From Declining to Delivering: Our Precision Machine Shop’s Relentless Commitment to Solutions

At Peerless Precision, we have a lot of confidence in our abilities. Our precision machine shop has been in business for a long time now, and we know we’re good at what we do. So it’s a rare moment when a customer has even more confidence in us than we have in ourselves.

For 10 years, a long-time defense industry customer requested a part that we repeatedly declined due to its complexity. When their incumbent supplier dropped the project, they were in a desperate situation.

Committed to being a true partner, we stepped up to help. Find out how we overcame machining challenges to perfect this part and why we always go above and beyond for our customers.

Why We Took On This Challenging Part

The part was not entirely new to us—in the image above, you can see a simpler version that we’ve machined for nearly 30 years now. This is a coldfinger weldment, a critical component in the sub-micro cryogenic cooling systems for thermal imaging, night vision, and infrared cameras.

These titanium parts already push the limits of our precision CNC machining services with a 0.003-inch wall thickness. However, the new version the customer requested is even more challenging: we would need to machine a very small gear onto the shaft, and weld a cone with walls just 0.002 inches thick onto that gear.

Initially, coming up with a way to successfully hold and manufacture a cone with a .002″ wall thickness—while also welding the cone and the shaft together to the strict drawing requirements—had us questioning our capability to handle the part. Despite our repeated declines over the years, they continued to request the part simply because they believed in us and trusted our results. They knew we often find creative solutions through our experience and our sheer persistence.

Flattered as we were, we never quoted the part. However, when our customer told us they ran out of options, we committed to finding a solution to the project.

Finding the Proper Partner to Complete the Project

In our first attempts, we discovered that our in-house laser welding services couldn’t achieve the necessary precision due to the beam being too thick. We discussed the issue with the laser equipment manufacturer, and they performed trials at their own facility in Detroit, but they also were unable to achieve the necessary specifications.

This is where experience taught us a valuable lesson: sometimes innovation means knowing when to collaborate. We found a micro-welding specialist in Massachusetts that specializes in jewelry manufacturing. After three rounds of testing, they consistently achieved the precise welds we needed. With our customer’s approval, we moved into full production.

Why Our Customer Always Believed in Us

The entire process, from our initial “yes” to final production, took a year and a half of problem solving. But that persistence paid off when we not only solved our customer’s machining challenge but also expanded our network and our capabilities for future projects.

Persistence is a core value to us here at Peerless Precision, and we don’t give up easily when we’ve made a promise. And in this project, we learned once again that persistence is as important as technical abilities. Our customer’s confidence in us wasn’t just about our precision machining skills—it was about our track record of creative problem-solving and our unwavering commitment to quality.

What Problem Can Our Precision Machine Shop We Solve For You?

Whether you’re a new customer or a trusted, long-time partner, we want to help you solve your toughest precision machining challenges. Whether you need tight tolerance machining, optical machining or complex CNC machined components, our AS9100 and ITAR machine shop is ready to partner with the most demanding industries to deliver exactly what you need.

Request a quote today and let’s collaborate on your next challenge!