CNC lathe turning a polished steel shaft with a continuous chip curling from the insert

CNC turning for shafts, bushings, and anything round about an axis.

Illuminious is a U.S. NPI engineering company. CNC turning rotates the stock against a fixed tool, with live tooling for secondary features, and it is the machining route for shafts, bushings and anything round about an axis. Engineered in San Francisco. Prototype builds, DFM and mass production in our own factory in Shenzhen. Upload your files, get a free engineering review, and pay only the official quote that review publishes.

Turning spins the workpiece against a fixed tool, a direct way to make concentric, cylindrical features. When a turned part also needs flats, cross-holes or keyways, mill-turn finishes it in one setup instead of moving it to a mill and losing the datum.

Two ways in: configure it online and a specialist prepares your official quote within 24 hours on business days, or send the job to an engineer. Engineering review is free either way and comes before you pay.

Payment: Official price after free review
Review target: Within 24 hours on business days after you submit

Talk to an engineer Get an official quote in 24 hours

No CAD yet? Our design team can take it from a sketch or a spec.

The configurator opens with this configuration preselected. An engineer reviews every order. Account required; engineering review is free and comes before payment.

Is your part a turned part, or a milled one with a round face?

Shafts, pins, spacers, and bushings
Threaded fittings and adapters
Parts whose concentricity or runout is the critical requirement
Round parts needing secondary flats, cross-holes, or keyways via mill-turn

Typical orders: Prototypes through production batches. Turning rewards quantity more than most processes, which review will point out where it is true.
Accepted files: STEP or STP geometry, plus a dimensioned drawing (PDF or DXF/DWG) whenever tolerances, threads, finishes, or datums matter. IGES, STL, and native SolidWorks files upload as supporting references.
Payment basis: Official price after free review
Not ready to configure?: How CNC machining works
Preparation workbook: Download the intake workbook

The choices that decide the part.

Each of these is a real configuration decision with a cost and a consequence, not a feature list. Where one of them constrains another, engineering review is the step that resolves it.

Turning

Straight lathe work for parts whose geometry is fully rotational: diameters, faces, grooves, chamfers, and single-point threads.

Mill-turn

Turning and milling on one machine so flats, cross-holes, and keyways are cut without re-fixturing. Declared in the configurator and always routed to review.

Materials

Aluminum 6061 and 7075, stainless 304 and 316, mild steel, brass, titanium, and engineering plastic. Free-machining grades need less tool time, which shows up in the price.

Threads and features

Threads, threaded inserts, thin walls, deep bores, and critical datums are declared per line so each is priced as work rather than discovered later.

What the configurator accepts, and where review takes over.

CNC turning capability bounds
Parameter	Supported range
Process	CNC turning, with mill-turn available and routed to review.
Materials in the configurator	Aluminum 6061 and 7075, stainless 304 and 316, mild steel, brass, titanium, and engineering plastic. Titanium routes to review.
Configurator envelope	0.1–2500 mm per axis with declared finished volume up to 1,000,000 cm³. Larger stock is quoted through review.
Quantity	1–100,000 parts per line. Where quantity changes the sensible process, review says so.
Tolerance bands in the configurator	General ISO 2768, ±0.10 mm, ±0.05 mm, and ±0.02 mm or tighter. The two tightest bands always route to engineering review.
Concentricity and runout	Achievable values depend on length-to-diameter ratio, material, and whether the part is completed in one setup. Confirmed in review against your drawing.
Finishes	As machined, anodized, hard anodized, bead blast, powder coat, or plating, with standard, strict, or cosmetic appearance grade.
Inspection	Standard inspection, dimensional report, or CMM report. CMM routes to review. Material certificates are a per-line option.

The configurator accepts parts within these bounds. Where your part needs a tolerance or a certification beyond them, it is still quoted: a specialist prepares that official quote within 24 hours on business days.

