Capabilities
What we can actually do.
Not a list of every process in the industry — a description of the machines on our floor and the kind of work they're genuinely good at.
The machines
Two Okuma Multus U3000 mill-turn centers.
A Multus is not a lathe with a driven tool bolted on. It's a full machining center and a full turning center sharing one work envelope, with a tilting milling head and a second spindle.
That means a part can be turned, milled off centerline, drilled at compound angles, tapped, transferred to the sub-spindle and finished on the back side — as one continuous program, with the datum established once.
Both machines run the Okuma OSP-P500 control with collision avoidance active, and both report live status to our own monitoring system.
Around them sit a Quaser MF500U simultaneous 5-axis machine, a Doosan Lynx 2100LSYB turning centre and a Haas VF-2 — so simple work doesn't have to carry a mill-turn's hourly rate, and complex work never gets forced onto the wrong machine.
Services
Five ways a part gets made here.
Most jobs touch more than one. We route yours to whichever machine holds it best.
Mill-turn machining
Ø25.59″ × 43.31″ — turned and milled complete in one setup, with sub-spindle transfer for the back side. Our flagship process.
5-axis machining
Quaser MF500U trunnion + Multus B-axis — true simultaneous 5-axis on prismatic parts, or 5-axis with turning in the same envelope.
CNC turning
Ø11.8″ × 20.1″ · bar to 3.125″ — production turning with sub-spindle, live tooling and Y axis. Off-centerline features in the same cycle.
CNC milling
3-axis + 4th axis — plates, brackets, fixtures and prismatic work, at a rate that doesn't carry mill-turn overhead.
Gears & splines
Skiving · broaching · gear milling — internal splines, splined shafts and pulley bores cut on the Multus, in the same setup as everything else.
Equipment
On the floor.
| Machine type | Multi-tasking mill-turn machining center, main + opposing spindle |
|---|---|
| Max turning diameter | Ø650 mm (25.59″) — swing over bed |
| Max machining length | 1,100 mm (43.31″) Z travel · 1,619 mm (63.74″) between spindle noses |
| X / Y travel | 645 mm (25.39″) X · 250 mm (±4.92″) Y |
| B axis | −30° to +210°, 0.001° index — tilting milling head |
| C axis | 360° continuous, 0.0001° minimum increment |
| Spindles | Main and opposing, 50–5,000 rpm, Ø120 mm bore, transfer under program control |
| Bar capacity | 3.125″ |
| Milling spindle | 12,000 rpm, 120 N·m, live tooling |
| Max workpiece weight | 160 kg (352 lb) one-side support · 500 kg (1,100 lb) between centers |
| Tooling | HSK-A63 / Capto C6, 80-tool magazine, max tool length 400 mm (15.75″) |
| Probing | Renishaw Inspection Plus on-spindle probe, indexable through the B axis |
| Collision avoidance | Okuma CAS running continuously, with the machine and workholding modelled |
| Monitoring | Live machine data captured from both machines for scheduling and process review |
| Machine type | Trunnion-type 5-axis vertical machining centre |
|---|---|
| Travels | X 550 mm (21.65″) · Y 630 mm (24.8″) · Z 610 mm (24.0″) |
| A axis | +30° to −120° tilting trunnion |
| C axis | 360° continuous rotary |
| Table | Ø410 mm (16.14″) · max swing Ø500 mm (19.7″) · 200 kg (441 lb) |
| Spindle | BBT40 taper |
| Tooling | 49-tool magazine |
| Haas VF-2 + 4th axis | Vertical machining centre, 40-taper, 7,500 rpm. Travels X 762 mm (30″) · Y 406 mm (16″) · Z 508 mm (20″), with rotary 4th axis. Plates, brackets, fixtures and prismatic milling. Holds ±0.001″. |
|---|---|
| Doosan Lynx 2100LSYB | CNC turning centre — sub-spindle, live tooling, Y axis. Ø300 mm (11.8″) × 510 mm (20.1″) · Ø66 mm (2.6″) through-hole · 8″ main and 5″ sub chuck · main 4,500 rpm / 20 hp, sub 6,000 rpm · X 205 mm · Y ±52.5 mm · Z 560 mm · 12-station BMT-45 turret, live tools to 6,000 rpm. |
| Zeiss CMM | Coordinate measuring machine for first-article and final dimensional inspection against your model and print. |
| On-machine probing | Renishaw Inspection Plus on the spindle of both Multus machines, indexable through the B axis. |
Tolerances: we hold to ±0.0001″ where the print calls for it. What's achievable on any given feature depends on geometry, material and how the part can be held — send the model and print and we'll tell you plainly what we can hold and how we'd prove it.
