Aluminum grades we stock
Aluminum is the most commonly requested material in our shop — roughly 60% of every month's CNC volume runs through our aluminum cells. We stock nine grades across the common families, from pure aluminum for electrical applications to aerospace-grade 7075-T6 for structural components.
| Grade | Tensile (MPa) | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 1050 / 1060 | ~90 | Bus bars, food-contact |
| 2024-T3 | ~470 | Aerospace skin, structural |
| 3003 | ~145 | Formed housings, sheet |
| 5052 | ~230 | Marine, chemical, food |
| 6061-T6 | ~310 | General CNC — brackets, plates |
| 7075-T6 | ~570 | Aerospace structural, load-bearing |
| ADC12 | ~240 | Die-cast feedstock |
| AZ31 / AZ91 | ~220 | Magnesium — lightweight structural |
6061-T6 — the default
If your drawing doesn't specify an alloy, we machine in 6061-T6. It's the Honda Civic of metals: good in almost every dimension, exceptional in none. You get 310 MPa tensile strength, weldability, clean anodizing results, and the lowest material cost of any structural aluminum. Virtually every prototype bracket, fixture, and housing we make starts as 6061-T6 bar or plate.
The trade-off: it's the softest of the structural alloys. If your part sees repeated impact loading, high bolt preload, or any kind of fatigue cycling, consider stepping up to 7075.
7075-T6 — when you need strength-to-weight
7075-T6 is the aluminum that aerospace primes specify when they can't afford steel's weight but need more strength than 6061 can deliver. Tensile strength runs around 570 MPa — within 15% of mild steel — at one-third the density. We use it for drone airframes, robotics structural links, motorsport brackets, and any part where the customer tells us "make it as light as possible without breaking."
Drawbacks: it cannot be welded (heat destroys the T6 temper), corrosion resistance is lower than 6061, and it costs roughly 40% more. Anodizing is possible but cosmetically inferior — the high zinc content produces a grey-brown tint rather than the clean silver of 6061.
5052 — when corrosion matters
For parts that live outdoors, in marine environments, or in contact with chemicals, 5052 beats 6061 in corrosion resistance. It's also the most common grade for sheet metal enclosures that need to be bent — 5052 forms without cracking at radii 6061 can't survive. See our sheet metal fabrication page for bending specs.
2024-T3 — legacy aerospace
2024 pre-dates 7075 as the aerospace aluminum of choice. It has better fatigue resistance than 7075 but slightly lower ultimate strength. Still specified on many long-running aerospace programs (737 era and older). We stock it for customers with legacy drawings; for new designs we recommend 7075-T6 unless fatigue is the driver.
Surface finishing for aluminum
Our anodizing line handles Type II (clear, black, red, blue, gold, custom) and Type III hard-coat anodize (up to 50 microns, for wear resistance). Bead blast delivers a uniform matte surface before anodize — it's what gives premium electronics their tactile feel. Brushed finish runs directional grain in one axis, popular for audio and appliance cosmetics. All finishing is done in-house with no outsourcing delays.
For color-matched RAL or Pantone paint, we run wet-paint booths with dust-controlled curing. Powder coating is available for industrial parts where paint durability matters more than thin wall tolerance.
What this material costs
Aluminum machining costs are dominated by machine time, not material. A typical CNC bracket in 6061-T6 costs roughly the same whether the raw stock is 6061 or 5052. 7075 adds about 40% to the material cost, which translates to a 5–10% price increase on a finished part. Magnesium is roughly 2× the price of aluminum per kilogram, but the lower density means the part cost is closer to 1.2× aluminum for the same volume.