Aerospace Machining

When the term “aerospace” comes up, most people think about rockets, space shuttles or NASA. But a machinist in an aerospace machine shop may have very different ideas. They may think of complex jet engine components and how these parts are milled. So what is actually done in an aerospace machine shop?

Milling Impellers

It may not be quite as exciting as building components for NASA, but there aren’t a whole lot of spacecraft being built at any given time. There are, however, more people are taking to the skies for transportation and are familiar with airplane seating. Milling applications often pertain to seating for commercial airlines. Seat frames are an integral part of transporting customers and the aluminum must be machined to make them functional and supportive.

Control Panels

Another application performed in an aerospace machine shop is the control panel. Although there are many components, aerospace machining provides milling for military grade acrylic. Whole batches of Control panels are machined using sheets of acrylic, electronic components are added and they are painted.

Instrument Panels

One might not give much thought to these lesser known parts of an aircraft, but the pilots are fully aware of their importance. Instrument panels are constructed using high speed machining of cast acrylic and metal materials.

Other Components

An aerospace machine shop can provide a variety of related components for aircraft including 5-axis components, heat sinks, electronic enclosures or housings, backlit instruments, rapid prototyping and a variety of small intricate parts necessary for functioning. Machines in the shop can work with most types of metals including aluminum, steel and composites as well as a variety of plastic materials. Each are precision machined to form complex parts for use in the aerospace industry.

To learn more about aerospace machining, visit the JBC Machine gallery here: https://jbcmachine.com/gallery/.