AL · 10 grades
Aluminium Alloys
The default for most parts, and the one to be careful with when it is not.
Aluminium is what most enquiries turn into, because it cuts fast, finishes well and keeps the weight down. The grade matters more than the alloy family: 6061 is the workhorse, 7075 takes the load 6061 cannot, and 2024 is the one aerospace drawings still specify. The trap is treating them as interchangeable - 7075 welds badly, 2024 corrodes without protection, and 6082 is not a 6061 substitute outside Europe.
What this family does well, and where it bites
- Fastest cycle times of any metal we cut - often half the machining cost of stainless
- Anodising, hard anodising and chromate conversion all available in-house chain
- Tolerances to ±0.005 mm on turned and milled features are routine
- Thin walls move: residual stress in plate shows up after the part is freed
Industries served
- Aerospace
- Automotive & EV
- Consumer Electronics
- Semiconductor
- Industrial Equipment
Aluminium Alloys grades we machine
Each grade page carries the properties as supplied, what heat treatment does or does not do to it, the achievable surface finish, starting cutting parameters and the DFM notes that matter for that specific grade.
6061-T6
9/1095 HB · 310 MPa
The alloy most of our cycle times are quoted against.
6082-T6
9/1095 HB · 310 MPa
Machines like 6061 and holds a slightly better edge on a thin wall.
7075-T6
8/10150 HB · 572 MPa
Harder than 6061, so it cuts cleanly and takes a sharper edge, but it is less forgiving of a rubbing tool and it is not weldable in any useful sense.
2024-T4
7/10120 HB · 469 MPa
Gumdrops compared to 7075.
5052-H32
7/1060 HB · 228 MPa
Soft and gummy - it forms and welds beautifully, and that is exactly what makes it unpleasant to machine to a tolerance.
6063-T6
9/1073 HB · 241 MPa
Softer than 6061 and just as easy to cut - but it is an extrusion alloy, so the parts that suit it are usually extruded to near net shape and finished with light machining.
7050-T7451
7/10150 HB · 510 MPa
Same family as 7075 and similar to cut, with one important difference: T7451 is stress relieved, so a big pocketed part stays flat after machining.
5083-H116
7/1085 HB · 317 MPa
The marine plate.
3003-H14
8/1040 HB · 152 MPa
Very soft and very gummy, but it cuts predictably and the chip is easy to manage at light engagement.
2017-T4
8/10105 HB · 427 MPa
The original free-cutting high-strength aluminium, and still one of the nicest aerospace alloys to turn.
Questions buyers ask
- What is the difference between 6061, 6082 and 7075 in practice?
- 6061-T6 is the default and the cheapest to machine well. 6082-T6 is the European near-equivalent - slightly higher strength, slightly better corrosion resistance, and what our European buyers tend to have on the drawing. 7075-T6 is roughly twice the strength and roughly twice the price; it also cannot be welded, and it machines to a sharper edge because it is harder.
- Can you supply aluminium with a specific temper?
- We machine whatever temper you specify and we do not pretend otherwise: T6, T651, T7351 and O condition all behave differently on the machine. T6511 and T7351 are stress-relieved, which matters on a part with a large pocket in a thin plate. If the temper is not on your drawing, tell us what the part has to do and we will say what we would order.