Copper Machining Services

Copper is the material you specify when electricity or heat has to move with the least resistance: C110 conducts at roughly 100 percent IACS and its thermal conductivity is among the highest of any commercial metal. For you that means bus bars, heat sinks, electrical contacts and EDM electrodes where a less conductive metal would simply be the wrong part. The trade-off is machinability - pure copper is soft, ductile and gummy, and it is genuinely unpleasant to cut - so your real decision is which copper grade to reach for.

Grades and what they buy you

C110 (electrolytic tough pitch) is the standard 99.9 percent copper and the default for conductivity parts. C101 and C102 are the oxygen-free grades, specified where vacuum or high-frequency performance matters. The grade that matters most to a machinist is C145 tellurium copper: a small tellurium addition turns a gummy metal into a free-machining one at roughly 85 percent machinability, while holding about 90 percent IACS conductivity - it is the grade to specify whenever you can trade a little conductivity for a much cleaner part. C172 beryllium copper is a different animal: high strength and good conductivity, but it work-hardens and the beryllium dust needs controlled handling, so it is quoted and run as a specialty.

How copper cuts

Pure copper is the classic difficult-to-machine metal. It is ductile, so it smears instead of shearing, builds up on the cutting edge, and produces long stringy chips that wrap the tool. The shop counters it with sharp high-rake tools, generous coolant and lighter cuts - and, where the drawing allows, by moving to C145 tellurium copper, which cuts nearly as freely as brass. You do not have to solve this; the point is that the grade choice is the single biggest lever on both the price and the surface finish of a copper part.

Tolerance and annealing on copper

Copper work-hardens and, in the pure grades, moves under its own ductility, so a very tight band costs more than it does on brass or steel. Tellurium copper holds a better band. Any deep forming or heavy cutting may need an intermediate anneal to soften the metal between operations - a real process step you should expect in the quote rather than be surprised by. The shop holds ±0.003 mm milled and ±0.002 mm turned where the grade is stable, verified on the Hexagon CMM.

What drives the cost of copper

Copper is priced as a commodity metal and the pure grades carry a material premium over brass. The bigger cost driver is the machining: the pure grades run slower and wear tooling faster, while tellurium copper closes most of that gap. Finishing - tin, silver or nickel plating for contact surfaces, or a bright finish - adds on top. Specify the grade and the plating, and the quote reflects the real process instead of a guess.

Where copper is used

Bus bars, heat sinks and cold plates, electrical contacts and terminals, EDM electrodes, waveguides and heat-exchanger parts are where copper earns its keep. Because the grade decides the whole job, the cleanest start is a drawing plus a note on the conductivity or finish you actually need - send it to Felipe Iglesias at [email protected] or +86 13126536955 and ask for the grade recommendation with the quote; MOQ is 1 piece.

De-risking a first order

A trial order of a few pieces is the cheapest insurance you can buy — it proves the routing, the tolerance and the paper trail on a small batch before the volume order locks in. One floor, one quality system, one accountable party, whether the run is a single part or a full production lot, so what the trial confirms is what production repeats.

What this shop actually runs

If you ask for capability evidence, you deserve a specific answer. This facility operates 100+ CNC machines across 6,800 m2 in Dongguan, China, staffed by 100+ people. The machines, listed by category:

• 5-axis machining centres (10+) - Mazak VARIAXIS I-600 (510/910/510 mm travel, 12,000 rpm, 22 kW, 71.6 N·m, 30-tool BT40) and Mazak INTEGREX I-250H S (B-axis 0.0001°, 24 kW, 124 N·m, 38-tool HSK-A63). Used on compound-angle parts, single-setup multi-face prismatic work, and aerospace fittings where datum transfer loss is unacceptable.
• 3-axis / 4-axis machining centres (50+) - Brother SPEEDIO S500Z2N / S700Z2N (10,000 rpm, 14/21-tool ATC, 0.7 s tool-to-tool, Z-axis 2.2 G) and Mazak VCE-430A L / VCE-570C L (10,000 rpm, 118 N·m, 24-tool ATC). Used on prismatic parts, plates, brackets, housings.
• Swiss-type turning centres (10+) - Citizen Cincom A20-3F7 (Φ20 mm, 10,000 rpm), TSUGAMI B0206-III / B0205-III (Φ20 mm, 0.1 µm), STAR SR-32JII / SR-32J Type N (Φ32 mm, 8,000 rpm). Used on long, slender rotational parts at ±0.002 mm.
• CNC turning centres (20+) - HEADMAN T70M/1250 (720 mm swing, 117 mm bore, 3,000 rpm, BMT75 12-station turret). Used on shafts, bushings, flanges up to ±0.002 mm.
• Wire EDM (5+) - Sodick AQ535L (550/350/300 mm travel, ±20° taper, 800 kg workpiece). Used on hardened tool steel, internal splines, sharp internal corners that milling cannot reach.
• Inspection: Hexagon CMM + 20+ gauges - Hexagon CMM for coordinate measurement, plus vision system, profilometer, hardness tester, coating thickness gauge, XRF for material verification. The 10:1 rule (gauge 10x more accurate than the band) is applied to every feature.
• Machine highlights - VARIAXIS I-600: one-setup multi-face 5-axis + MAZA-CHECK auto-calibration; INTEGREX I-250H S: DONE-IN-ONE mill-turn, B-axis 0.0001° + Ai thermal shield; SPEEDIO S500Z2N / S700Z2N: Z-axis 2.2 G + 0.7 s ATC; Swiss-type: guide-bush switchable + 0.1 µm resolution.

Tolerance bands: ±0.003 mm milled, ±0.002 mm turned, ±0.002 mm ground or wire-cut. Capability indices: Ppk >= 1.67 at the initial study; Cpk >= 1.33 ongoing in production.

Certifications: ISO 9001:2015 (116024/A/0001/UK/En) · IATF 16949:2016 (131941/A/0001/SM/En, design clause 8.3 excluded) · ISO 14001:2015 (116024/B/0001/UK/En), held by Dongguan Zhuohang Ltd (USCC 91441900MA4UWT6X39, since 2005).

Service area: we supply Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom in Europe; Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States in the Americas; China, Israel, Japan, Singapore and Sri Lanka in Asia; Australia and New Zealand in Oceania; and South Africa in Africa, with worldwide delivery from China.

Contact: Felipe Iglesias, [email protected], +86 13126536955.

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