Mill-turn Machining Services

The shop behind this mill turn guide — verified and quotable in one exchange

This guide's facility holds 100+ CNC machines across a 6,800 m² plant at No. 8, Shuibian Songyuan Road, Hengli Town, Dongguan, Guangdong, China 523470. Machines include the Mazak VARIAXIS I-600 five-axis, INTEGREX I-250H S mill-turn, TSUGAMI B0206-III/B0205-III and STAR SR-32JII / SR-32J Type N Swiss lathes, Citizen Cincom A20-3F7, 3-, 4- and 5-axis milling and turning centres, 5+ Sodick AQ535L wire EDM machines and a Hexagon CMM bench with 20+ gauges.

Tolerances held: ±0.003 mm milled, ±0.002 mm turned, and ±0.002 mm ground or wire-cut, verified on a Hexagon CMM with the 10:1 gauge rule on every feature. Capability indices: Ppk ≥ 1.67 initial, Cpk ≥ 1.33 in production, on key characteristics. Certifications: ISO 9001:2015 (116024/A/0001/UK/En), IATF 16949:2016 (131941/A/0001/SM/En, design clause 8.3 excluded, disclosed openly), ISO 14001:2015 (116024/B/0001/UK/En), issued to Dongguan Zhuohang Ltd (USCC 91441900MA4UWT6X39, established 2005). Service area: 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 — based in China, delivering worldwide. Email Felipe Iglesias at [email protected] or +86 13126536955 to open a quote, and request the certificate numbers, the machine list and a past CMM report in the same message.

Cost breakdown — material, setup, cycle, and inspection quoted line by line

The cost of a CNC part is built from four lines — material, setup, cycle, and inspection — and if you read them separately, you can tell where the price moves. The material line is the bar or billet at the mill price plus the section waste; the setup line is the fixture and the first-article labour, amortised across the quantity; the cycle line is the machine hourly rate multiplied by the cutting time; the inspection line is the Hexagon CMM and the gauge work. A shop that bundles all four into a single number is hiding the assumptions; a shop that breaks them out is a shop that can be checked against the drawing. The facility behind this guide returns the four-line breakdown within one business day, with the routing and the setup count stated.

The tolerance case for the cost is the band. A ±0.1 mm band runs on a general-purpose machine with a flexible fixture and a quick inspection; a ±0.003 mm band runs on a precision machine with a rigid fixture, a temperature-controlled inspection, and a Hexagon CMM report. The facility behind this guide runs 100+ CNC machines at ±0.003 mm milling and ±0.002 mm turning and grinding, with Ppk ≥ 1.67 initial on key characteristics and Cpk ≥ 1.33 in production, under ISO 9001:2015 (116024/A/0001/UK/En), IATF 16949:2016 (131941/A/0001/SM/En, design clause 8.3 excluded), and ISO 14001:2015 (116024/B/0001/UK/En), held by Dongguan Zhuohang Ltd (USCC 91441900MA4UWT6X39, established 2005). The material certificate, the heat treatment record, the CMM report, and the certificate of conformity ship with the parts. Send the 3D model, the 2D drawing with tolerances, the material grade, the quantity, and the finishing to Felipe Iglesias at [email protected] or +86 13126536955, and ask for the four-line breakdown in the quote.

Tolerance and the process chain — the band and the evidence

your tolerance question is a process question, not a number. The ±0.003 mm milling and ±0.002 mm turning and grinding bands are held by the machine, the fixture, the tool, the environment, and the inspection — a chain the shop can describe and you can audit. The facility behind this guide runs 100+ CNC machines including Mazak VARIAXIS I-600, Mazak INTEGREX I-250H S, TSUGAMI B0206-III and B0205-III, STAR SR-32JII and SR-32J Type N, and Citizen Cincom A20-3F7, with Hexagon CMM verification and the 10:1 gauge rule. Ppk ≥ 1.67 initial on key characteristics and Cpk ≥ 1.33 in production are reported with the band and the algorithm. Under ISO 9001:2015, IATF 16949:2016 (design clause 8.3 excluded), and ISO 14001:2015. Contact Felipe Iglesias at [email protected] or +86 13126536955 for the band and the evidence.

