651-778-3300 Mon - Fri 7:00am - 3:30pm 867 Forest Street, St. Paul, MN 55106
Certified
Gray, ductile, and austempered ductile iron castings up to 250lbs.
ASTM A536, SAE J434, ASTM A48, SAE J431

Machining

People as precise as the equipment

At Northern Iron & Machine, our machinists are highly trained experts capable of machining everything we cast in iron.

We are especially skilled at machining larger parts in the difficult 50 to 250-pound iron casting range. We utilize more than 14 CNC machines including Horizontal, Vertical, Turning, and Automated Systems with hydraulic fixturing.

See examples of our machining work and you’ll see firsthand the level of machining capability Northern Iron & Machine can accomplish for you.

Machining capabilities

Our machinists work on some of the most precise machining equipment available: four axis, fully programmable CNC machines capable of machining to tolerances of ±0.0005 in. Please check our machine shop facilities list below to see our complete line of CNC Turning and CNC Milling equipment.

To ensure the greatest possible precision, we check dimensions on our automated CMM’s throughout each shift and perform a final inspection before parts are shipped. Our production, engineering, and quality team members work together to design and maintain robust processes. These processes enable us to provide a quality product at a competitive price.

Machine shop quality

Each of our CMM’s operate with a volumetric accuracy of 8 microns.

The measurement data that’s collected when a part is inspected on the CMM, is relayed to our Statistical Process Control software.

This Statistical Process Control software allows us to monitor the machining processes. We strive to maintain stable processes that have a Cpk of 1.33 or better.

We also have a full range of manual inspection equipment that we use to ensure that dimensions are within the tolerances specified by our customers.

As part of our comprehensive quality system, we have our machine operators measure various dimensional features with manual gauging during the machining process.

This provides us with a greater sampling frequency for critical dimensions. Each operator has a computer at his workstation where these manual measurements are recorded
as part of our quality records.

All of our measurement equipment is monitored by an internal calibration system that is traceable back to NIST standards.

The machine shop carries the same ISO 9001 accreditation as the foundry.

Machine shop facilities list
CNC equipment
  • CAD/CAM software (Espirit Software)
  • 2 – Nh6300 Horizontal Machining Centers (Mori Sieki)
  • Nh6300 automated Horizontal Machining Center with hydraulic fixture capabilities (Mori Seiki)
  • 2 – Nh5000 Horizontal Machining Centers (Mori Sieki)
  • Mh63 Horizontal Machining Center (Mori Sieki)
  • NHX5500 Horizontal Machining Center (Mori Seiki)
  • NVX5550 Vertical Machining Center (Mori Seiki)
  • 2 – Lb45 II-M Turning Centers (Okuma)
  • 2 – Lb35 II-M Turning Centers (Okuma)
Manual and peripheral
  • 2 – Bridgeport 1hp mills J head
  • Series 1 Bridgeport w/digital readout
  • Lagun Tool Room Mill
  • Mori Seiki Tool Room Lathe
  • Integrated Tool Room
  • Speroni Tool Presetter
  • Goff bead blaster
  • Parts washer
  • 12″ Horizontal band saw
  • 12″ Cut off saw
  • Internal fixture-building capabilities
Inspection equipment
  • 9-12-9 Xcel auto CMM (Brown and Sharpe)
  • 998 Global image auto CMM (Brown and Sharpe)
  • Granite layout table  
  • Horizontal mag particle unit (Magnaflux)