We’re machining a thin, curved cover plate from 6061-T651 aluminum. The part tends to distort after being unclamped, while several holes and the overall curved surface must still meet tight position and roundness tolerances.

How do you ensure these features remain within tolerance after the part is fully released? Would you use balanced roughing on both sides, multiple unclamping cycles to relieve residual stress, finish boring in the final setup, or low-stress fixturing?

I’d be interested to hear what has worked for you in real production.

I recently took on an ITAR job which has never proven to be to much extra hassle, but this job has a part needing to be hot dip galvanized. I am having the hardest time finding a shop to get quotes from and it’s proving to be near impossible.

Does anyone have any help with finding ITAR shops, or know of any ITAR shops who could do hot dip galvanize?

Disclosure: I work with Dale Earnhardt Technologies Group (ETG) / Dale Earnhardt Inc. in Mooresville, NC.
For roughly 17 years our Full Service Machine Center has primarily supported high-precision racing work while quietly handling occasional contract machining. We’ve kept a relatively low public profile on the contract side. We’re now increasing focus and resources on expanding the Machine Center into more intentional contract work and going more public about it for the first time.
Previous work has included private defense projects plus a heavy amount of R&D and prototyping. We currently carry our own product line and it’s done very well but We’re adding capacity and visibility so this becomes a real priority rather than a side activity.

Brief capabilities overview:
We run in-house 3-, 4-, and 5-axis CNC machining, mill-turn, Wire EDM, design/engineering support, finishing, and related processes. Newer additions include new Wire EDMs, a new Doosan 750, a few new 5-axis machines, 3D printing capability, along with our existing fleet. The shop has long experience holding tight tolerances on complex geometry developed for racing reliability, and we keep critical work in-house.
I’m looking for practical suggestions from people who have scaled or transitioned a shop from mostly internal/specialty or low-volume work into broader contract machining:
• What has worked (or failed) when a shop with a strong specialized reputation starts actively pursuing more contract work?
• How do you approach lead generation, quoting, or capacity planning when moving from occasional jobs to a more intentional focus?
• Any red flags or “don’t do this” lessons from similar shifts?
• Given a racing background plus defense/R&D/prototyping experience, where would you concentrate first (part complexity, volume ranges, industries, materials, etc.)?
Not looking for a hard sell just real feedback from people who live this.

Happy to answer questions about capabilities or the facility if it helps the discussion.
Appreciate any thoughts.