What mill-turn changes about the process

Mill-turn is a machine that combines a turning spindle with milling capability and live tooling.

The part is completed in one clamping. That matters because every time a part moves between a lathe and a mill, the datum is re-established by a fixture, and the fixture's repeatability enters the tolerance chain. Removing the transfer removes that term.

What the capability numbers actually mean

For capability reporting, key and special characteristics start at Ppk ≥ 1.67 and run at Cpk ≥ 1.33 in production; general characteristics start at Ppk ≥ 1.33. Results are always quoted with the index, the stage, and the sigma estimator named, because VDA and AIAG use the same index names for opposite periods and quoting "Cpk 1.67" without that context is meaningless.

Values between 1.33 and 1.67 are conditional acceptance requiring customer review. Not a pass. Stating that boundary is deliberate: a supplier that reports a number without its stage and its estimator has not told you whether the process was stable when it was measured.

What mill-turn is genuinely good for

Round parts that also need milled flats, cross-holes, off-axis bosses, or keyways — hydraulic fittings, connectors, shafts with clocked features.

One setup instead of two, one fixture instead of two, and one queue instead of two. The saving is in the schedule as much as in the hourly rate.

What mill-turn cannot do

Work envelope is smaller than a dedicated machining centre, and chip control in an enclosed turning environment needs attention.

This boundary is stated deliberately. A supplier that recommends the highest-capability process for every part is optimising its own utilisation, not your cost, and the tell is a quote that never suggests simplifying the design.

What does the setup cost, and when is it worth it?

Programming, fixture design, and first-article inspection are fixed costs: they are incurred once and amortised over the quantity. That is why the unit price falls steeply between one part and twenty, and slowly thereafter.

The practical consequence is that a fixture worth building for fifty parts is not worth building for two, and a supplier that quotes the same unit price at both quantities has not thought about how it will hold the part.

What to ask before believing a mill-turn claim

Ask which features are completed in the single clamping and which, if any, need a second operation. The value of mill-turn is in the datum never transferring, so a process that still needs a second setup has given most of the benefit back.

None of these questions are hostile and all of them are cheap. A plant with the capability answers them easily; a brochure cannot.

Where the money is actually decided

Mill-turn pays off when the turned and milled features must hold a relationship to each other. Design for it by putting those features on a common datum and leaving a clamp surface the chuck can grip without distorting the part. Thin-walled round parts need the clamp force considered at design stage, because the part will spring when the chuck releases.

This is worth raising at quote stage rather than after the first article, because the changes are usually trivial on the drawing and significant on the machine.

The certificate scope in one line

Three certificates, each with a number you can check with the registrar: ISO 9001:2015 (116024/A/0001/UK/En), IATF 16949:2016 (131941/A/0001/SM/En), and ISO 14001:2015 (116024/B/0001/UK/En).

The IATF 16949 certificate excludes clause 8.3 (product design). That is normal for a build-to-print manufacturer and it is stated here rather than left for an auditor to discover: we manufacture against your design, it does not originate the design.

Which entity is responsible for the work?

Dongguan Zhuohang Ltd (Registration No. 91441900MA4UWT6X39, established 2005).

How much capacity sits behind it?

100+ machines with depth in every relevant family, 50+ three-axis, 20+ four-axis, 20+ five-axis, 25+ turning centres, plus Swiss-type, grinding, and wire EDM.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Standards referenced on this page

• ASTM A582/A582M-12 — Standard Specification for Free-Machining Stainless Steel Bars
• ASTM A484/A484M-24 — Standard Specification for General Requirements for Stainless Steel Bars, Billets, and Forgings
• ISO 9001 — Quality management systems — Requirements