Custom Machined Manifold Blocks

A Block of Metal Full of Precise Holes

A manifold block routes fluid or air between ports through a network of internal passages, with valve cavities and sealing lands controlling flow. From outside it's a tidy block; inside it's a 3D maze of intersecting drillings that must meet exactly, stay clean, and hold pressure. That internal accuracy and cleanliness — not the outside shape — is what makes a manifold demanding, and it's exactly what precision machining controls.

It is also why a manifold is cut from solid rather than cast. A cast blank carries porosity inside the wall, and a cross-drilling can open an interconnected pore so the block weeps between two circuits — the reason cast manifolds need vacuum impregnation to be pressure-tight at all. A block cut from solid billet has nothing to seal.

Custom Manifold Specifications

Attribute	Capability
Materials	6061 aluminium, steel, stainless
Passages	Cross-drilled to intersect precisely; deburred
Ports	BSP/BSPP, NPT/NPTF, metric, SAE O-ring boss
Cavities	Spool/valve bores and sealing lands to fit
Cleanliness	Internally deburred, cleaned, flushed
Testing	Pressure-tested on request

What We Machine Into a Manifold

• Drilled flow passages — intersecting bores routing port to port
• Threaded ports — to your fitting standard, sealing first time
• Valve / spool cavities — bored and finished for the seals
• Mounting faces — flat, to bolt to a pump or valve stack
• Plugged cross-drills — to close drilling access points

Cartridge Cavities & Port Standards

Most custom manifolds carry cartridge valves screwed or slipped into machined cavities, plus ports for the fittings. We machine both to the exact standard so the valves seat and the fittings seal:

Feature	Machined to
Screw-in cartridge cavities	Industry-standard cavities (e.g. SAE / Sun / HydraForce envelopes) for the valve you specify
Slip-in / DIN cavities	Bored and finished to the valve's cavity drawing
Ports	SAE O-ring boss (SAE J1926), BSP/BSPP, NPT/NPTF, metric
Gauge / test points	Cut to your standard where needed

Tell us the cartridge valves you're using (or send a valve), the port standard and the working pressure — we machine the cavities to seat them correctly and route the passages between them.

Clean, Sealed, Tested

The two things that ruin a manifold are a burr at a passage intersection (which breaks loose and jams a valve) and a leaking port. We cross-deburr every intersection, clean and flush the block, cut ports to the exact standard, and pressure-test before shipping. See our hydraulic valve body case for the same discipline, and our guide to replacing a discontinued hydraulic part. For low-pressure coolant distribution — data-center and instrument loops rather than hydraulics — the same construction has its own page: custom liquid cooling manifolds.

Frequently Asked Questions