01
Precision 2D profiles
Flat components cut to an exact outline, with holes, slots and cut-outs where the design needs them.
Outline & features
Capability / 04 Subtractive Manufacturing
Start with solid. Remove with precision.
Precision CNC machining for functional components, prototypes, replacement parts, tooling and bespoke manufacturing.
Controlled material removal. Precise geometry. A physical component.
02 What can we machine
From simple profiles to complex components.
CNC machining starts with solid material and removes only what isn’t needed. What that produces ranges from a flat profile cut to a contoured component with features on several faces.
02
2.5D machining
Pockets, steps, bosses and recesses machined to controlled depths, which is where most real components live.
Depth & pockets
03
3D contour machining
Surfaces that change continuously across the component, machined with a three-dimensional toolpath rather than flat steps.
Continuous surfaces
04
Multi-side machining
Components with features on more than one face, machined through separate re-located setups so the geometry still agrees.
More than one setup
05
Rotary & 4-axis work
Cylindrical and rotational components machined while the material is indexed about its own axis.
Rotational geometry
06
PCB prototyping
Prototype circuit boards produced by isolation milling — single-sided, and double-sided designs where the layout suits the route.
Prototype boards
07
Engraving & fine detail
Machined lettering, identification, scales and detail cut into the surface rather than printed onto it.
Machined detail
08
Jigs, fixtures & tooling
Locating fixtures, soft jaws, assembly aids and tooling made for one specific task rather than bought as a compromise.
Repeatable work
Not every component suits machining, and not every material or operation is produced in the same setup. Geometry, access for a cutting tool, material, loading, quantity and intended use all affect the route. Material and process suitability are assessed per project, and we will say so when machining is not the sensible choice.
03 Who this is for
Precision doesn’t require a huge project.
A production fixture, a single custom bracket and a replacement part for something nobody makes any more all begin the same way: with a component that has to fit and has to work.
Commercial & engineering
Businesses and engineering teams
Functional components, machine parts, fixtures, tooling and replacements for equipment that has to stay in service. Machined from solid material, so the component has the properties of that material throughout.
- Machine component
- Located fixture plate
- Mounting plate or bracket
- Bespoke adapter
- Replacement for an obsolete part
Individuals & creators
Individuals, makers and inventors
One aluminium bracket for a project that exists only in your head so far. A part for a model, a drone, a restoration or an invention. The quantity is different. The approach is not: the same design review, the same material conversation, the same line discipline.
- Custom aluminium bracket
- RC or model engineering part
- Drone or robotics plate
- Prototype PCB
- One-off invention component
One component is a project. Bring us the requirement and we will help determine the route.
04 Prototype to machined component
Prototype it. Test it. Then take it further.
Finding a problem in a printed version is easier than finding it in a machined one. Where it helps, additive and subtractive manufacturing work as one development route.
Stage 01
CAD design
The geometry, developed or reviewed.
Stage 02
3D printed prototype
A physical version, quickly and cheaply.
Stage 03
Fit & function test
Does it fit, locate and do the job?
Stage 04
Design revision
Change it while changing it is cheap.
Stage 05
CNC machined component
Cut from solid, once the design has settled.
This is one possible route, not the default. Plenty of printed components are the finished part and should stay that way; plenty of machined components never need a printed version first. Which route suits yours is part of the conversation.
05 Replacement parts
When you can’t buy it, we can investigate rebuilding it.
Discontinued, worn out, broken or never available in the first place. Where the component can tell us enough, it becomes the starting point for its own replacement — and this is where the Studio Variant capabilities join up.
Stage 01
Broken or obsolete
The part you have, or what is left of it.
Stage 02
3D scan
The surviving geometry captured as data.
Stage 03
Reverse engineer
Features and intent read back out of it.
Stage 04
CAD model
Usable geometry, not just a surface.
Stage 05
Material & process review
What it was, and what it should be.
Stage 06
CNC machining
Cut from solid material.
Stage 07
Replacement component
Reviewed against what the job asked for.
