Magnesium Hogouts

Hogouts are ideal for close tolerance and short lead time machining of fabrication prototypes and low quantity production runs in a wide variety of materials.

Why Hogouts?

Prototyping: Hogouts provide great fabrication prototype tools as they generally have shorter lead times and are less expensive than their cast or extruded counterparts.

Lead time: Lead time is generally short due to availability of raw material and ease of fixturing. Any material that can be machined is a candidate to use for hogouts; typically AZ31 magnesium is used for a magnesium prototype. Since most materials come in a wide variety of either rectangular or circular geometries, simple fixtures are typically all that is needed. The fixture does not need to be able to account for all the variations and delicacies of castings.

Tolerances: Common machined tolerances are between 0.0005”-0.01” depending on machines and processes while casting tolerances can range up to 0.06” due to a higher number of variables present in the casting process. Thus, hogouts can be used immediately for functional testing, where casting prototypes may need secondary operations before they are suitable for testing.

Material benefits: Raw materials directly from mill, such as AZ31 magnesium plate, generally do not have porosity and often have less residual stresses than castings. This combination provides a more stable part capable of holding tighter tolerances and more optimized designs.

Low volume production: It is often more cost effective to hogout parts for the life of a lower volume production part if there is any combination of the above factors involved. Vanpro specializes in taking your part model and producing it for your specific needs in the most practical and economical way possible.

Request a quote, contact us, or call 763-689-1559. Let Vanpro show you what we can do!