Boundaries

Features that are not rotational need a secondary milling operation, which is declared rather than assumed
Long, slender parts deflect under the tool; length-to-diameter ratio is a review check
Surface finish on a turned face is a declared requirement, not a guaranteed by-product

What drives the price of a turned part?

Quotation by a specialist. Quotation within 24 hours on business days. A specialist prices your exact CNC Machining scope from your files and specifications. You submit your request online, and the quotation arrives in your account and by email. Review is free. Nothing is charged until you accept a quotation.

Stock diameter and length, and how much material is removed
Whether the part completes on the lathe or needs a mill-turn or secondary operation
Material and its machinability
Tolerance band, threads, and critical datums
Finish, appearance grade, inspection level, certificates, and quantity

What engineering reviews

Customer approvals may include

Any material substitution proposed in review
Any geometry or tolerance change needed to make the part manufacturable
Any itemized price or lead-time revision

Length-to-diameter ratio and the deflection or support it implies
Whether every feature is reachable in one setup or a second operation is needed
Thread callouts, undercuts, and relief geometry
Wall thickness on tubular parts under clamping load
Whether concentricity and runout callouts are consistent with the stated datums

Free review first. Keep every later decision explicit.

The model and the drawing are read together. Where they disagree, review asks rather than guessing — and the version that was priced stays in your project history when a corrected file creates a new revision.

Create your account
Verify your email before the persistent quote workspace opens. Every file, estimate, message, and payment stays attached to that account.
Configure and upload
Provide service-specific inputs and place technical files in private project storage. Saved drafts remain available across sessions.
Free engineering review
Submit the configured cart at no charge. A reviewer checks the exact file and specification revision, then prices it or opens a documented question or correction request.
Official quote
Review publishes an itemized quote with lead time and a validity window. That is the binding figure; anything shown earlier was a preliminary estimate.
Accept and pay
Accepting opens payment rather than charging you. Lead time is counted from settled payment, and any later itemized revision needs your approval first.
Produce and deliver
After all commercial, technical, and customer gates are complete, the project moves through the service-specific production or design milestones.

Commitments the order system actually enforces.

Official quote prepared by a specialist, engineering review

Your official quote is prepared by a specialist within 24 hours on business days from the declared stock, material, and tolerance. An engineer checks setups, slenderness, and thread callouts, and either confirms the price or itemizes what has to change.

Drawings and models stay private

Geometry, drawings, and revisions live in per-project storage reached through short-lived authenticated links, tied to your account rather than an email thread.

Review target

Machining projects are targeted for review one business day after you submit them. Review is free and precedes the official price.

Answers before you upload anything.

My part is mostly round but has two flats and a cross-hole. Is that still turning?

Yes — that is exactly what mill-turn is for. Declaring it means the part is completed in one setup, which protects the concentricity between the turned diameters and the milled features instead of stacking two setups' worth of error.

How tight a tolerance can you hold on a diameter?

The configurator accepts ±0.02 mm or tighter, and that band always goes to review. Whether it is achievable on your part depends on length, material, and finish, and review answers it against your drawing rather than in general.

Is the amount at checkout final?

The free engineering review comes first. Depending on the service you see a live supplier price, a published fixed price, or a price from a specialist within 24 hours on business days, and nothing is charged when you submit. After the review we publish an official quote with an itemized total, lead time and a validity window, and that is the amount you are asked to pay. Accepting the official quote opens payment rather than charging you. If a later correction changes scope or price, you see an itemized revision and can approve, question or decline it. We never silently charge an increase.

How are my drawings protected?

Your technical files are stored in private project storage and accessed through short-lived authenticated links. Files, prices, replacements and approvals stay tied to your account and keep their revision history.

Get an official quote for turning with the process already selected.

The configurator opens on turning. Upload the model and drawing, declare material, tolerance, and finish, and review confirms setups and slenderness before the official price.

Three lead-time tiers, each with its trade on the line: Economy lengthens the quoted target range and takes a discount line; Standard is the quoted target range at the quoted price; Express shortens it and adds an expedite line. You see the line before you commit, and every range is a target, not a promise.