large part machining · hillsborough, new jersey
Large part machining is what this shop is set up for. Vertical turning to 60″ diameter on two vertical turret lathes, horizontal turning to 32″ diameter and 170″ between centres, milling to 157″ × 40″ × 70″ on the Zayer, line boring to 20″ diameter, honing to 26″ bore and 120″ long, and a 10-ton lift to move it all. That is the capacity most shops in New Jersey turn away, and it is why the big parts in this region end up in Hillsborough.
Big parts are a different job, not just a bigger one. The weight has to be held safely, the setup has to respect a casting that is not quite what the drawing says, and every operation has to keep the reference the last one established. This page is the overview; each machine has a page of its own for the detail — large vertical turning, CNC milling, shaft machining and large fabrication.
Two Giddings & Lewis vertical turret lathes turn to 60″ diameter. The Poreba takes 32″ diameter and 170″ between centres, and the Tur takes 26″ by 160″. Housings, rings, hubs, rolls and long shafts all run on these machines, with a taper attachment for tapered journals and seats.
The Zayer mills to 157″ × 40″ × 70″. A DeVlieg horizontal boring mill with a 5″ spindle and 96″ × 40″ × 70″ of travel bores and faces large housings and die assemblies. Line boring brings bearing bores to 20″ diameter over roughly 50″, in house.
CNC is the right answer for a repeat part. On a one-off casting, a worn part that is no longer round, or a forging that needs roughing before anybody knows where the good material is, the machinist adjusting as the cut goes is what gets the part out right. The large lathes and the line boring are run by people who have spent years on them, and that is deliberate.
Large parts are awkward to ship, so most of this work is regional: plants across New Jersey — Bridgewater, Somerville, Flemington, Edison, Piscataway and Trenton, and the industrial corridor through Newark, Elizabeth, Jersey City and Paterson — and eastern Pennsylvania, New York and New England. Customers in Somerset, Hunterdon, Middlesex and Mercer counties often bring the part in on their own truck. Further afield, parts go crated across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Send the print and the weight and we will tell you how we would hold it.
Large work on the shop floor. Click to play.
Boring bar cutting a deep bore in a large steel housing.
Large die assembly set up on the boring mill.
Heavy components machined on the vertical lathes, the Zayer and the boring mill in Hillsborough, New Jersey. More photos and videos are in our gallery.
New work and repairs, one piece or a set. If the part is close to our limits, send the print and the weight and we will tell you how we would hold it.
Turned between centres to 170″, with journals ground in house.
Pump housings, gear blanks and heavy-walled bodies, roughed and finished on the vertical lathes.
Faced, bored and drilled on the vertical lathes and the Zayer. Sets of parts from castings are a speciality.
Welded here, then machined for flats, bores and hole patterns so the faces run true.
Line bored to 20″ in house as part of a gearbox rebuild.
Turned, gundrilled and honed to 26″ bore and 120″ long, including extruder barrels.
A lot of large-part work is repair rather than new. A worn journal on a shaft nobody makes any more, a bearing bore gone oval in a housing, a roll face that has picked up damage — the part comes in, we measure it, and we machine it back to size or make a new one from the old one. Where there is no drawing, we reverse engineer it; where the line is down, emergency machining explains how fast it can move. For parts that are obsolete or would cost a fortune to replace, this is usually the sensible route.
Blown film die bodies and sections to 50″ diameter come in for the same kind of work: measured, repaired where they can be, and remade where they cannot.
A large part goes through several operations, and here it does not leave the building between them: rough turning, welding, milling, line boring, honing, grinding and polishing all happen on the same floor. The reference set on the first operation carries through to the last, and the part is lifted, fixtured and inspected by the same people. Heat treating, nitriding and plating go to our vendors and come back for final machining, so the finished size is still ours.
The large machines, the CNC machines and the finishing around them.
| Vertical turning | to 60″ diameter — two Giddings & Lewis vertical turret lathes |
| Horizontal turning | 32″ × 170″ between centres (Poreba); 26″ × 160″ (Tur) |
| CNC turning | to 28″ diameter × 60″; 14″ × 83″ |
| Milling | 157″ × 40″ × 70″ on the Zayer; 60″ × 30″ × 30″ with 4th axis on the Okuma Millac |
| Line boring | to 20″ diameter over roughly 50″ |
| Bore honing | to 26″ diameter and 120″ long |
| Gundrilling | to 4″ diameter × 96″ deep |
| Lifting | to 10 tons |
| Tolerance | under .001″ as standard |
| Horizontal boring mill | DeVlieg, travels 96″ × 40″ × 70″, 5″ spindle |
Vertical turning to 60″ diameter, horizontal turning to 32″ diameter and 170″ between centres, milling to 157″ × 40″ × 70″, line boring to 20″, and honing to 26″ bore and 120″ long. We lift to 10 tons. If the part is close to any of those, send the print and the weight and we will tell you how we would hold it.
Up to 10 tons. That is the lift, and it is the number that decides whether a large part can come here at all. Tell us the weight with the enquiry and we will confirm straight away.
Yes, and a good share of the large work is exactly that. The part is set up to the surfaces that matter and machined true to the datum on the print rather than to whatever the foundry left. Pump housings, gear blanks, heavy-walled bodies and large flanges are typical.
Yes — that is the normal order of work here. Frames, bases and plates are welded in our own shop, then machined for flats, bores and hole patterns so the finished faces run true rather than following wherever the weld pulled. See large fabrication.
Yes, in house, to 20″ diameter over roughly 50″. It is how bearing bores in gearbox cases and housings are brought back to size and alignment as part of a rebuild.
Yes. Worn journals, oval bearing bores, damaged roll faces — the part comes in, we measure it and machine it back to size, or make a new one from the old one when there is no drawing. For obsolete parts this is usually far cheaper than replacing the equipment.
Carbon and alloy steel, 4140 HT, stainless, cast iron, bronze, Inconel and titanium among others. Heat treating, nitriding and plating go to our vendors and the part comes back here for final machining.
Hillsborough, New Jersey, in Somerset County. Large parts are awkward to ship, so most of this work comes from New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, New York and New England, and customers often bring the part in on their own truck. Further afield, parts go crated across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
This page is the overview. Each service below has a page of its own.
Send the print and the weight and we will tell you how we would hold it. Call the shop or email sales@zalamachine.com, or use the quote form below.
