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...
by James Wright | Aug 10, 2026 | Additive Manufacturing, CNC Machining
Every machine referenced in hybrid manufacturing research papers is commercially available. Shops are running them right now. The price range runs from under $200K for a retrofit kit on a Haas mill to north of $3 million for a DMG MORI system big enough to build...
by James Wright | Aug 7, 2026 | Aerospace Compliance & Quality, Aerospace Machining, Blog, CNC Machining, Defense Manufacturing, Manufacturing & Cost Estimating
The single biggest sticker shock in aerospace machining isn’t the material or the machine time. It’s everything around them — the compliance documentation, the first-article inspection, the material certification, the ITAR overhead, the NRE for fixturing a part...
