DOC KSM-DOC-010 · TECHNICAL BULLETIN SERIES
Notes from the shop floor.
Guides written by the people who actually hold the tolerance — for engineers who specify it and buyers who pay for it. No fluff, no AI filler, no "10 tips" listicles we wouldn't read ourselves.
ALL BULLETINS — INDEX
TB-007REV A
Swiss Turning vs Conventional Turning: When Small Parts Demand ItPast length-to-diameter 3:1, the conventional lathe starts telling fibs. Where Swiss takes over — and when it's overkill.
TB-006REV A
Aluminum or Stainless? A Cost-Per-Part FrameworkMachine time, material, finishing and shipping compared on the same bracket — the honest math, not the brochure math.
TB-005REV B
Surface Finish Charts: Ra, Rz and What Your Drawing Is Really Asking ForThe Ra ladder decoded — what each grade looks like, costs, and which process it demands. With the interactive profiler.
TB-004REV A
GD&T Basics: Datum Features and Why the Order MattersA-B-C isn't alphabetical decoration — it's the order your part gets fixtured, and it quietly changes your scrap rate.
TB-003REV A
Designing for Machining: Ten Features That Quietly Double Your Part CostDeep pockets, thin walls, tapped deep holes — the geometry tax, itemized. Send this to your mechanical team.
TB-002REV B
6061-T6 vs 7075-T6: Choosing Aluminum for Machined PartsStrength, cost, weldability and anodizing — with the decision table we send engineers who ask.
TB-001REV A
How Tight Is Tight? A Practical Guide to CNC TolerancesWhat ±0.01 actually costs you, and where drawings quietly pay double for nothing. The bulletin that started the series.
Nothing filed under that category yet — new bulletins land monthly.
Q&A · SUBMISSIONS OPEN
Got a machining question worth answering properly?
The best bulletins started as buyer emails. Send the question that's bugging your drawing review — tolerance stack, finish callout, material pick — and if it's useful to more people than you, it becomes the next bulletin with our answer in full.