Small Parts, Big Challenges

CNC machining small parts looks simple on paper. Cut a tiny block of metal into a tiny finished component. In practice, it's one of the hardest things we do at AOOM Technology. Micro-features demand micro-tools, stable fixturing, and process discipline that larger parts never need.

FIxturing Is Everything

You cannot clamp a 6mm part the way you clamp a 100mm block. The part flexes, moves, or just launches across the shop. We build custom soft jaws, vacuum chucks, and adhesive fixturing for every micro-part run. The setup takes longer, but it's the only way to hold ±.005mm.

A client sent us a titanium dental implant that measured 8mm long with a 1.2mm through-hole. Three operations in one custom fixture. We held position tolerance across 2,000 parts without a single reject.

Tooling Down to .1mm

We run micro end mills down to .1mm diameter for slotting and engraving. At that size, spindle runout kills tool life. We use HSK-E32 holders and balance every assembly. Feeds are calculated per- flute with no room for guesswork.

For thin-wall machining, we use adaptive roughing strategies that keep chip load constant. Variable helix tools reduce chatter on deep cavities. Every detail matters when the features are measured in hundredths of a millimeter.

Materials for Micro-Machining

Aluminum 6061 and 7075 are easiest. Brass cuts clean with great surface finish. Stainless 316L and titanium grade 5 need slower speeds and more coolant pressure. PEEK and Ultem are common for medical applications — they machine well but hold heat, so chip evacuation is critical.

Inspection at the Micro Scale

Standard calipers won't cut it. We use automated vision systems and CMM with micro-probes. Every dimension gets verified. If a feature is too small to probe optically, we verify process capability instead — machine qualification runs with statistical sampling.

Send your CAD files to chen@aoomtech.com for a quote within 24 hours.