Processes
What happens in one cycle.
On a mill-turn, these aren't separate operations handed between departments. They're passes in the same program on the same clamping.
Turning
OD and ID turning, facing, boring, grooving, threading, parting. Main and sub-spindle.
Milling
Pocketing, profiling, contouring and 3D surfacing with the B-axis head — including compound angles that would otherwise need a dedicated fixture.
Drilling & tapping
On centerline, off centerline via the C axis, and at angle through B. Cross holes, flats and slots without a second setup.
Second-side work
Sub-spindle pickup finishes the back of the part in the same cycle — no manual flip, no second fixture, no stack-up.
Gears & splines
Gear skiving, gear broaching and gear milling — including internal splines in bores and pulleys — cut on the same clamping as the journals they run true to. More on gear work.
Materials
What we cut.
We machine most metals, alloys and plastics, up to and including high-temperature superalloys. The families below come through the shop regularly — if yours isn't here, ask rather than assuming.
- Aluminum alloys (6061, 7075 and similar)
- Stainless steels (303, 304, 316, 17-4)
- Carbon and alloy steels
- Titanium
- Brass, bronze and copper
- Waspaloy and nickel superalloys
- Single-crystal superalloys
- Engineering plastics (PEEK, Delrin, UHMW)
Superalloys and single-crystal. Waspaloy and single-crystal material behave nothing like the alloys most shops quote. They work-harden, they punish the wrong feed, and they eat tools that were fine on stainless. If your part is in one of these, say so early — it changes tooling, speeds and how we sequence the job, and it's exactly the kind of work our process control exists for.
Fit
Where we're the right shop — and where we're not.
Knowing this up front saves everyone a quoting cycle.
Send us
- Parts that currently take multiple setups. This is the single biggest thing we fix.
- Round parts with real milling on them — or prismatic parts with real turning on them.
- Thin walls, long spans, deep pockets where distortion is the actual problem.
- Tight relationships between features that have to hold to each other, not just to a datum.
- Low volume and high mix — one-offs through a few thousand.
- Parts that need inspection evidence, not just a packing slip.
Probably not us
- Very high volume commodity turning. A dedicated screw machine shop will beat our price and should.
- Large fabrications and weldments. Not our envelope.
- Sheet metal, castings, injection molding. Different business.
- Parts where price is the only criterion. We're not the cheapest and we won't pretend to be.
If the honest answer is that we're the wrong shop, we'll say so — usually faster than it takes to get a quote back from somewhere else.
Technical FAQ
The questions we get asked first.
If yours isn't here, ask us — you'll get a straight answer.
What's your lead time?
Quoted per job against the deadline you actually have. Two-day turnaround is available for hot projects — tell us it's urgent when you send it and we'll tell you honestly whether we can hit it.
What's your minimum order?
One part. We take one-offs, prototypes and single replacement parts, as well as recurring production releases.
What tolerances can you hold?
It depends on the machine. Down to ±0.0001″ on the Multus mill-turns, where on-machine probing lets us measure and correct while the part is still clamped. The Haas VF-2 holds ±0.001″; anything tighter moves to the Multus. Tell us which dimensions are functional and we'll tell you what we can hold and how we'd prove it.
What files do you accept?
STEP, IGES, Parasolid, and native Fusion 360 or SOLIDWORKS. Send a solid model and a functionally detailed print. We can also work from blueprints alone or from a sample part if no model exists.
How big a part can you machine?
Up to Ø25.59″ diameter × 43.31″ long on the Multus mill-turns, with bar work to 3.125″. Simultaneous 5-axis to Ø19.7″ swing on the Quaser, and prismatic parts to 30″ × 16″ × 20″ on the Haas VF-2. Not sure if yours fits? Send the model.
What materials do you machine?
Most metals, alloys and plastics — aluminum, stainless, carbon and alloy steels, titanium, brass and copper, and engineering plastics. We also machine high-temperature superalloys including Waspaloy and single-crystal. If yours isn't listed, ask.
Do you cut gears and splines?
Yes — gear skiving, gear broaching and gear milling on the Multus, including internal splines in bores and pulleys, and gears on shafts. Because it's done in the same clamping as the journals and faces, the gear is concentric with them by construction. More on gear work.
Do you ship outside the Bay Area?
Yes — we ship nationwide from Livermore, California. Local customers in the Tri-Valley and greater Bay Area are welcome to collect, or to come and see the shop.
What quality standards do you work to?
Our quality system is built to AS9100 and ISO 9001 guidelines. More on how we inspect.
See if your part fits.
Send the model and print. We'll tell you what we'd do with it.