You want a “perfect” finish on your part, and we want to get you what you asked for! First, however, we need to know a few things about your part and its purpose. 

So, let’s start with a conversation. When we know what you need, we can outline what’s possible for your part and how we can achieve that “perfect” finish—without blowing your budget.

The Price of the “Perfect” Finish

Near-perfect finishes are possible to achieve, but you should know that some processes can dramatically increase your costs and lead times. Our Idaho machine shop can help you evaluate these factors when identifying your ideal metal finish:

• Speed. How long does it take to achieve your desired finish?

• Cost. Some finishing techniques are more costly to perform than others.

• Material. A material’s hardness (or softness) may determine which finishes are available to you.

A mirror-like finish is an example of a finish that isn’t always possible to achieve. Aluminum, for instance, cannot be finished to a reflective polish. On materials that can be finished to a mirrored shine, the time and cost involved may prompt you to rethink this requirement.

At Accurate CNC Services, our team is available to help you pick the ideal finish for your parts!

Let’s Discuss Your Finishing Goals

Finishing serves multiple purposes, from aesthetics to environmental protection and more. Different finishes drive different results, so knowing your goals can help us guide you. Which of these outcomes is critical to your part’s success?

• Chemical resistance

• Durability

• Electrical conductivity or resistance

• Tarnish resistance

• Strength

• Visual appeal

• And other enhancements

Once we know your requirements, we’ll explore the possibilities, keeping your timeline and budget top-of-mind.

The Perfect Finish Doesn’t Have to Cost a Fortune

Our customers are often surprised to discover that the high-cost, time-consuming finish they think their part needs isn’t necessary after all. In fact, some of our most popular finishing capabilities are also some of the simplest.

Fine finishes come standard

Our standard “as machined” finish does the trick for many parts and won’t cost you any extra—in time or money. Should you need an even cleaner, smoother finish, we can slow our machine, leveraging finer toolpaths to practically eliminate surface roughness.

Parts that require small tooling, extended-reach precision machining, or a less-rigid setup may not be entirely conducive to an ultra-smooth, as-milled finish, but we’ll inform you of any potential hiccups and help you decide how to proceed.

Explore our full range of raw metal finishing services.

Grained finishes look flawless

If your primary concern is masking the appearance of scratches or nicks, a grained finish will fully mask those imperfections with beautiful texture. We use our SuperBrush to achieve this standard finish on parts that may be visible to your customers. With the SuperBrush, we can also deliver these top-quality finishing results:

• Base coat sanding

• Buffing

• Cleaning

• Deburring

• Decorative finishing

• Graining

• Oxidation removal

• Polishing

• Primer sanding

• Radius edges

• Scuff sanding

Learn more about our 24” SuperBrush.

Cost and time considerations for raw metal finishing

The complexity of a job impacts cost and turnaround time, but not all complex parts are challenging to finish.

For instance, if only one side of your part will be visible after assembly, we can help you save time and money by finishing only that critical surface. We can also provide finer finishing for the outside of the part and only lightly finish the interior surfaces.

By beginning our collaboration with a conversation, you’re guaranteed the best finish at the best price in the least amount of time.

How to Get Exceptional Secondary Finishing Services

Our one-stop Idaho machine shop’s in-house finishing often prepares parts for secondary finishing services such as those offered through our vetted vendor partners:

• Alodining

• Anodizing 

• Black oxide

• Cadmium plating

• Chromium plating

• Nickel plating

• Passivation

• Powder coating

• Zinc plating

• And other possibilities

If your part is headed for one of our secondary finish suppliers—or if you plan to handle the secondary finishing yourself—our team needs to know. The way we finish your part in-house is critical to the success of your post-precision machining processes.

Anodize, for example, can only be applied to parts with scratch-free surfaces, so we commonly use our SuperBrush to prepare parts for anodizing services. Powder coating, on the other hand, requires an abrasive surface for optimum paint adherence. When we know your part will be powder coated, we bead blast its surface before passing the part to our powder coat partner.

Quality Begins with Collaboration

By kickstarting each project with a conversation, you’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of the processes necessary to achieve your part’s requirements. We’ll take every aspect into account, including your part’s material, features, dimensions, and application, and we’ll review the possibilities through the lens of your timeline and budget. 

At Accurate CNC, we’re dedicated and determined to exceed your expectations, from first conversation to final delivery. See for yourself!

Request a quote.