Hydraulic & Pneumatic Machined Components

What this industry requires

Hydraulic and pneumatic parts carry or direct fluid or air, so the features that seal and locate matter more than the part’s outline. A manifold block has to place intersecting passages exactly, a piston has to run in its bore without leak, and a port thread has to seal against the mating fitting. We hold ±0.01 mm on precision features and work to ISO 2768-m as the general tolerance unless the drawing states another block.

Sealing surfaces and groove geometry are the first thing we review. O-ring grooves, dovetail grooves and seal faces must match the drawing’s width, depth and corner detail so the seal sits correctly. Port threads follow the standard called out on the drawing — BSPP, BSPT, NPT, SAE/JIC or metric — cut clean with the correct depth and no burr at the entry.

Bore tolerances and finish requirements matter where a piston, spool or sleeve runs inside a mating bore. We machine bores and outside diameters to the drawing’s tolerance and roughness callouts, and we review those callouts during DFM feedback so the surface finish and the seal specification work together. Because a manifold or valve body can hide a passage mistake until assembly, we also review the port layout and passage intersections in DFM feedback before machining starts, and we flag any feature that is hard to reach or clean.

Parts we machine for this industry

Typical orders span the manifold, the valve, the cylinder and the connection between them:

• Manifold blocks — milled bodies with intersecting drilled passages, cross-drilled ports and plugged holes.
• Valve bodies — machined housings with port threads, cavities and sealing faces.
• Cylinder end caps and pistons — turned bodies with seal grooves, bore fits and port threads.
• Rod ends and shafts — turned and threaded components that connect the cylinder to the load.
• Fittings and adapters — threaded connectors machined to the port standard.
• Spools and sleeves — matched-turned pairs where clearance between the spool and sleeve is the critical feature.

A part often combines CNC milling for the manifold or body and CNC turning for pistons, sleeves, shafts and fittings, and we plan the route to keep the sealing features in one setup where possible. Keeping the seal grooves, port threads and running bores in a single setup where possible is what keeps a manifold or cylinder end cap consistent from the first part to the last.

Materials and standards commonly used

We machine these parts from the material families in our materials guide:

• Aluminium 2024, 5052, 6061 and 7075 for lightweight manifolds and pneumatic components.
• Stainless steel 303, 304, 316, 316L and 17-4PH where corrosion resistance matters, such as water-based or aggressive fluids.
• Carbon steel 1045 and 1215 and alloy steel 4140 for pistons, rods, valve parts and load-bearing components.
• Brass for fittings, adapters and small valve parts.

Port threads follow the standard on the drawing — BSPP, BSPT, NPT, SAE/JIC or metric — and we cut them to the correct form and depth. Sealing surfaces and grooves are machined to the drawing’s geometry, and bore finish is matched to the seal type so the assembly performs as designed. We review threads, grooves and bore tolerances together in DFM feedback rather than treating them as separate features. Where the drawing calls for a hardened piston rod, a plated fitting or a forged blank, heat treatment, plating, forging and heading are sourced through our vetted partner network and quoted as part of the same order.

What ships with your order

Every order ships with a material certificate (MTR) and pre-shipment photos of the actual parts. Samples ship in 5–10 days and production in 25–35 days after drawing approval; orders start from 50 pieces per style and material, with samples available from 1 piece.

Send the drawing, quantity, material and finish through the request a quote form and we return a quote with DFM feedback within 24 hours. You can also review our industries pages to see how we approach hydraulic and pneumatic work alongside other sectors.

Hydraulics is a manifolds-and-fittings business: bores that must align, ports that must seal, and threads that must hold pressure. The manifold and body work is covered under valve bodies, the connection side under fittings and adapters, and the sealing interface under flanges and couplings.