and cost - and how to choose the right light metal for your part.
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Galvanic Corrosion: Why Dissimilar Metals Fail (and How to Stop It)
How galvanic corrosion destroys assemblies of dissimilar metals - the galvanic series, the cathode-to-anode area trap, and the design rules to prevent it: matching, isolation, area ratio and coatings.
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Machining Brass & Copper: Alloys, Speeds and When to Use Them
Brass vs copper for machined parts - why brass is the free-machining benchmark and copper is gummy, the common alloys (C360, C101, beryllium copper, bronze), and how to choose between them.
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Aluminum 6061 vs 7075: Choosing the Right Alloy for Machined Parts
Aluminium 6061 vs 7075 compared on strength, corrosion resistance, weldability, anodizing and cost - and how to choose the right alloy and temper for your machined parts.
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Heat Treatment of Steel: Annealing, Normalizing, Hardening and Tempering
How heat treatment changes steel - annealing, normalizing, hardening and tempering, surface vs through hardening, and how to design parts that survive the quench and finish to size.
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Machining Titanium: Grades, Challenges & Best Practices
A practical guide to machining titanium - Grade 2 vs Ti-6Al-4V (Grade 5), why titanium is difficult to cut, and the speeds, tooling and coolant strategies that make it work.
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Engineering Plastics for CNC Machining: PEEK, Delrin, Nylon & PTFE
A guide to machining engineering plastics - acetal/Delrin, nylon, PTFE, PEEK, polycarbonate and Ultem - covering properties, machinability, tolerances and where each material fits.
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Aluminum Alloys for Machining: 6061 vs 7075 vs 2024
Compare 6061, 7075, 2024, and 5052 aluminum alloys on strength, machinability, corrosion, anodizing, and cost, with guidance on choosing the right grade.
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Stainless Steel Grades Compared: 303, 304, 316, 17-4 PH
Compare 303, 304, 316, and 17-4 PH stainless steels across machinability, corrosion resistance, strength, weldability, and uses, plus selection guidance.
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Heat Treatment of Metals: Annealing, Hardening & Tempering
A practical guide to annealing, normalizing, hardening, tempering, case hardening, and aging - what each does and when to use it.
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Aluminum vs. Stainless Steel vs. Titanium: Choosing Metals
Compare aluminum, stainless steel, and titanium across strength, machinability, corrosion, weight, and cost to pick the right metal for CNC parts.
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