The hardest metals we machine. 700 °C service. Sour wells.

Three factors: raw material cost (Inconel 718 billet is roughly $80–120/kg vs $8 for stainless), slow machining (cutting speed 20–30 m/min vs 150 for stainless — 5–8× longer cycle), and tool cost (carbide end mills last 30 minutes in Inconel vs 4 hours in stainless, with CBN tooling required for some operations). A typical finished Inconel part costs 8–15× the equivalent stainless part.

Inconel 625: use when corrosion resistance is the primary concern (seawater, chemical, marine exhaust). Not heat-treatable, moderate strength. Inconel 718: use when high strength and high-temperature service are required (aerospace hot section, rocket engines). Heat-treatable to very high strength, but less corrosion resistant than 625. For combined corrosion + high temperature, consider Inconel 725 or specialty alloys.

Yes — a growing aerospace workstream. DMLS prints complex Inconel 718 geometry (internal channels, topology-optimized brackets), then CNC machining finishes critical features (mounting holes, mating surfaces) to drawing tolerance. Combined printed + CNC workflow enables designs impossible via pure CNC. See our <a href="/metal-3d-printing.html">metal 3D printing page</a>.

Standard aerospace heat treatment: solution anneal at 980 °C, then double-aging at 720 °C + 620 °C to achieve 1,036 MPa yield strength. We perform heat treatment in-house for most Inconel work; critical aerospace heat treatments routed through AMS 2774-qualified partners for compliance. Full heat treatment records provided on aerospace orders.

Material availability drives lead time. Common grades (625, 718, C-276) typically in stock or 1–2 week lead time from mill. Specialty grades (X-750, 725, 925) may have 4–6 week mill lead times. Machining time for superalloys is typically 2–4× the equivalent stainless part due to slower cutting parameters. Typical complete order: 4–8 weeks for simple parts, 8–14 weeks for complex aerospace components.