Not every component contains enough surviving information to be reconstructed, and not every part should be remade in the same material it failed in. The investigation comes first, and we will tell you what the part does and does not establish.
06 Materials
The material matters as much as the geometry.
The same component in aluminium, acrylic and brass is three different parts. What it has to carry, where it lives and what it touches decide the material long before the toolpath does.
Non-ferrous metals
Metal stiffness and a machined metal surface. Suited to brackets, plates, mounts, structural components and visible machined detail.
- Aluminium
- Brass
- Copper
Engineering plastics
Electrically insulating, unaffected by moisture and lighter than metal. Suited to panels, guides, spacers, covers and low-friction components.
- Acrylic
- Polycarbonate
- HDPE
- ABS
Composites & board materials
Very high stiffness for very low mass, and the board materials behind prototype circuit boards. Cut differently from metals and plastics, so reviewed per project.
- Carbon-fibre sheet
- Composite laminates
- PCB / FR4
Wood & board
Patterns, templates, formers, enclosures and presentation pieces, where the material suits the component and the finish it needs.
- Hardwood
- Plywood
- MDF & board
Specialist requirements
Something outside the families above, or a component where the material is part of the problem rather than a detail. Tell us the requirement and we will assess the route rather than guess.
- Assessed per project
Material and process suitability are always assessed per project. Different materials and different operations are not all produced in the same setup, and the material a component should be made from is a decision, not an assumption.
07 Machining material finder
Don’t know which material you need?
Most people don’t, and you are not expected to. Describe what you are trying to make, or pick the closest application, and we will point you in a likely direction.
08 PCB prototyping
From mechanical to electronic.
The same controlled material removal, applied to copper. Isolation milling cuts the copper away around your tracks, so a prototype board can be produced from your design rather than ordered and waited for.
Stage 01
PCB design
Your tracks, pads and board outline.
Stage 02
Copper-clad board
Solid copper over the board material.
Stage 03
Isolation milling
Copper removed around the conductors.
Stage 04
Drilling & features
Holes, board outline and mounting features.
Stage 05
Double-sided work
Where the layout suits this route.
Stage 06
Prototype board
A board to prove the circuit and the fit.
This is prototype board production, not a PCB fabrication plant. Track width, pad geometry and whether a double-sided layout suits isolation milling are reviewed per project, and a board intended for production is usually better fabricated elsewhere.
09 Rotary & 4-axis work
Not every component is flat.
Cylindrical material can be held horizontally and indexed about its own axis while machining takes place, which opens up shafts, spacers, bushes, turned detail and features that wrap around a component.
This is rotary machining about a single additional axis, not simultaneous 5-axis machining, and we don’t describe it as such. What it suits, and whether your component is one of those things, is assessed per project.
10 Complex geometry
More than pockets and holes.
Machining terms sound like jargon until they are drawn. These are the five levels of geometry behind almost every machined component, in plain language.
2D profile
A flat outline. The cutter follows the shape of the component and stays at one depth.
2.5D features
Flat features at different depths — pockets, steps and recesses — each machined to its own level.
3D contour
A surface that changes continuously, so the cutter moves in all three directions at once.
Multi-side
Features on more than one face, machined in separate setups that have to agree with each other.
Rotary geometry
Features arranged around an axis, machined while the material turns rather than from one side.
11 Print or machine?
Two ways to make a part. Different reasons to choose each.
Additive builds material up. Subtractive removes it. Neither is better — they answer different requirements, and some projects use both at different stages.
This helper suggests a direction to discuss, not a decision. It does not estimate cost or lead time, and it does not assume a machined component is stronger than a printed one — strength depends on material, geometry and how the component is loaded.
12 Where projects begin
Start where you are.
You don’t need a finished design, a drawing or the right vocabulary to begin. Six of the usual starting points, and what tends to happen next.
“I have an idea.”
- Conversation
- Design
- Material review
- Machining
“I have a physical part.”
- Measure or scan
- Reverse engineer
- Machining
“I have a CAD model.”
- Design review
- Material review
- Machining
“I have a 3D printed prototype.”
