5 Things to check before you ship

Flatness, certs, and tolerance stack-up — before it ships.

A bad print doesn’t just slow down your grinding shop — it slows down your whole job. Before you send a part out for Blanchard or Mattison grinding, run it against these five checks.

1. Flatness callout, not just a tolerance box.

“±0.001” on a dimension doesn’t tell a grinder what flatness or parallelism you need across the surface. Call it out explicitly.

2. Material and heat-treat condition

Mild steel, tool steel, stainless, aluminum, titanium, cast iron — each grinds differently, and heat-treated material needs different wheel selection than raw stock. Say what it is and what condition it’s in.

3. Which surfaces actually need to be ground

Grinding every face by default adds cost and lead time for surfaces that don’t need it. Flag only what’s critical.

4. Certs and documentation requirements

Aerospace and defense jobs especially — if you need material certs, inspection reports, or First Article Inspection, say so upfront, not after the part is on the table

5. Real deadline vs. wished-for deadline

If the date is firm, say it’s firm and ask about expedite service. Shops can plan around a hard date. They can’t plan around a guess.

Bottom line: Get these five right and your quote comes back faster and more accurate, and your part comes back on spec.

You got questions?
Visit nelsongrinding.com or call 714-738-5588.

Keep on Grinding!