Capabilities

Superior Capabilities for Precision Components and Parts

Whether it is conventional machining, non-conventional machining, injection molding, assembly, or toolmaking, Global Air’s capabilities are robust because of the combination we offer with expert staff, state-of-the-art equipment, and our relentless focus on quality. The results are precision parts that meet the rigorous specifications and tolerances of the aerospace industry, automotive industry, and motorsports industry.

Conventional Machining Equipment and Techniques

When you hear “conventional machining” and “non-conventional” machining, it’s good to know the main difference between the two. In conventional machining, a cutting tool is always present, such as the spindles of a mill, the cutting tool of a lathe, a grinding wheel, or a lap. Non-conventional machining, however, accomplishes its work using other means, such as lasers, water jets, and so on.

CNC Milling

CNC mills are controlled by computers rather than operators to ensure maximum precision. The spindles of a CNC mill rotate at high speeds to remove material from the workpiece to form the desired component or part. With Global Air’s CNC mills and the computer-aided machining (CAM) that allows the head to move in three dimensions, the components and parts produced can be complex while still meeting highly precise specifications and tight tolerances. Our CNC Mills are multi-axis while also allowing for efficient automated tooling changes on the fly. 5-axis CNC mills can work on any two sides of the three rotational axes (A, B, C) in addition to mechanical movements on the X, Y, and Z-axis.

CNC Lathe Turning

The main difference between a CNC mill and a CNC lathe is that whereas in milling, the cutting tools are what rotate to perform cutting to a stationary workpiece, in lathing, it is the workpiece that is rotated rapidly while the cutting tool is applied to it. Once again, it is a method for subtracting material from the workpiece to achieve the desired shape. This machining process is good for producing round shapes, especially those with an outer diameter and inner diameter, such as tubes and sleeves.

Grinding

While grinding as a machining technique has been around for many decades and is largely unchanged, it remains useful for many different applications. It is an abrasive machining process in which a grinding wheel is used to subtract material from the surface of a workpiece to make it as flat as possible, of a certain thickness, and give it a specific type of finish. Automated operation of grinders can achieve high precision. Global Air often makes use of grinding to make die blocks.

Lapping

Lapping is a subset of grinding where the primary objective is to reduce the material size of the workpiece. It’s a more passive form of grinding utilizing lower pressure at a lower speed resulting in a lower removal rate of material. It works by rubbing two surfaces together, one of which is the workpiece, and the other is the “lap.” This requires the use of micron-sized abrasive particles (much smaller than sandpaper grit or mesh), and necessarily involves movement of the lap, the workpiece, or both. It is used primarily on flat surfaces, not curved, rounded, spherical, or contoured pieces, and helps achieve the final desired finish.

Drilling and Boring

Another old-school technique that gets the job done when a component or part needs holes in particular locations of a workpiece. For some of the precision transmission parts we make, we first create a custom precision drill fixture in our tooling department that will then be used to precisely place hundreds of burr-free holes on a particular plate needed in a transmission.

Non-Conventional Machining

While we can achieve high precision and tight tolerances, along with good finishes on parts and components using conventional machining methods, even greater precision and finish control is possible with our non-conventional machining methods outlined below.

CNC Water Jet Machining

As the name implies, a water jet cutter uses an extremely high-pressure jet of water mixed with an abrasive to subtract material from a metal workpiece to achieve the desired shape. Water jet machining can achieve highly precise tolerances while producing no dust, no heat that might damage the workpiece, and the water can be reused in most cases. At Global Air, this is a large, state-of-the-art piece of equipment with a 5-axis cutting head capable of cutting through six inches of steel. Water jet machining is a high-demand technique in the aerospace industry.

CNC Laser Cutting

This non-conventional machining method utilizes highly focused light lasers to subtract material from the workpiece to achieve the desired shape. The laser cutting process does not produce residual stresses on the workpiece, which means it can be used on even fragile and brittle materials. Laser cutting comes into play when speed is a primary factor, and at Global Air can also be combined with brazing.

Wire EDM

Global Air has wire EDM capabilities for tool and gauge making. The electrical discharge machine (EDM) uses precise electrical discharges to subtract material from the workpiece to create the desired tool. Because the wire delivering the electrical discharge never touches the workpiece, there is rarely a need for any additional finishing operations.

Assembly

When two parts need to be joined together to make a complete component, Global Air has both brazing and welding capabilities as outlined below:

Brazing

When two parts made of metal (whether the same or dissimilar) need to be joined together in a very close fit, brazing accomplishes this with a filler metal. It’s different from welding because the workpieces themselves do not undergo any melting, and it’s different from soldering because the temperatures involved in brazing are higher and a closer fit is needed than soldering can achieve. The filler material has a lower melting point than either of the two pieces being joined. At Global Air, we pioneered an innovative method that combines both laser cutting and brazing into one process.

MIG and TIG Welding

Metal Inert Gas or MIG welding is fast, versatile, easily automated, and creates strong welds that can withstand high forces. It uses a shielding gas to prevent atmospheric gasses from contaminating the weld. Adjusting the shielding gasses makes MIG welding possible on non-ferrous metals such as aluminum, but also on various steels and even some superalloys. Tungsten Inert Gas or TIG welding uses non-consumable tungsten electrodes, so it does require the use of filler. Its advantage over MIG welding is that the equipment can take higher temperatures, which makes it especially well-suited for welding thin sections of stainless steel. It is also used on aluminum, magnesium, copper alloys, titanium, copper, and brass. The result is a precise, high-quality weld with a good aesthetic appearance.

Part Marking

If parts need to be marked with logos, serial numbers, part numbers, bar codes, or other information, we use three different techniques for marking parts. Our dot peening machine uses a vibrating punch to produce a series of evenly spaced tiny indentations (dots) on the surface of a part. This is a fully automated, programmable, high-speed process that can produce various fonts, font sizes, and simple images (but not high resolution). For especially hard surfaces that don’t take dot peening well, chemical etching is a cost-effective alternative that also doesn’t alter the part’s surface the way dot peening does. Finally, electrochemical etching is another alternative that can produce clearer images when needed.

Toolmaking

Our tooling department is top-notch in expertise and state-of-the-art equipment to make a variety of tools such as dies, gauges, and fixtures (such as drilling fixtures) to be used in machining metal parts and components. Machining methods used in this department run the gamut of both conventional and non-conventional in producing the right tools for each client project.

Plastic Injection Molding

Global Air also offers full-service plastic injection molding services and tooling for precision plastic parts that can be used in a wide variety of aerospace and automotive applications.