- Review what it proved
- Revision
- Machining
“I have a broken part.”
- Investigation
- 3D scan
- Reverse engineer
- Machining
“I have a PCB design.”
- Layout review
- Isolation milling
- Prototype board
- Production elsewhere
You do not have to buy every Studio Variant capability. Any one of these routes can stop wherever it stops being useful to you, and that is a normal outcome rather than an unfinished project.
13 How it works
From digital geometry to machined component.
01
Understand the component
What it is for, what it has to carry, where it fits, what it touches and how many you need. This is the stage that decides everything after it.
02
Design or design review
Develop the geometry, or review the model you already have — features, corner radii, wall sections, fastenings and whether a cutting tool can reach everything the design asks for.
03
Material selection
Choose the material from the requirement rather than from habit, and be explicit about what still needs to be confirmed.
04
CAM & toolpath preparation
Decide how the component will actually be cut: roughing and finishing passes, cutter sizes, depths of cut and the order features are machined in.
05
Setup & work holding
How the material is held, where part zero is set and how the component is re-located if features are needed on more than one face.
06
Machining
Material is removed in controlled passes — roughing first, then the finishing passes that leave the surfaces and features you see.
07
Finishing & review
Edges attended to, the component cleaned up, and the result reviewed against what the job asked for. If something needs to change, we say so.
08
Deliver
The component, and a clear account of what was made, in what material and how it was machined — so it can be repeated or revised later.
14 How far you take it
Your project. Your route.
Both of these are complete pieces of work. Neither is the consolation prize.
Route 01 — complete service
Machining only
Already have the design and simply need the component cut? Send the geometry and we machine it, with a design and material review before anything is cut from solid.
- Review of the model against what machining can reach and hold.
- Material and process confirmed against the requirement.
- The machined component, made to the agreed geometry.
- No obligation to continue with Studio Variant.
Route 02 — complete service
Full project
Starting from an idea, a broken part or a requirement rather than a model? Continue through the Studio Variant workflow, with one studio responsible at every stage.
- 01 Scan, measure or reverse engineer
- 02 Design and material review
- 03 Prototype where it helps
- 04 CNC machining, or another suitable route
15 Finish & detail
Precision you can see.
Machined components carry their process on the surface: the direction of the cut, the radius a cutter leaves in a corner, the crispness of an edge.
Machined face
A faced surface carries the arcs left by the cutter, which is why machined metal catches light the way it does.
Chamfered edge
A cut edge broken deliberately rather than left sharp — safer to handle and better to look at.
Pocket & corner radius
An internal corner can only be as sharp as the cutter that made it, which is a design consideration rather than a limitation.
Engraved detail
Identification and detail cut into the surface, so it is part of the component rather than applied to it.
Rotational features
Grooves, steps and diameters machined about an axis, with the surface pattern that rotation leaves behind.
These drawings show the character of machined surfaces, not a specification. Surface requirements, edge treatment and any finishing beyond machining are agreed per project rather than promised here.
Project size
One bracket. One PCB. One replacement part. One idea.
There is no minimum project. A single component, a small batch, a prototype or something that doesn’t exist yet — bring us the requirement and we will help determine the route.
16 Specialist requirements
Need something outside the standard route?
A material, a size, a process or a requirement that doesn’t fit neatly into anything above. Tell us what the component has to be and we will assess the route rather than force the project into the wrong one.
Some requirements are assessed and arranged through the most appropriate route for that specific component. What matters to you is the outcome, the responsibility and the account of what was done — all of which stay with Studio Variant.
Assessed per project
17 Project records
Reserved for real work.
These slots are held for genuine Studio Variant machining projects, recorded problem through process to result. Nothing illustrative will be presented here as completed client work.
Project record — reserved
Imagery to be added
Problem → Design → Material → Machining → Result
Project record — reserved
Imagery to be added
Problem → Design → Material → Machining → Result
From solid material to exactly what you need. One component. A replacement. A prototype. A PCB. A tool. Or something entirely new.
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