by Accurate Machine & Tool Team | Sep 15, 2026 | Aerospace Compliance & Quality, Aerospace Machining, Blog, CNC Machining
Open ten aerospace drawings and you’ll find ±0.001” on features that have no business needing it. That’s not because engineers are being careless — it’s because tight tolerance has become the safe default in a risk-averse industry. The problem is that “safe” and...
by James Wright | Sep 4, 2026 | Aerospace Compliance & Quality, Aerospace Machining, CNC Machining, Manufacturing & Cost Estimating
Most CNC quotes arrive as a single number per part — unit price times quantity, done. That works fine for simple commercial jobs. Aerospace quotes are different. They may break the cost into line items because different parts of the cost behave differently: some are...
by Accurate Machine & Tool Team | Sep 1, 2026 | Aerospace Compliance & Quality, Aerospace Machining
A First Article Inspection isn’t a quality-control formality — it’s the documented proof that a part, a process, and a drawing all agree with each other before production begins. Quick summary: AS9102 defines the aerospace industry’s First Article Inspection Report...
by James Wright | Aug 28, 2026 | Aerospace Compliance & Quality, Aerospace Machining, Defense Manufacturing
First article inspection is the reason your first aerospace production run costs more than every run after it. FAI per AS9102 is a complete dimensional verification of every single feature on the drawing — not a sampling plan, not a spot-check. Every dimension, every...
by James Wright | Aug 21, 2026 | Aerospace Machining, CNC Machining, Manufacturing Technology
The right cutting process for an aerospace part depends on three things: the alloy, the thickness, and whether the cut surface is functional or just separating material. EDM belongs in the same conversation because it handles materials and geometries that neither...
by James Wright | Aug 14, 2026 | Aerospace Compliance & Quality, Aerospace Machining, CNC Machining, Manufacturing Technology
If the drawing says “anodize per MIL-A-8625,” that’s not one process. It’s a family of processes, and picking the wrong type can mean a part that looks right but fails in service — or a part that meets the corrosion spec but no longer fits in the assembly because the...
