Guides / Manufacturing
Material and process guides
from our shop floor.
The same questions come up on nearly every RFQ: which alloy, which process, which finish. These guides are our answers — written by engineers, based on what we actually see work in production.
/ Materials
7 min
6061 vs 7075 Aluminum — Which Grade for Which Part
The cost/strength/anodize tradeoff, and when 6061 is actually wrong.
→ Read guide
/ Materials
8 min
PEEK vs Ultem — When Each One Wins
Medical sterilization, transparency, high-temp, and chemical resistance compared.
→ Read guide
/ Process
9 min
CNC vs Vacuum Casting for 50–500 Pieces
The break-even math on tooling, lead time, and per-unit cost — with real numbers.
→ Read guide
/ Materials
8 min
Titanium vs 316L Stainless for Medical Devices
Cost, weight, biocompatibility, and when you genuinely need titanium.
→ Read guide
/ Process
12 min
DFM Checklist — 24 Points We Review Before Quoting
The internal pre-quote checklist our engineers run on every drawing. Walls, radii, threads, tolerances, finish, files.
→ Read guide
Start a project
Got a project that doesn't fit a guide?
Email our engineers with your question — we've seen most of them before, and the ones we haven't, we'll research.