Materials

Aluminum is an exceptional material for aerospace machining, prized for its unique balance of light weight, strength, and durability. Its low density makes it significantly lighter than steel, improving fuel efficiency and overall aircraft performance.

Beyond its light weight, aluminum provides excellent corrosion resistance — a vital property for withstanding the extreme environmental conditions faced in aerospace applications. Its outstanding strength-to-weight ratio maintains structural integrity while minimizing mass, enhancing both efficiency and maneuverability.

Aluminum also offers superb machinability, allowing for the precise production of complex and high-tolerance aerospace components that meet rigorous industry standards. Raw aluminum stock is available in a variety of forms — including tubing, plate, flat bar, round bar, and custom extrusions. These extruded profiles are commonly used in floor beams, panels, specialty brackets, and many other aircraft structures.

Because of its lightweight, durable, and versatile nature, aluminum remains an indispensable material for modern aerospace manufacturing. At Custom Aerospace, we have extensive experience in machining and fabricating high-performance aluminum components.

👉 Learn more on our Services Page to see how our advanced manufacturing capabilities can support your next aerospace project.

Steel is a preferred material across industries for its excellent machinability, homogeneity, and strength. It offers a balance of weldability, ductility, and toughness, making it ideal for both structural and precision components.

Popular grades like 1018 and 4130 steel offer unique advantages — 1018 for its high weldability and machinability, and 4130 for its exceptional strength and stress resistance. Steel is primarily a mix of iron, carbon, and alloying elements, which together produce a material far stronger than its individual components.

Historically, Andrew Carnegie revolutionized steel production by adopting Sir Henry Bessemer’s process, enabling mass production of strong, affordable steel. This innovation powered America’s Industrial Revolution — fueling growth in transportation, construction, and manufacturing. Today, steel is everywhere — in cars, buildings, appliances, and countless engineered products.

Steel is available in a wide range of forms — including plate, flat bar, round bar, tubing, sheet, angle, and custom profiles — and in both hot-rolled and cold-rolled finishes. Hot-rolled steel retains a mill scale surface, while cold-rolled steel has a smooth, clean finish that often requires no additional processing.

While steel can present machining challenges due to its hardness and heat sensitivity, CNC machining offers excellent precision and compatibility with advanced surface treatments such as carburizing, plating, and electroplating.

At Custom Aerospace, we have extensive experience in machining, welding, and fabricating a wide variety of steel alloys to meet the highest aerospace and industrial standards.
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Stainless steel is a preferred material in precision and industrial machining thanks to its exceptional strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and versatility. It allows for the machining of thinner parts while maintaining strength, which can be further enhanced through cold working and heat treatment.

Among its various metallurgical types, martensitic stainless steels deliver superior strength, while austenitic grades are valued for their excellent formability, weldability, and machinability.

Stainless steel is available in many forms — tubing, plate, bar, and custom extrusions — providing flexibility for a wide range of manufacturing needs. Its resistance to corrosion in harsh environments, from atmospheric exposure to acids and alkaline solutions, makes it ideal for applications requiring durability and minimal maintenance.

While not used extensively in primary aircraft structures, stainless steel remains common in brackets, bushings, pins, and other small aerospace components where strength and corrosion resistance are essential.

At Custom Aerospace, we have extensive experience in stainless steel machining and fabrication, working with both raw and heat-treated alloys to meet stringent aerospace standards.

👉 Learn more on our Services Page to see how our precision machining capabilities can support your next stainless steel project.

Bronze and brass alloys are highly valued in aerospace machining for their strength, corrosion resistance, and durability under extreme conditions. Available in a wide range of bars, tubes, flats, and plate, these alloys enable efficient production of precision components.

Both materials offer excellent thermal conductivity, essential for dissipating heat in high-temperature aerospace environments, and feature superior machinability and malleability, allowing for the creation of complex, high-tolerance parts. Their wear resistance further enhances performance and reduces maintenance in demanding systems.

At Custom Aerospace, we have extensive experience machining specialty bushings, pins, and related components from brass and bronze alloys.

👉 Learn more on our Services Page to explore our machining capabilities with these high-performance materials.

Titanium is a highly sought-after material across aerospace and engineering industries for its exceptional combination of strength, durability, and light weight. It can be anodized and heat treated, enhancing its performance and appearance for specialized applications.

However, titanium is also known for being difficult to machine and weld — requiring expertise, precise tooling, and refined processes to achieve optimal results. At Custom Aerospace, we have extensive experience machining and welding titanium components to exacting aerospace standards.

Titanium’s outstanding strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, ductility, and recyclability make it ideal for critical aircraft components. It retains its mechanical integrity even under extreme temperatures, ensuring reliability in demanding flight conditions.

👉 Learn more on our Services Page to explore how our titanium machining and fabrication capabilities can support your next aerospace project.

Inconel is a superior material for aerospace machining and components, offering a remarkable combination of properties designed to withstand the most demanding aerospace environments. Renowned for its exceptional strength at high temperatures, corrosion resistance, and oxidation resistance, Inconel delivers durability and reliability for critical parts even under extreme conditions. Its resistance to thermal expansion and creep deformation makes it ideal for applications such as turbine blades, exhaust systems, and other components exposed to high heat and prolonged stress.

Despite its toughness, it can be precisely machined to meet strict aerospace performance and safety standards. Its unique combination of mechanical strength, thermal stability, and machinability makes it indispensable in advanced aerospace manufacturing. However, machining and welding Inconel require specialized skill, tooling, and expertise to achieve optimal results.

At Custom Aerospace, we have the experience and capability to successfully machine and weld Inconel components. Our team leverages advanced machining techniques and AS9100-certified processes to ensure precision and reliability. Visit our Services Page to learn more about our manufacturing capabilities with this advanced material.

Magnesium is an exceptional material for aerospace machining, valued for its unique combination of strength, lightness, and thermal performance. With its extremely low density, magnesium offers substantial weight savings — a critical advantage for improving fuel efficiency and overall aircraft performance. Despite being lightweight, it maintains an excellent strength-to-weight ratio, ensuring structural integrity in demanding aerospace applications.

Magnesium also boasts outstanding machinability, allowing for the production of complex, precision components. However, its reactivity requires careful handling — under certain conditions, magnesium can ignite, and once burning, it reaches temperatures capable of melting nearby materials. At Custom Aerospace, we have the specialized experience, equipment, and safety protocols necessary to machine magnesium safely and effectively.

In addition, magnesium’s superior thermal conductivity and heat dissipation properties make it ideal for engine components and other high-temperature aerospace applications. To ensure long-term reliability, proper surface treatments and coatings are applied to mitigate corrosion.

Overall, magnesium’s lightweight nature, high strength, and excellent thermal performance make it an attractive choice for aerospace machining. Custom Aerospace combines technical expertise with stringent safety standards to deliver precise, reliable magnesium components. Visit our Services Page to learn more about our advanced machining capabilities with this material.